Guatemala’s president denies report of US deal on anti-drug trafficking strikes

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo on Thursday denied the existence of an agreement with the United States to conduct anti-drug trafficking operations on Guatemalan soil.

The comments come after The New York Times reported that the Central American nation agreed to carry out joint strikes.

The case is the latest in ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and Latin American governments that seek to strike a balance between bilateral cooperation to fight drug trafficking and maintaining sovereignty.

“There is no agreement. There is a request that falls within the framework of existing agreements in several countries,” Arévalo said at a news conference.

“What we are signing are types of collaboration that have been taking place in the past. We conduct maritime interdictions where the United States has been collaborating with training, capacity building and equipment,” Arévalo said.

He said the government’s actions are in accordance with Guatemalan law and the Constitution.

“The only body that can authorize operations involving soldiers on Guatemalan soil is the Congress of the Republic. The Guatemalan government is not requesting this cooperation and has no plans to do so,” the president said.

When asked about the supposed agreement, acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said he cannot “speculate on future operations or discuss matters of operational security” but emphasized that the Department of War works with partners in the region to fight drug trafficking and other transnational threats.

The Guatemalan government also published a press release and two letters in which its defense minister discusses combined military operations under pre-existing agreements with U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

The April deaths of two CIA agents in northern Mexico after an operation to destroy a drug lab highlighted the presence of U.S. agents in Latin America and raised questions about heightened U.S. involvement throughout the region. In the days following, Mexican officials offered contradictory accounts on how much information the country had regarding the CIA agents’ involvement.

The Mexican government acknowledges the presence of U.S. agencies on Mexican territory but says that they cannot participate in on-the-ground operations.

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Ben Finley in Washington D.C. contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america