Guatemala–United States relations

Guatemala – United States relations

Guatemala	United States

Guatemala – United States relations are bilateral relations between Guatemala and the United States. There is a U.S. Embassy in Guatemala located in Guatemala City. According to the US State Department, relations between the United States and Guatemala traditionally have been close, although at times strained by human-rights and civil/military issues.^[1]

According to a global opinion poll, 82% of Guatemalans viewed the U.S. positively in 2002.^[2] According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 41% of Guatemalans approve of U.S. leadership, with 16% disapproving and 43% uncertain.^[3]

U.S. policy objectives in Guatemala

The U.S. State Department lists policy objectives in Guatemala that include:

• Supporting the institutionalization of democracy and implementation of the peace accords;
• Encouraging respect for human rights and the rule of law, and implementation of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG);
• Supporting broad-based economic growth and sustainable development and maintaining mutually beneficial trade and commercial relations, including ensuring that benefits of CAFTA-DR reach all sectors of the Guatemalan populace;
• Cooperating to combat money laundering, corruption, narcotics trafficking, alien-smuggling, and other transnational crime; and
• Supporting Central American integration through support for resolution of border/territorial disputes.^[1]

U.S. support for Guatemala peace accords

The US State Department says that the United States, as a member of "the Friends of Guatemala," along with Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Norway, and Venezuela, played an important role in the UN-moderated peace accords, providing public and behind-the-scenes support. The U.S. strongly supports the six substantive and three procedural accords, which, along with the signing of the December 29, 1996 final accord, form the blueprint for profound political, economic, and social change. To that end, the U.S. Government has committed over $500 million to support peace implementation since 1997.^[1]

Dangers to U.S. Citizens

The US State Department notes that violent criminal activity continues to be a problem in Guatemala, including murder, rape, disappearances, and armed assaults against persons of all nationalities. In recent years the number of violent crimes reported by U.S. citizens has steadily increased, though the number of Americans traveling to Guatemala has also increased.^[1]

US aid to Guatemala

The US State Department says most U.S. assistance to Guatemala is provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) offices for Guatemala. USAID/Guatemala's current program builds on the gains of the peace process that followed the signing of the peace accords in December 1996, as well as on the achievements of its 1997–2004 peace program. The current program works to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives by focusing on Guatemala's potential as Central America's largest economy and trading partner of the United States, but also recognizes the country's lagging social indicators and high rate of poverty. The three areas of focus for USAID/Guatemala's program are modeled after the Millennium Challenge Account areas—ruling justly, economic freedom, and investing in people.^[1]

US Embassy Staff

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials include:^[1]

• Ambassador--Todd D. Robinson
• Deputy Chief of Mission—David Lindwall
• Political and Economic Counselor—Drew Blakeney
• Management Officer—Leo Hession
• Defense Attache—Col. Humberto Rodriguez
• Military Assistance Group—Col. Linda Gould
• Consul General—John Lowell
• Regional Security Officer—John Eustace
• Public Affairs Officer—David J. Young
• Drug Enforcement Administration—Michael O'Brien
• Agricultural Attache—Robert Hoff
• Commercial Attache—Patricia Wagner
• USAID/G-CAP Director—Wayne Nilsestuen

See also

• Guatemalan Americans
• Foreign relations of the United States
• Foreign relations of Guatemala
• Guatemalan Civil War
• School of the Americas Watch
• Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
• Syphilis experiments in Guatemala
• 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état

References

1. "Background Note: Guatemala". US State Department. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
2. Opinion of the United States Pew Research Center
3. U.S. Global Leadership Project Report - 2012 Gallup

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State website http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/index.htm (Background Notes).

External links

Media related to Guatemala – United States relations at Wikimedia Commons

• History of Guatemala - U.S. relations