By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris hosted Guatemala’s president, Bernardo Arevalo, on the White Home on Monday to bolster his fledgling authorities and talk about easy methods to cut back migration from Central America.

Harris’s assembly underscores U.S. assist for the brand new, reform-minded president, whose inauguration was delayed in January by opponents in search of to weaken his authority.

Firstly of their assembly, Harris stated the U.S. “was proud to face with you, Mr. President, following a free and honest election and all through your transition,” including that the “will of the individuals of Guatemala, by our remark, has triumphed.”

Immigration has change into a sizzling button situation in President Joe Biden’s and Harris’s 2024 re-election marketing campaign, with Republicans charging the administration with mishandling spikes in numbers of latest immigrants crossing the U.S. border.

The White Home accuses Republicans, led by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, with torpedoing a bipartisan invoice that might have tightened border enforcement.

Republicans labeled Harris a failed “border czar” after Biden charged her with spearheading efforts to deal with the causes of migration from nations in Central America which have contributed to the rise in immigrant inflows.

Harris and Arevalo mentioned how the USA can assist Guatemala’s corruption struggle, strengthen human rights, and increase the financial system.

“I view this as a historic second in relations between our two nations, which share primary values and customary pursuits and confront many joint challenges,” Arevalo stated as they met.

They mentioned Arevalo’s outreach to indigenous individuals and the prioritization of efforts to scale back what the official referred to as “irregular migration” to the USA.

Harris introduced $1 billion in new monetary commitments from corporations which might be a part of a public-private partnership program to spend money on Central America, bringing the entire to greater than $5.2 billion since Could 2021. They embrace a dedication by Meta (NASDAQ:) to coach younger individuals and small enterprise homeowners in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

She additionally “recommended Guatemala’s assist for different democracies all over the world,” the White Home stated in a press release in regards to the assembly, with out giving particulars.

Guatemala is among the few nations that maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China.