Guatemala steps up patrols along border as US extends border security goals south

OCOS, Guatemala (AP) — As the United States government works to effectively extend its border security objectives south into Central America, countries like Guatemala have come under renewed scrutiny and pressure to step up their own border enforcement.

On Thursday, a Guatemalan army unit patrolled the Suchiate river that forms the western end of the Guatemala-Mexico border. The patrol was part of stepped up border operations since January, said Col. Juan Ernesto Celis.

President Bernardo Arévalo has said migration is a right, but in a regulated fashion.

The soldiers on patrol are looking to stop illegal arms, drug and human trafficking across Guatemala’s borders. At this border, they frequently coordinate with their Mexican counterparts.

Ann Marie Argueta, spokeswoman for Guatemala’s defense department, said Thursday that the military wants to not only protect against crimes that threaten the population, but also prevent “incursions into national territory by transnational organized crime.”

When U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Guatemala in February, Arévalo announced that Guatemala would form a new border security force to patrol its borders with Honduras and El Salvador as well.

Last July, nearly 600 Mexicans fled fighting between cartels in their border communities and sought refuge in Guatemala. Mexico's two most powerful cartels from the northern states of Sinaloa and Jalisco have been battling for control of lucrative smuggling routes in southern Mexico.