Guatemala City/Prensa Latina
The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, received this Tuesday 16 patrol cars and three vehicles donated by the United States government to strengthen border security and combat organized crime.
At the event, at the capital’s National Civil Police academy, the president expressed that the country’s new government is developing two parallel axes, “which will have triggering and irreversible effects on the lives of Guatemalans.”
We began an urgent process of recovery of the institutions, which necessarily involves the construction of political agreements, so that they function among themselves and, as a priority, those of the justice system, he noted. The events of the last year are irrefutable proof of the influence of money and corruption, asserted Arévalo, for whom the capture and kidnapping of the justice system in search of impunity are a real threat to the coexistence and security of citizens.
“We have suffered a spiral of crime, corruption and impunity,” he stated, and detailed that transnational organized crime generates profits for the perpetrators.
He stated that these are later used to corrupt state agents and make this business sustainable, which is ultimately about death, he stressed.
The head of state considered that recovering local institutions necessarily involves breaking and reversing this spiral. Faced with an enemy on a global scale, he added, the administration’s response cannot be isolated, it has to have a regional character.
In this sense, he valued the support of the partners, in this case the people and government of the United States, “in increasing the effectiveness of our capacity to combat drug trafficking,” he said.
This effort coincides with the Government’s second priority process, the strengthening of the social and democratic State of law, highlighted the 65-year-old politician.
He considered that the donation is a gesture of solidarity and thanked the Guatemalan security forces for this support.
Previously, the Minister of the Interior of Guatemala, Francisco Jiménez, assured that they are working so that the restructuring becomes a reality next week to provide more and better results in this matter.
He shared that they will make substantial changes at the operational level in response to allegations related to corruption.
Almost a month into his administration, he highlighted some achievements such as the seizure of 731 kilos of cocaine, with a value of 75 million quetzales (almost 10 million dollars), capture of three people for extortion purposes, among others.
One of the main challenges of the Arévalo administration, according to local analysts, is the fight against organized crime and violence in the nation.
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