Vice President Kamala Harris spoke Tuesday with Guatemala’s president as she dived into her new role as point person for trying to solve the conditions that push migrants to flee Central America.
The White House said she promised President Alejandro Giammettei more U.S. money, and they talked about the dangers of his people fleeing Guatemala to head north to try to jump the border.
“They agreed to explore innovative opportunities to create jobs and to improve the conditions for all people in Guatemala and the region, including by promoting transparency and combating crime,” the White House said.
The announcement came hours after White House press secretary Jen Psaki clarified that Ms. Harris isn’t in charge of solving the border, but rather is just focusing on conditions in Central America, where migrant parents and children are leaving in greater numbers, en route to the U.S.
Ms. Psaki said President Biden, during the Obama administration, worked with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to try to help them stabilize.
“And he wants the vice president to play a similar role,” Ms. Psaki said, describing her duties as “engaging with these countries; engaging with their leaders; figuring out how to invest best, how to work in partnership, how to prevent corruption from taking over; to put in place steps that will make the journey less desirable.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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