US Vice President Kamala Harris welcomed Guatemalan President-elect Bernardo Arevalo to the White House today to praise him for his fight against corruption and encourage the two countries to work together to curb migration from Central America, the Associated Press reported. , quoted by BTA.
"Your leadership can restore the confidence of the Guatemalan people in their institutions and give them a sense of new hope and opportunity," Harris said.
US President Joe Biden later met separately with Arevalo to congratulate him on his inauguration, the White House said. The two leaders discussed good governance, effectively dealing with migration, the importance of supporting democracy and other issues, the White House added.
Harris announced that her efforts to address the root causes of migration by improving economic conditions in the region have generated $5.2 billion in financial commitments from the private sector.
"The problems, of course, are not from yesterday, and the solutions won't come overnight, either,'' Harris said. However, according to her, progress is being observed in the short term.