GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo said Friday he has not signed an agreement with the United States to take asylum seekers from other countries, pushing back against comments from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Noem and Arévalo met Thursday in Guatemala and the two governments publicly signed a joint security agreement that would allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to work in the capital’s airport, training local agents how to screen for terrorism suspects.
But Noem said she had also been given a signed document she called a safe-third-country agreement. She said she reached a similar deal in Honduras and said they were important outcomes of her trip.
Asked about Noem’s comments Friday during a news conference, Arévalo said that nothing new was signed related to immigration and that Guatemala was still operating under an agreement reached with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in February. That agreement stipulated that Guatemala would continue accepting the deportation of its own citizens, but also citizens of other Central American nations as a transit point on their way home.
Arévalo said that when Rubio visited, safe third country was discussed because Guatemala had signed such an agreement during President Trump’s first term in office. But “we made it clear that our path was different,” Arévalo said.
He did add that Guatemala was willing to provide asylum to Nicaraguans who have been unable to return to their country because of the political situation there out of “solidarity.”
The president’s communications office said Noem had been given the ratification of the agreement reached through diplomatic notes weeks earlier.
During Trump’s first term, the U.S. signed such safe-third-country agreements with Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. They effectively allowed the U.S. to declare some asylum seekers ineligible to apply for U.S. protection and permitted the U.S. government to send them to those countries deemed “safe.”
Fiery lava seen flowing from the volcano near the capital as disaster agency issues warning to nearby residents.
Guatemalan authorities have ordered the evacuation of hundreds of people, after Central America’s most active volcano spewed gas and ash thousands of metres into the sky.
According to an emergency bulletin issued late on Thursday by the country’s National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), Volcan de Fuego (Volcano of Fire) emitted hot gases and volcanic matter that was registered up to 7km (4 miles) from the site of the eruption.
Residents from communities near the volcano, which is located some 35km (22 miles) from the capital, Guatemala City, were told to move to shelters.
Juan Laureano, spokesperson for CONRED, said at least 594 people were moved to shelters from five communities in the Chimaltenango, Escuintla and Sacatepequez areas, The Associated Press news agency reported. Given the volcanic activity, the number of evacuees was expected to rise.
The government has suspended classes at 39 schools and closed a road linking the south of the country to the colonial city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, CONRED said.
Images posted on social media showed fiery lava flowing from the volcano and a mix of ash, rocks and water raging down the volcano’s slopes following the eruption.
CONRED said the mix of ash and gas spewing into the sky was affecting several communities situated to the northwest, west, and southwest of the volcano.
Residents living near Volcan de Fuego were evacuated following the eruption on Thursday [Johan Ordonez/AFP]
Guatemala’s National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology, and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH) said the volcanic activity is expected to last for 40 hours.
Ash clouds could reach altitudes of between 3,000 and 7,000 metres (2 to 4 miles) with the potential to affect air navigation, according to reports.
The 3,763-meter (12,350-foot) Volcan de Fuego is one of the most active in Central America, resulting in several mass evacuations in recent years due to eruptions, including the most recent in March.
In 2018, 215 people were killed and more than 200 went missing when rivers of lava poured down the volcano’s slopes, devastating a nearby village, following an eruption.
Guatemala’s president denies new asylum deal with U.S.
GUATEMALA CITY — Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo said Friday he has not signed an agreement with the United States to take asylum seekers from other countries, pushing back against comments from U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Noem and Arévalo met Thursday in Guatemala and the two governments publicly signed a joint security agreement that would allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to work in the capital’s airport, training local agents how to screen for terrorism suspects.
But Noem said she had also been given a signed document she called a safe-third-country agreement. She said she reached a similar deal in Honduras and said they were important outcomes of her trip.
Asked about Noem’s comments Friday during a news conference, Arévalo said that nothing new was signed related to immigration and that Guatemala was still operating under an agreement reached with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in February. That agreement stipulated that Guatemala would continue accepting the deportation of its own citizens, but also citizens of other Central American nations as a transit point on their way home.
Arévalo said that when Rubio visited, safe third country was discussed because Guatemala had signed such an agreement during President Trump’s first term in office. But “we made it clear that our path was different,” Arévalo said.
He did add that Guatemala was willing to provide asylum to Nicaraguans who have been unable to return to their country because of the political situation there out of “solidarity.”
The president’s communications office said Noem had been given the ratification of the agreement reached through diplomatic notes weeks earlier.
During Trump’s first term, the U.S. signed such safe-third-country agreements with Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. They effectively allowed the U.S. to declare some asylum seekers ineligible to apply for U.S. protection and permitted the U.S. government to send them to those countries deemed “safe.”
Perez writes for the Associated Press.
Source link
Guatemala’s ‘Volcano of Fire’ sends ash, lava flowing as hundreds flee | Volcanoes News
Fiery lava seen flowing from the volcano near the capital as disaster agency issues warning to nearby residents.
Guatemalan authorities have ordered the evacuation of hundreds of people, after Central America’s most active volcano spewed gas and ash thousands of metres into the sky.
According to an emergency bulletin issued late on Thursday by the country’s National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), Volcan de Fuego (Volcano of Fire) emitted hot gases and volcanic matter that was registered up to 7km (4 miles) from the site of the eruption.
Residents from communities near the volcano, which is located some 35km (22 miles) from the capital, Guatemala City, were told to move to shelters.
Juan Laureano, spokesperson for CONRED, said at least 594 people were moved to shelters from five communities in the Chimaltenango, Escuintla and Sacatepequez areas, The Associated Press news agency reported. Given the volcanic activity, the number of evacuees was expected to rise.
The government has suspended classes at 39 schools and closed a road linking the south of the country to the colonial city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, CONRED said.
Images posted on social media showed fiery lava flowing from the volcano and a mix of ash, rocks and water raging down the volcano’s slopes following the eruption.
CONRED said the mix of ash and gas spewing into the sky was affecting several communities situated to the northwest, west, and southwest of the volcano.
Guatemala’s National Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology, and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH) said the volcanic activity is expected to last for 40 hours.
Ash clouds could reach altitudes of between 3,000 and 7,000 metres (2 to 4 miles) with the potential to affect air navigation, according to reports.
The 3,763-meter (12,350-foot) Volcan de Fuego is one of the most active in Central America, resulting in several mass evacuations in recent years due to eruptions, including the most recent in March.
In 2018, 215 people were killed and more than 200 went missing when rivers of lava poured down the volcano’s slopes, devastating a nearby village, following an eruption.
Source link