GUATEMALA-POLITICS/BALDIZON-TRUMP Guatemala presidential front-runner rebukes Trump for immigrant remarks

Record ID: 143493

  • Title: GUATEMALA-POLITICS/BALDIZON-TRUMP Guatemala presidential front-runner rebukes Trump for immigrant remarks
  • Date: 18th August 2015
  • Summary: QUICHE, GUATEMALA (FILE) (REUTERS) SUPPORTERS CHEERING FOR BALDIZON BALDIZON GREETS SUPPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Guatemala
  • Country: Guatemala
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVANBC54MKV95WDFYGIBGC6OCGO
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The front-runner in Guatemala's presidential campaign on Monday (August 18) criticised U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump over his divisive remarks on illegal immigrants, saying Latinos should not put up with "humiliation" for political ends. He also said Guatemala, due to its relatively large population, deserves more aid than its neighbours as part of an international plan to incentivise Central Americans to remain and their country and not emigrate to the United States, in an interview with Reuters.
    Manuel Baldizon is leading opinion polls in the run-up to a first round of voting due on Sept. 6 in the Central American country, which has been one of the biggest exporters of illegal immigrants to the United States in recent years.
    Trump, who leads the Republican field for the presidential ticket, has riled Guatemala's neighbour Mexico by accusing it of sending rapists and drug-runners across the border and pledged to make the country pay for a wall to keep immigrants out.
    Baldizon dismissed Trump's comments as electoral stunts.
    "(The rhetoric) is a political strategy Mr. Trump is using. However, in my view, I'm completely against these kind of actions that hurt Hispanics. It's important that we Hispanics are clear that we can't be accepting of such humiliation or negative blows against our culture and dignity," he said in an interview.
    Baldizon, who was runner-up in the 2011 Guatemalan election, said more funds were needed for his country as part of a plan for Central American governments to boost economic growth in the region. The spending, aimed at stemming the tide of mass migration, is expected to involve major spending on infrastructure and energy projects.
    The "Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle" aims to renovate highways, city bypasses and border crossings in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, as well as carry out improvements to other infrastructure in the region.
    Including projects that have already been announced, the planned works are worth well over $1 billion dollars.
    Nevertheless, Baldizon said the funds should be calculated in proportion to the population in each country.
    "The prosperity plan covers three Central American countries. There are billions of dollars at stake and of course, I understand that the political process is to try to look for transparency, battling corruption, in order to obtain the funds for the region but these funds will not be enough. With $300 million dollars that Guatemala gets, that apply to Guatemala, does not correspond to Guatemala, is not in proportion to the population of our country. Our country has 18 million inhabitants, while the Salvador and Honduras have far fewer," Baldizon said.
    The plan for the region is being backed by the United States and spells out a regional investment plan from 2015 to 2019.
    Guatemala's government has dismissed several top cabinet officials in the last three months due to investigations into widespread allegations of public sector corruption.
    Those efforts have been spearheaded by a U.N.-backed anti-graft body known as the CICIG, which has robust U.S. support.
    Senior officials in Baldizon's Renewed Democratic Liberty Party (Lider) have also become embroiled in the CICIG probes.
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