President Donald Trump can advance his priorities—defending the Western Hemisphere and combating criminal cartels—by looking at Guatemala and acting. To deal a blow to narcotrafficking, Trump needs only to change US embassy personnel in Guatemala and instruct those in charge to support proper application of law.
On August 11, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused to comment on media reports about using the US military against cartels in the Western Hemisphere. However, Hegseth stated the cartels are “a presidential priority … if you’re trafficking in drugs, people, or violence that affects the American people … the Defense Department [DOD] will be a part of solving that.”
Consistent with this, the Trump administration on August 7 doubled its bounty on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from $25 to $50 million. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro uses the cartels to “bring deadly drugs and violence into our country.”
Mexico’s government cannot control its criminal cartels. Narcotics entering Mexico arrive without impediment at the US border. This makes Guatemala’s 600-mile border with Mexico the choke point and place to close the land route for narcotics to the United States.
Trump can contribute to this without US money, tariffs, or illegal intervention. With the land route closed, the cartels will resort to air and sea routes, making them more vulnerable to DOD operations.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo is promoting narcotrafficking through Guatemala. Arévalo illegally keeping his defense minister in that post past his term limit means every order he issues is illegal. This is devastating to army morale.
Army personnel loyal to the constitution are in a quandary: obey illegal orders or risk being changed with sedition for not obeying. Guatemala’s constitution holds that nobody is obligated to obey “manifestly illegal” orders. Army personnel loyal to Arévalo personally have license to commit crimes, even narcotrafficking. Arévalo can hardly enforce the law while openly violating it.
The Joe Biden regime and State Department (DOS) fraudulently imposed Arévalo as president as part of their agenda to flood our country with illegal immigrants and drugs. Since the judiciary canceled Arévalo’s political party in December 2023, he could not be legally inaugurated. He was able to take office in January 2024 because DOS intimidated judges into not applying the law and private-sector leaders into supporting this.
If the law were properly applied now, Arévalo would be removed from office. Biden’s ambassador and deputy chief of mission (DCM) are still in their posts executing his agenda. Besides continuing to intimidate judges not to rule against Arévalo, these officials apply pressure in the army to accept Arévalo’s corruption of it.
Trump should immediately replace the ambassador and DCM. Trump needs to instruct the new DCM to immediately repair damage from the Biden regime and DOS. This new official should make clear, including to judges and business leaders, that the Trump administration supports Guatemalans properly applying their laws and joining the United States in combating transnational crime.
If Arévalo is removed, as the law requires, Guatemala’s Congress must appoint a new president. If that does not happen, Arévalo will in 2026 make key appointments, consolidate his power, and become an overt Maduro ally.
Public disapproval of Arévalo, especially for promoting gender ideology and letting infrastructure deteriorate, would likely result in a competent conservative successor. He could then align with Trump’s priorities.
A competent president would apply the law to guerrilla successor groups that have for years oppressed entire communities, especially on Guatemala’s borders. DOS imposed and supported corrupt judges and prosecutors who protected these groups.
DOS persecuted and undermined Attorney General Consuelo Porras because she prosecuted the corrupt judges and prosecutors DOS protected and investigated the 2023 electoral fraud. A competent Guatemalan executive would work with Porras—one of the best US allies in the hemisphere—instead of against her as Arévalo does. Such collaboration would cripple guerrilla successors and bring security, investment, and opportunity to the country.
A grateful population would cooperate with local security forces, which would be effective with new leadership. Guatemalans have a distinct ability to know who is not from their immediate area. Local residents would identify suspicious people to security forces, facilitating arrests of traffickers.
Properly applying the law—imprisoning and extraditing transnational criminals—would make narcotraffickers avoid Guatemala. Trump could increase DOD sea and air interdiction, choking off cartel profits. This would weaken Maduro’s regime, the center of China’s influence in our hemisphere.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says “The United States will … hold accountable the corrupt, criminal, and illegitimate Maduro regime … Those who steal elections and use force to grasp power undermine America’s national security interests.”This applies to Arévalo, who is part of the Venezuela-backed Puebla Group. It has supported his illegal presidency. Maduro will laugh off Rubio’s statement while the US ambassador and DCM in Guatemala support Arévalo.
This article first appeared in BizPac Review.
