Guatemala calls for help over repression of smugglers after death of Mexican migrants, Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Guatemala on Friday called on the United States to encourage investment in the country and elsewhere in Central America, and called for crackdown on smuggling groups after killing dozens of migrants in a truck accident in Mexico.

Guatemalan and Mexican officials have pledged to deal with international smuggling networks accused of Thursday’s crash, which killed at least 55 Guatemalan migrants.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard has said a regional “action group” has been set up to fight human smuggling networks and is backed by the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and the United States.

The group will “investigate, identify, learn and bring to justice the leaders of the organization responsible for this human tragedy,” Ebrard said in a televised press conference.

Along with Ebrard, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo called on Washington to invest in alleviating poverty in the region and called for tougher sanctions against criminals who benefit from illegal immigration.

“We urge the US Government to support the development and investment in our country, as well as in the surrounding countries, in order to prevent and ensure that these tragedies do not recur,” he added.

Brolo also proposed that the governments of Guatemala, Mexico and the United States hold a meeting soon to align and normalize migration policies.

Every month, thousands of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central America travel across Mexico to reach the U.S. border. Under dangerous conditions they often get into large trucks arranged by smugglers.