$900,000 Worth of US Lobbying Could Have Been Accomplished by Guatemalan Embassy in US

In January 2022, we learned that the Guatemalan government was planning to spend $900,000 on Washington-based lobbyists.

At the time, people raised many questions about the need to take money from a third party to hire a lobby more focused on the needs of the government than the needs of the country and its people.

Time seems to have proved us right, because when you look at the list of what this money delivered, it even included a meeting that reportedly took place with representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala.

Finding this difficult to believe, we asked around, and an embassy spokesman denied that there was any meeting with hired lobbyists or contractors.

Maybe someone at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thought here at La Hora we don’t know about the how the world works or about lobbyists and the role they play in Washington. That would explain why they have produced a list that raises significant concerns.

The Guatemalan government does not need lobbyists to approach the U.S. Embassy, and the Guatemalan ambassador to the U.S. could have made every appointment mentioned in the report every appointment mentioned in the report.

Alfonso Quiñónez, Guatemala’s ambassador to the U.S., has access to nearly all if not all of the people cited. I’m not saying this because I was told, but because I know what contacts an ambassador has in Washington.

Our relationship with Taiwan is complicated, and when you see situations like this it is hard to forget about the bribes made to former Guatemala President Alfonso Portillo, bribes that would forever change his destiny once Taiwan realized he was becoming a problem.

President Alejandro Giammattei and Miguel Martínez are not having their best moment in their relationship with the U.S., and this is taking place in the same context that involved bribes from Taiwan. If the funds were used for meetings as they claim, they wasted their money because I have no doubt that the Guatemalan Embassy could organize the same kind of meetings.

Of course, it’s possible they are lying and the meetings taking place that are more important for Giammattei and Martínez’s plans are not being reported to the press.

The position of those in charge is difficult because although they have access to individuals they consider their Republican and Protestant allies, the dynamics in Washington provide a clear picture of what is happening, and the fact that we continue to use people as our chief export speaks volumes about the reality we are living in.

Something smells fishy, and truthfully, it’s not surprising about this government. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala Mario Búcaro knows that the reported $900,000 is an absurd figure. I assume that if Búcaro does not want to forever be associated with this fiasco, he will provide a clear and credible explanation to the public, up to and including the moment the president turns red with anger, and he tells him exactly how he is going to die.