SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The Guatemalan government has announced it is sending military forces to its border with Mexico to prevent “transnational crime and for the protection of its own citizens.”
Guatemala Minister of Defense Henry Sáenz, said they will form a “ring of fire” along the border with a military presence on the ground and in the air.
According to Sáenz, the order came from Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo de León.
The president has said one of his biggest priorities is to fight organized crime, drugs and the trafficking of people.
Troops are being sent primarily to the cities of San Marcos, Heuhuetenango and Petén along with the westernmost point along the border with the Mexican state of Chiapas.
Guatemala’s Department of Defense did not specify the number of military personnel being deployed, but this week, Sáenz told reporters they intend to fight the drug trade and the trafficking of weapons and people.
Both Sáenz and President Arévalo de León refused to say if the troop deployment had anything to do with last month’s visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.