And right on cue: here’s Mauricio Claver-Carone, from the Trump White House, calling the President of Guatemala “infantile” for expressing concern about how US deportation policy is spreading a virulent pandemic to his country. 1/ prensalibre.com/guatemala/poli…
Claver-Carone says, with what passes for a straight face, that the US is the best ally Guatemala has ever had and the best ally Guatemala can ever hope for. Even leaving aside the monstrous historical ignorance of that, it’s a laughable (and offensive) deflection. 2/
US wants to continue deportations because it is perceived inside the WH as politically advantageous to Trump. Guatemala, which has virtually no leverage, is *willing* to accept deportation flights during the pandemic, but asks US not to deport people infected with the virus. 3/
US promises only to send those who have been tested & who aren’t infected. Then, when the deportation flights resume, dozens of deportees arrive in Guatemala City & immediately test positive for COVID-19. This is the context of Claver-Carone saying the US is your ‘best ally.’ 4/
BTW: Who is Mauricio Claver-Carone? A lawyer from South Florida who made a name for himself in Miami as a ferociously loud anti-Cuba partisan. That’s how he ingratiated himself w influential Republicans; & how, after a string of firings in 2018, he finds himself in the Trump WH.
