Over the past year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has received $170 million from the Guatemalan government for road and port infrastructure projects that are deepening its dependence on the U.S.
Juan Luis García writes in the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) website on the increasing US military presence in Guatemala and how it is seemingly replacing normal diplomatic channels. As is the way with vassal states, Guatemala may well end up paying for this privilege.
In June, dozens of ships encountered lengthy queues arriving at Puerto Quetzal on Guatemala’s Pacific coast. Limited infrastructure means that ships must wait weeks to dock. President Bernardo Arévalo sought to address these problems since the start of his presidency in 2024, when he went beyond the usual cooperation with the United States and requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) evaluate the port’s modernization project. These efforts, which started under the administration of Joe Biden, gained momentum under Donald Trump, who embraced the port construction plans estimated to cost over $700 million. As a result, Puerto Quetzal has become the only port in Central America to rely on the U.S. military to modernize its infrastructure.
In January 2025, when Trump took office, many in Guatemala speculated about how the relationship between him and Arévalo, a social democrat from a small Central American country, would play out. The effects of the Trump administration’s emboldened national security agenda in Latin America were soon felt in Guatemala as the country’s military officials became the primary interlocutors with Washington, displacing the conventional suit-and-tie diplomats.
The USACE’s involvement in the port demonstrates the United States’ renewed military interest in maintaining a presence in the region. Within a year, the Guatemalan government awarded the USACE a series of multimillion-dollar contracts; in return, the United States lifted its arms embargo on Guatemala—in place since 1977. The new infrastructure contracts plus recent arms purchases by the Guatemalan government have now cemented Washington’s influence in the country for the coming decade.
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Despite the Guatemalan government’s categorical denial that such [military] operations are going to take place, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has continued to push for Guatemala’s involvement in its “anti-narcotics” campaign. In the interview, [Guatemalan Defense Minister Henry David] Sáenz clarified that U.S. military personnel are present in Guatemala—including aircraft mechanics, personnel providing cybersecurity training, and contingents training Guatemalan special forces—but that the only ones “conducting military operations on national territory are the Guatemalan Army.”
The intervention has also taken place at the political level. In March, just as Congress was preparing to elect justices to the country’s highest court, John Barrett—the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy—called Guatemalan lawmakers to express his support for Justice Roberto Molina Barreto. Although Arévalo requested clarification from the State Department, he received no response. For his part, Barrett publicly stated that they would respect election processes.
You can read the full piece, with links and photos, here, Guatemala’s Future with the United States is Sealed at a Port. You can also access the original Spanish version here.
Categories: Environment, Guatemala, Human Rights, Indigenous peoples, Military
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
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