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Guatemalan Opposition to Protest against US Troop Deployment
The oppositions in the Guatemalan parliament said Wednesday they will protest against the deployment of US troops in the north of the country, on the border with Mexico.
Nineth Montenegro, the congresswoman of leftist New Nation Alliance (ANN), said her group will protest the arrival as it took place before the approval of Congress on Tuesday.
A hundred US soldiers of a total of 400 arrived by the end of January in the state of Peten, where they will stay for months, said reports coming from Guatemala City earlier.
The independent representative, Anabella de Leon, said the law is not retroactive, which means the US troops violated migratory laws and the sovereignty of the country for they entered prior to the legislative authorization.
Both congresswomen said they will present to the Constitutional Court and the Attorney General's office a denunciation against President Alfonso Portillo for he authorized the entry of troops without Congress approval.
According to a legislative resolution, the US troops, staying in Peten as part of the "New Horizons 2001" plan, will carry out only humanitarian operations, including building five schools and five bridges, digging a number of water wells, repairing roads and offering medical assistance.
However, Mexican press surmise that the presence of the troops is related to a plan against the Zapatista rebels in southeast Mexico and stopping Central American immigrants through the region on their way towards the United States.
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