Kamala Harris’ First Diplomatic Trip To Latin America On After Bumpy Start

Diplomatic trips are on the card for both the President of the United States and his Vice President this week. Kamala Harris kicked off by flying to Guatemala where she met President Alejandro Giammattei to discuss the immigration issues.

Joe Biden is set to fly to Europe later this week to attend the G7 Summit. Harris has been tasked with handling illegal immigration from Latin American countries. To move towards a resolution the trip to Guatemala and Mexico was planned.

On Sunday, June 6 Harris and her team left Joint Base Andrews in Maryland aboard the Air Force 2. The flight headed for Guatemala had to return back to Joint Base Andrews around 25-minutes after takeoff, Fox News reported. Once the aircraft landed at the base, the passengers and crew had to leave the aircraft.

Harris was seen with both her thumbs up. She stated that she was fine and the everyone on board had to say a little prayer. It was revealed that the flight had a mechanical problem that was not an immediate safety issue, CBS 4 reported. Spokesperson Symone Sanders revealed that the landing gear was not storing as it was supposed to. Thus, as a precaution, Air Force 2 turned back.

Boarding a separate aircraft, Harris and her team departed for Guatemala City without further incidents.

Arriving at the airbase in the capital, she was greeted by Guatemalan Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo. On Monday, June 7 the Vice President met with Giammattei. During the meeting, the delegates are to discuss the issues of corruption and trafficking in Guatemala as well as migration to the US.

During the meeting, Harris highlighted that people would not want to leave their homes, their families and their cultures behind for no reason. She said that the migration was mostly due to either threat of harm or for lack of opportunity to satisfy basic needs. With cooperation from the Guatemalan government, Harris hopes to break the cycle of migration.

To prevent people from being forced to embark on the perilous journey to the US, Harris has committed $310 million to Central American nations. It is a part of the $4 billion, four-year plan to better the economy of Central America, New York Times reported.

Harris’ meeting over the week will be an important stepping stone towards addressing the migration issues.