By Sofia Menchu
GUATEMALA CITY, May 28 (Reuters) - Guatemala has requested U.S. military cooperation spanning access to equipment, training, and experts to assist Guatemalan operations against drug trafficking, President Bernardo Arevalo said on Thursday.
The joint plans stopped short of U.S. military operations on Guatemalan soil and fall within existing bilateral agreements, the government noted.
"There is no agreement authorizing foreign military operations on national territory," the government
said in a statement.
It added that Arevalo and Guatemala's Defense Minister Henry Saenz had spoken with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to confirm the terms for U.S. cooperation, after Saenz had requested help. The deal was intended to expand on a strategy implemented in 2024.
"We have discussed the possibilities of intensifying the collaboration that has been taking place within the framework of existing bilateral agreements," Arevalo told reporters.
The New York Times first reported on the recent talks. In a report on Wednesday, it characterized the move as part of a broader White House strategy to normalize a U.S. military presence across Latin America to gain leverage over Mexico. The Pentagon also intends to press Honduras to accept joint military action, according to the report.
The Pentagon said it would not speculate on future operations or discuss matters of operational security.
"Under Secretary Hegseth’s leadership, the Department will continue working with trusted partners to defend the Homeland and secure the Western Hemisphere," Pentagon spokesperson Joel Valdez said in an emailed statement.
The White House said the "Administration continues to work to carry out the president's agenda."
The Honduran embassy in the U.S. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has long maintained she welcomes intelligence-sharing and security cooperation but will not accept U.S. agents or forces participating in operations on Mexican territory.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for greater use of U.S. military force to combat Mexican cartels, and has threatened that the U.S. could go it alone if Washington feels Mexico is not doing enough.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan and Chandni Shah in Bengaluru and Sofia Menchu in Guatemala; Additional reporting by Raul Cortes and Natalia Siniawski in Mexico City, Editing by Tomasz Janowski, David Holmes, Rod Nickel)
