TAIPEI (Reuters) -Guatemala, one of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic allies, reaffirmed its support for the island on Thursday during a visit by President Bernardo Arevalo, who said his people will walk together with their “brothers” in Taiwan.
Guatemala is one of only 12 countries to retain formal ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan and Beijing has been stepping up its campaign to win those nations over to its side. Taiwan says it has every right to forge state-to-state relations and Beijing has no right to interfere.
Arevalo, on his first trip to Taiwan since taking office last year, said at a welcome ceremony with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te that the two sides were firm friends and “brotherly peoples”.
“We thank our ally for the support we have always received over these more than 90 years. We reaffirm the support of the Republic of Guatemala for the Republic of China, Taiwan,” he said at the presidential office, referring to the island’s formal name.
“On behalf of the people of Guatemala, I extend our hand to the people of Taiwan with the confidence that we will walk together along the path toward shared well-being, which we will make more profound and more comprehensive today.”
Arevalo is being accompanied by his foreign and economics ministers.
Lai, standing next to Arevalo, said Taiwan and Guatemala will keep deepening their cooperation
“Although our two countries are geographically distant but the ideals and values of the two peoples are closely intertwined,” he said.
The United States has been concerned about China’s efforts to snatch away Taiwan’s allies, especially in Latin America.
In February, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Guatemala’s relations with Taiwan while on a visit to the country, saying the United States would help support it.
In 2023, Taiwan’s then-president, Tsai Ing-wen, went to Guatemala a week after neighbouring Honduras severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in favour of Beijing.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Adolfo Arranz in Hong Kong; Editing by Michael Perry)
