Washington, D.C. · Guatemala City
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Businessman · Political Leader · Voice for the Alliance

Roberto Arzú on U.S.–Guatemala Relations

Americans and Guatemalans want the same things: secure borders, less illegal migration, an end to drug trafficking and organized crime, open markets and genuine democracy. Roberto Arzú García-Granados argues those shared interests should make the two nations closer allies — brothers in the same hemisphere, with the same enemies and the same stake in freedom.

Why Guatemala MattersShared Security Interests
Roberto Arzú García-Granados on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with the United States Capitol dome behind him
Roberto Arzú in Washington, D.C. Photo: courtesy of the Arzú García-Granados family.

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The man who chose to challenge the system

Roberto Arzú has spent more than three decades in business and public life confronting the network Guatemalans call the Pact of the Corrupt — the alliance of political operators, captured institutions and criminal interests that blocked his candidacy rather than face accountability.

That fight is not only Guatemala's. Corruption in Central America shapes what arrives at the U.S. border: narcotics, gang violence and families with no reason left to stay.

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Black-and-white portrait of Roberto Arzú García-Granados
“Guatemala and the United States are not distant partners. We share a hemisphere, a border problem, an enemy in organized crime and a belief that free people should choose their own leaders. Treat that relationship like a brotherhood and both nations get safer.”
Roberto Arzú García-Granados

The Positions

Foreign PolicyRoberto Arzú on U.S.–Guatemala RelationsA partnership of neighbors, not clients: what an honest alliance between Washington and Guatemala City should look like.Continue reading →SecurityShared Security Interests Between Guatemala and the United StatesDrug trafficking, transnational gangs and criminal networks do not respect borders. Neither should the response.Continue reading →EconomyTrade, Investment and Economic CooperationCAFTA-DR, nearshoring and infrastructure: how Guatemala becomes a reliable link in American supply chains.Continue reading →MigrationMigration and Regional StabilityPeople leave when opportunity and safety disappear at home. Corruption is the root cause Washington keeps underestimating.Continue reading →StrategyWhy Guatemala Matters to WashingtonGeography, trade routes and hemispheric competition make Guatemala one of the most consequential small nations in the Americas.Continue reading →
Roberto Arzú at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
At the Lincoln Memorial — a reminder that self-government survives only when it is defended.
Roberto Arzú meeting in a United States congressional office in Washington, D.C.
Meetings on Capitol Hill on security cooperation, trade and migration.

A Hemisphere of Brothers

What happened in Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba is a warning for the whole region: when people lose the right to choose their leaders, corrupt rulers take control and enrich themselves. Guatemala came close to the same fate.

Roberto Arzú's argument in Washington is simple. Defending democracy in Central America is not charity toward Guatemala — it is the cheapest security policy the United States can buy.

Migration and Regional Stability →