Walls Won’t Stop Migration to U.S, Says Guatemala Election Leader

(Bloomberg) -- Immigration to the U.S. will continue unless Guatemala boosts development and economic growth to alleviate the poverty that has driven millions to flee, said vice-presidential candidate Carlos Raul Morales, whose ticket leads the vote count after Sunday’s election.

The U.S. State department announced on Monday it would cut new funds to Central America until migration slows. President Donald Trump subsequently wrote on Twitter that Guatemala was ready to sign a safe third-country agreement.

"We can sign all the agreements we want, and build all the walls we want, but if we don’t create development in the country, migration will continue," Morales said during an interview in Guatemala City. "Governments in Guatemala haven’t focused on attending to families in extreme poverty. If we don’t boost development, no one will stop migration."

Morales, who is running with former first lady Sandra Torres, said that their administration would target impoverished rural areas with social programs to help lower rates of child malnutrition and extreme poverty. He said they will seek to pass laws that encourage informal workers - who make up 70% of the country’s workforce -- to join the formal sector, broadening the tax base. Torres won the first round of voting on Sunday, but faces a run-off vote in August.

Tax reform will be necessary "sooner or later," he added, though not immediately in order to protect a "fragile economy." The IMF recommended a "comprehensive tax reform" to finance social spending in a review of the country published on Monday.

A former foreign affairs minister, Morales said he would seek common ground with the U.S, if elected, even as relations have soured amid aid cuts.

"I don’t believe in tense relations, I don’t believe in fighting," he said. "President Trump is defending his interests, and us our interests. We have to find a way to build bridges."

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael McDonald in San Jose, Costa Rica at mmcdonald87@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Matthew Bristow at mbristow5@bloomberg.net

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.