DISINFO: US troops sent to the Guatemalan border with Mexico to curb immigration
SUMMARY
US troops, sent to help fight illegal migration, are already in the country. The troops have been deployed to the border department of Huehuetenango, neighbouring Mexico, one week after two countries signed a cooperation agreement.
RESPONSE
The US did not send troops to patrol the Guatemalan border and fight illegal migration. On May 31, The Washington Post reported on a US plan to send to Guatemala dozens of agents and investigators of the Department of Homeland Security, who will work as “advisers” to Guatemala’s national police and migration authorities and will aim to disrupt and interdict human smuggling operations. Personnel of the Department is composed of police agents and civilians, not soldiers. The story fits in the recurring narrative of a US aggressive and militaristic approach to any problem, and was reproduced by many outlets in the Kremlin-linked media ecosystem in several languages. You can see other examples of this here, here, here and here.