Welcome, welcome, welcome to some more political news! Today, we focus on Vice President Kamala Harris and her trip to Guatemala as well as the backlash she has received, and dive into the plans of the Biden Administration’s creation of a new task force to tackle the economic issues in America. Let’s get right into the scoop! 

On June 6th, NPR reported Vice President Kamala Harris’ arrival in Guatemala, her first foregin trip in office, in order to help solve the deep rooted-problem which has caused tens of thousands Central American people to attempt to seek asylum at the United States Mexico border. Creating a humanitarian challenge, Biden has received severe criticism for how he is handling immigration and Harris had gotten backlash before Sunday about not visiting the border. While visiting, she focused on Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, the three being known as the Northern Triangle. Natural disasters and an influx in violence over the span of decades has resulted in corruption and poverty in these countries. They are still facing issues from years ago (Kieth). 

BBC reports that on June 7th, Harris warned against illegal immigration to America in a news conference with the Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei. She stated, “Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders. If you come to our border, you will be turned back.” She further stressed the importance of working together to come up with solutions, to Giammattei that the fight against drug trafficking should be a primary component to keep in mind when discovering these solutions, and that both countries should be focusing on prosperity. Harris also announced that America would send 500,000 COVID vaccines and $26 million to Guatemala in order to fight the virus (“Kamala Harris Tells Guatemala Migrants: ‘Do Not Come to US’”).

Other NPR writers further explained Harris’ other statements including the one about the formation of an anti-corruption task force. This force would be made up of officials from the department of Justice, Treasury, and State. Primarily addressing corruption and human smuggling, Harris made it clear that it would make sure progress is made as these issues decrease the people’s morale in its government and leaders. However, Giammattei has opposed the accusations of corruption. Another announcement from Harris is the distribution of $40 million in order to boost the education and economic opportunity accessible for indigenous women and girls (Naylor).

However, it is important to note the response that Harris has received, and the other issues that are being brought to light due to the border crisis. BBC explained on the 8th that members of the Democratic party have collectively attacked her due to the “do not come” statements in Guatemala. Further, she recently had an interview with NBC News, released on Tuesday morning, where she deflected the host’s questions based on why she hasn’t visited the US-Mexico border under these conditions (“Kamala Harris under Pressure to Visit US-Mexico Border”). 

On the 8th, the Associated Press reported that the Biden Administration will create a task force, led by the securities of Commerce, Agriculture, and Transportation, in order to investigate the congestion in the semiconductor, construction, transportation, and agriculture sectors with the goal to increase domestic manufacturing, limit the shortage of crucial goods, and reduce the dependence of competitors like China. Supply chains are key to national security, the economy’s stability, and global leadership, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made supply chains incredibly vulnerable. Further, the mass decrease of raw materials has hindered the US’ ability to economically recover. The task force will focus on fixing the mismatch between supply and demand in the economy (Boak). 

BBC further explained how they will investigate trade rule violations in order to find solutions to refute it. The US over this pandemic has suffered mass difficulties in many areas such as the possession of medical equipment, shortage of computer chips, and stalling of car production. The US Department of Commerce is contemplating investigating the national security impact of neodymium magnet imports which are used in motors and defence and is primarily sourced from China, illuminati making America less dependent on its competitors (“Biden Strike Force to Target ‘Unfair’ Trade”).

I hope you found this article useful and learned more about what is going on in the US in relation to other countries and what the Biden administration has in store. Come back for more political scoop! 

Works Cited 

“Biden Strike Force to Target ‘Unfair’ Trade.” BBC News, BBC, 8 June 2021, www.bbc.com/news/business-57403210. 

Boak, Josh. “Biden to Launch Task Force on Bottlenecks in Supply Chains.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 9 June 2021, apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-business-government-and-politics-18507296bc00039214cb3909422ea0d4. 

“Kamala Harris Tells Guatemala Migrants: ‘Do Not Come to US’.” BBC News, BBC, 8 June 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57387350. 

“Kamala Harris under Pressure to Visit US-Mexico Border.” BBC News, BBC, 8 June 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57408094. 

Keith, Tamara, and Carrie Kahn. “Harris Heads To Guatemala And Mexico As Part Of A ‘Buzz Saw’ Assignment.” NPR, NPR, 6 June 2021, www.npr.org/2021/06/06/1003371129/harris-heads-to-guatemala-and-mexico-as-part-of-a-buzz-saw-assignment. 

Naylor, Brian, and Tamara Keith. “Kamala Harris Tells Guatemalans Not To Migrate To The United States.” NPR, NPR, 8 June 2021, www.npr.org/2021/06/07/1004074139/harris-tells-guatemalans-not-to-migrate-to-the-united-states.