Guatemalan President Wants Day Labor Centers All Over the U.S.

America is my country - NOT AN INTERNATIONAL WELFARE OFFICE

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Guatemalan leader visits:
President aims to improve ties with migrant community

By Maria Herrera South Florida Sun-Sentinel Posted February 18 2007

Surrounded by day laborers wanting to shake his hand, Guatemalan President Oscar Berger Perdomo made his way through a day labor center Saturday where he met with Guatemalan community leaders and elected officials. "I came to listen to their preoccupations and needs," Berger told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "These people are the heroes and heroines of Guatemala."

In 2005, remittances to Guatemala from the United States topped $3 billion and exceeded the total volume of the Central American nation's annual exports or tourism income. Around 3.7 million Guatemalans -- around a third of the population -- receive remittances.

Berger said he wishes centers like El Sol could open all over the United States to help the immigrant community.

He hopes to relay that message to President Bush when he visits Guatemala next month. "Thanks for those blessed remittances," he said. "They have allowed your families to rise from poverty."
(Our take: Like so many nations to the south, the Guatemalan President has no economic plan of his own to lift his country's citizens out of poverty. Too much corruption prevents that and the country's elites couldn't care less. Easier to encourage the poor among them to leave and just send back the money. Then everyone can be a "hero".)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cguatpresident18feb18,0,2829943.story?coll=sfla-news-broward