President of ‘unapologetically pro-life’ Guatemala snubbed by Biden White House

After Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei was not extended an invitation to the recent Summit for Democracy hosted by the Biden-Harris administration, he announced that his country will soon become the pro-life capital of Latin America. According to a statement from the Institute for Women’s Health, the White House’s snub was almost certainly because of Guatemala’s pro-life policies.

“Guatemala was not invited to take part in the Summit, despite being a democratic nation,” the statement read. “Alfonso Aguilar, president of the International Human Rights Group, suggested that ideological differences were likely a significant reason for the country’s omission, since Guatemala is unapologetically pro-life.”

“Doing one’s duty should go without thanks. And all I have done has been my duty,” said Giammettei in the keynote speech at an event hosted by the Institute for Women’s Health and the International Human Rights Group. “Every individual deserves to have their lives protected, from conception to natural death. … It is totally false that abortion is a human right. Any effort to try to impose abortion in a country is undue interference in international affairs. We seek to protect life and to prevent interference. We do not approve of abortion because of my faith but also my profession as a medical doctor. Life should be protected from conception.”

“We should not be demanded to adopt ideas that go against our beliefs, our faith, and our ideas, even if it costs getting invited to the White House,” he added.

Guatemala was one of 35 countries, representing over 1 billion people, to join the Geneva Consensus Declaration last year, which declared that abortion is not a human right. At the time, the United States signed onto the declaration under the Trump administration, though the Biden-Harris administration rescinded that participation shortly after Joe Biden took office. Guatemala also blocked Planned Parenthood from operating within the country, specifically due to its role as an abortion business. In 2017, Women on Waves attempted to get Guatemalan women to board a Dutch ship in order to take them into international waters for abortions — but the Guatemalan military blocked the ship, with a Guatemalan citizen even calling out, “Why don’t you go to the Netherlands to kill children?”

It was during the recent speech in Washington, D.C., that Giammettei announced that his country would become the pro-life capital of Latin America.

“Our Government has promoted the Public Policy for the Protection of Life and the Family as an Institution,” he said. “Let me even share with you that Guatemala will be declared the Ibero-American Pro-Life Capital on March 9.” The announcement was applauded by the Family Matters Association of Guatemala (AFI) in a statement after the speech.

“This has been the result of years of work, both by civil society and by organizations that actively work to support life, family and freedom, as well as by officials in different administrations who have used their positions to courageously defend these values,” the statement read. “In addition, it is the reflection of the values of Guatemalan society. Being pro-life is in our DNA as Guatemalans!”