Tense immigration talk dampens Bush's visit
POSTED: 9:30 p.m. EDT, March 12, 2007

Story Highlights• NEW: Guatemalan president challenges Bush on immigration policy
• The leaders vowed to bolster fight against drug traffickers, gangs
• 80 percent of Guatemalans live in poverty
• President Bush visits sacred site; priests vow to cleanse air after his stay


GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AP) -- President Bush's message of goodwill in Latin America ran into a wall in Guatemala on Monday, as his defense of U.S. immigration law met with disapproval from his hosts.

Bush's meetings in Guatemala City with President Oscar Berger, a conservative leader who has become a strong U.S. ally, were dominated by trade and the difficult issue of immigration policy.

Bush pleased Guatemalans by promising to push hard, and quickly, for changes that would include a temporary-worker program for illegal workers in the United States.

He said he thinks it is possible to wrest legislation out of the U.S. Congress, still deeply divided over the issue, by August.

But he gave no ground in the face of questions over deportations of illegal workers, such as a raid in Massachusetts last week.

Federal authorities detained over 300 employees of a leather goods maker -- most from Guatemala and El Salvador -- for possible deportation as illegal aliens. The raid left dozens of young children stranded at schools and with baby sitters. (Agency seeks parents release)

"The United States will enforce our law," Bush said. "It's against the law to hire somebody who's in our country illegally."

Responded Berger: "The Guatemalan people would have preferred a more clear and positive response -- no more deportations."

Berger did say he "was very pleased" that Bush sees it as a problem not just for migrants and their home countries, but Americans as well.

Fighting poverty, drugs
Many who have protested Bush's visit don't agree with U.S. immigration policy and believe current trade agreements between the countries have kept Guatemalans from rising out of poverty.

The distribution of income throughout Guatemala is lopsided with the richest 20 percent receiving two-thirds of all income. More than 7 million Guatemalans live in extreme poverty.

However, one issue where the leaders found common ground was the battle against drug trafficking.

Guatemala wants technical assistance, such as helicopters, radar and other equipment, for the fight.

Bush praised Berger's commitment, and said he wants the U.S. to work with Mexico and other Central American countries on a regional partnership to halt drug trafficking and gangs.

He plans to discuss it Tuesday with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on his last stop of a five-nation tour.

Priests: We will clean air of Bush 'bad spirits'
Bush was treated to a welcoming ceremony in the courtyard of Guatemala's National Palace, where the 1996 peace accords were signed which ended a 36-year civil war in which the United States played a sometimes-checkered role.

Bush placed a white rose on the bronze memorial.

About 500 people marched toward the centrally located palace in Guatemala City to protest his visit, some carrying signs with anti-Bush messages and others burning an effigy of the president.

It was a scene similar to his visit Sunday to Colombia. (Watch violent clashes in Colombia's capital )

The Guatemala demonstration was mostly peaceful, but more than 5,000 police and soldiers surrounded the national palace to prevent it from getting too close to the president.

Before returning by helicopter to Guatemala City, the Bushes also took in Mayan ruins in the village of Iximche. (Full story)

Angry protesters shouted "No more blood for oil," and Mayan priests said they will purify the sacred archaeological site to rid it of "bad spirits" after Bush leaves.

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