WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday thanked the president of Guatemala for supporting the U.S. decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the White House said.

Trump and President Jimmy Morales met at the Washington Hilton hotel before they attended the annual National Prayer Breakfast. Journalists were not permitted to see the leaders meet.

The leaders discussed Venezuela and agreed to work on restoring democracy to the country, according to a White House statement issued after the meeting.

Trump also raised the issue of stopping illegal immigration to the U.S. from Guatemala, and addressing the Central American country’s security and economic challenges.

Morales recently showed his support for Trump when he announced that Guatemala would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, following the same announcement by Trump last December.

Guatemala is also one of nine nations that sided with the United States on a U.N. vote condemning the U.S. decision. </s> US President Donald Trump met briefly with his Guatemalan counterpart, Jimmy Morales, in Washington on Thursday and the pair agreed to work together to "restore democracy" in Venezuela.

The two leaders - who met for about 15 minutes at the Washington Hilton, where they were both attending the National Prayer Breakfast - also spoke about immigration and the similarity in their respective policies vis-a-vis Israel. </s> “At that time, they shall call Yerushalayim “Throne of Hashem,” and all nations shall assemble there, in the name of Hashem, at Yerushalayim. They shall no longer follow the willfulness of their evil hearts.” Jeremiah 3:17 (The Israel Bible™)

President Donald Trump thanked his Guatemalan counterpart, Jimmy Morales, for his announcement that he would move Guatemala’s embassy to Jerusalem.

“President Trump thanked President Morales for supporting the United States and Israel, and for his announced decision to move the Guatemalan embassy to Jerusalem,” a White House statement said.

In early December, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and announced that the United States would begin plans to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The two leaders met ahead of Trump’s appearance at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, held on Thursday morning. Since taking office in 2016, Morales, an Evangelical Christian, has been a strong supporter of Israel.

In late January, a delegation of American Jewish and Christian leaders visited with Morales in Guatemala, where they also affirmed their support for his “courageous act” regarding Jerusalem.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who joined the delegation to Guatemala, told JNS at the time that the visit was an important way to show the Guatemalans “that we are there for them, and that we support them.”

“It is a courageous act on their part,” he said, “and we don’t take them or it for granted.” </s> WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Thursday thanked the president of Guatemala for supporting the US decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the White House said.

Trump and President Jimmy Morales met at the Washington Hilton hotel before they attended the annual National Prayer Breakfast. Journalists were not permitted to see the leaders meet.

The leaders discussed Venezuela and agreed to work on restoring democracy to the country, according to a White House statement issued after the meeting.

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Trump also raised the issue of stopping illegal immigration to the US from Guatemala, and addressing the Central American country’s security and economic challenges.

Morales announced on December 24 he had recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and intended to relocate Guatemala’s embassy to Jerusalem, making his country the first to follow the US after Trump made the same announcement on December 6.

In a Facebook post about the embassy move, Morales said that he had instructed his country’s chancellor “to initiate the respective coordination so that it may be.” The decision followed a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the time.

The announcement was made in front of an image of Guatemalan and Israeli flags fluttering side by side in the wind. The leaders, Morales said, spoke about “the excellent relations that we have had as nations since Guatemala supported the creation of the State of Israel” at the 1947 UN partition vote.

Days before, the UN General Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution rejecting any recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in response to Trump’s pronouncement.

Guatemala was one of just nine nations that explicitly sided with the US in the vote.

Guatemala has had very friendly ties with Israel since its founding. In 1947, Guatemala’s ambassador to the UN, Jorge Garcia Granados, played a crucial role in convincing Latin American countries to vote in favor of General Assembly Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.

Guatemala was one of the first countries to recognize the nascent State of Israel in 1948, and the friendship has remained strong ever since.

Morales, who enjoys a large base of conservative Christian support, visited Israel in November 2016 to mark the 69th anniversary of the UN’s partition vote. Shortly after his election in 2015, Morales visited a synagogue in Guatemala City, met with members of the Jewish community, and declared his desire to visit Israel.

Guatemala is home to about 1,000 Jews out of a population of 15 million. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has met with the president of Guatemala.

Trump greeted President Jimmy Morales at the Washington Hilton hotel on Thursday before they both attended the National Prayer Breakfast.

Two issues that could have come up during their talks are U.S. aid to Guatemala and immigration policy.

Morales is an evangelical Christian and former comedian who has held the office for two years. He showed support for Trump recently when he announced that Guatemala would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, following the same announcement by the American president.

Guatemala is also one of nine nations that sided with the United States on a U.N. vote condemning the U.S. decision. </s> President Trump today met with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales at the Washington Hilton hotel today, before they attended the annual National Prayer Breakfast.

 Said Trump, “I love Guatemala, especially with chips and salsa,” according to Seth Meyers, on tonight’s Late Night.

“That’s the problem with Guatemala; there’s never enough,” Meyers joked.

 President Trump met Morales to thank him for supporting the U.S. move of its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the Associated Press reported of the private hotel meeting at which the press was not in attendance.

 Morales announced Guatemala would move its own embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, following Trump’s news last December. Guatemala also was one of nine nations that sided with the United States on a U.N. vote condemning the country’s announcement it was moving its embassy. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Guatemala will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in May, two days after the U.S. embassy makes the same move, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said on Sunday at a conference in Washington.

“I would like to thank President Trump for leading the way. His courageous decision has encouraged us to do what is right,” Morales said in a speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference, according to a translation of his remarks on the pro-Israel U.S. lobbying group’s website.

Guatemala was one of only a handful of countries that backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s December decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and it is the first country besides the United States to set a date for moving its embassy there. Trump’s move reversed decades of U.S. policy, upsetting the Arab world and Western allies.

Afterward, 128 countries defied Trump by backing a non-binding U.N. General Assembly resolution calling for the United States to drop its recognition of Jerusalem.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to forging a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as their capital.

The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.

The United States is an important source of assistance to Guatemala, and Trump had threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that supported the U.N. resolution.

Prior to 1980, Guatemala and a dozen other countries maintained an embassy in Jerusalem. Israel’s passage in June 1980 of a law proclaiming Jerusalem its “indivisible and eternal capital” led to a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on Guatemala and several other countries to move their embassies to Tel Aviv, prompting their transfer.

Morales said his decision to return the Guatemalan embassy to Jerusalem “strongly evidences Guatemala’s continued support and solidarity with the people of Israel.”

Morales, a former television comedian with an important base of conservative Christian support in the Central American country, became embroiled earlier this year in a dispute with the United Nations when a U.N.-backed anti-corruption body in Guatemala tried to impeach him.

Although Morales avoided impeachment, he failed in an attempt to expel the head of the body, the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, after criticism from the United Nations, the United States and the European Union. </s> Pretty much the entire planet, in a United Nations General Assembly resolution, slammed the US’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and its accompanying threat to cancel any US foreign aid to those countries who don’t agree with the the move.

Jimmy Morales, the Guatemalan president, announced plans to move the Guatemalan embassy to Jerusalem in solidarity with the move that the United States decided back in December.

At the United Nations, where 128 nations condemned the action, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley threatened any UN member nations that voted in accord with the UN resolution, which was followed up by a threat from the US President himself to cancel foreign aid to those nations, whose names were taken down by Haley. Euronews reports:

Guatemala is the first country to follow the US lead in relocating its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. It’s a controversial move, not just because it runs counter to a non-binding UN resolution, but because the international community has never recognized Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem. Guatemala has announced that it will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in May. President Jimmy Morales is following the lead of US President Donald Trump, who, back in December, announced plans to relocate his country’s embassy to the city. “I would like to thank President Trump for leading the way. His courageous decision has encouraged us to do what is right.” Trump’s stance provoked international condemnation, with 128 countries signing up to a non-binding UN resolution calling for the US to drop its recognition of Jerusalem. What is all the fuss about? Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital, and runs its government from the city. However, Palestinians also stake a claim in East Jerusalem, which was annexed by its neighbour and rival after the 1967 war. Wanting to defuse tensions in the region, the international community has tended to sidestep the issue, often basing their embassies in the financial centre of Tel Aviv instead. Donald Trump’s decision is widely perceived as an endorsement of Israel’s claims, and is likely to be a significant obstacle to any peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The cynics would say that Guatemala’s dependence on US aid lies behind its following of the US lead on Jerusalem. Donald Trump has threatened to cut off aid to countries that supported the UN resolution against it. Today, Secretary Tillerson met President @JimmyMoralesGt to discuss progress on countering narcotics trafficking, #Guatemala’s support for US positions at the @UN, and reaffirm @usembassyguate‘s support for President Morales’ anti-corruption efforts. pic.twitter.com/MUXsCssyUh However, President Morales said that his decision “strongly evidences Guatemala’s continued support and solidarity with the people of Israel”. In January a local Guatemalan lawyer, Marco Vinicio Mejia, challenged his President’s decision in the courts. However, the high court’s five magistrates turned down his petition, clearing the way for the move. When the news broke, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Jimmy Morales for his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. An excellent meeting with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales. I thanked him for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. I hope soon the Guatemalan embassy will move to Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/MyZzDbjM4C It is believed that Honduras may soon follow the lead of its fellow South-American country.

The embassy move is supposed to take place two days following the US’s embassy move in mid May. Meanwhile, the Guatemalan ambassador, Sara Castenada, has been touring Jerusalem for an appropriate property to be acquired for that purpose.

The Latin American nation once held an embassy in Jerusalem, but withdrew it to Tel Aviv in accordance with a United Nations Security Council Resolution in 1980.

This action on the part of the Guatemalan government of course drew the thanks of the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, at a meeting with Morales in Guatemala City, as well as the gratitude of the US President Donald Trump, who expressed this sentiment during a meeting in Washington back in early February.

The Palestinians, on the other hand, condemn the choice of the Guatemalan government in making such a move. Palestinian legislator, scholar, and PLO Executive Committee member Hana Ashrawi vocally condemned the move as the Palestine News Network reports:

PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi has condemned the “dangerous and provocative” announcement made by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales at AIPAC’s annual conference to relocate the embassy of Guatemala from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “By taking such a step that defies international law, Mr. Morales, also besieged at home by charges of corruption and abuse of power, has partnered with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S President Donald Trump in violating international law and undermining the chances of peace,” Ashrawi said in an official statement. Ashrawi urged the international community, Arab and Islamic states “to intervene and hold the Israeli occupation and its partners to account for such flagrant violations and provocative actions that fuel the flames in an already volatile situation.”

This action, more than almost anything, demonstrates just how dependent the Latin American nation has become on US foreign aid. When Washington announced its intention to move its embassy to Jerusalem, Guatemala wasted no time in praising the action and announcing that it would follow suit.

President Trump’s threat of cancelling financial aid to dissenters seems to not even have been necessary to prompt such pandering from Guatemala, but which would have acted more as an assurance that Washington’s pets would not cross their boundaries. With such economic dependence, it is no wonder that when Washington says “jump”, Guatemala asks “how high?”

Buy us a coffee! ☕ Every Dollar, Pound and Euro you send us helps our publication stay active, reach more people and to continue to shed light on the social-political issues of our time. Will you help expose the lies of the mainstream media? As a reader of The Duran, you are well aware of all the propaganda and disinformation reported by the mainstream media. You know how important it is to bring real news to light. Please support The Duran and help us keep reporting on news that is fair, balanced, and real. </s> The Israel Allies Foundation (IAF) presented Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales with the foundation's most prestigious award in recognition of his recent decision to move his nation's embassy to Jerusalem.

"We are honored this evening to be presenting President Morales with our Israel Allies Award. The award itself is appropriately made from Jerusalem stone, a stone that is curried and found only in Israel," an IAF spokesperson said at the ceremony.

Guatemala was the first country to follow the United States in recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last December.

Although the decision sparked outrage among the international community, Morales believes he did the right thing.

"Many judge my decision because of my convictions and my faith. But I am proving to them I didn't do it just for that, but I did it because it was the right thing to do," he said at the presentation. "From the bottom of my heart, I tell you, I don't feel deserving of an award. I'm just trying to do the right thing and allow my God, my people, and history to judge me."

The IAF honored Morales by praying a special Hebrew blessing over him during the ceremony.

Earlier this year, CBN News went to Guatemala and spoke to the nation's leaders about their historic decision. They said their faith inspired them to make such a bold move on the international stage.

Vice President Jafeth Cabrera said his country is fulfilling biblical prophecy.

"Yes, we do share that idea, that prophesy is coming to pass and we are pleased that Guatemala is contributing to having that happen and we hope that it will soon be a reality," Cabrera said.

The vice president also said the declaration couldn't happen without prayer.

"This was key to us making the decision to express our Christ likeness and to express our faith. We did pray. It was something that we meditated on and that we later on shared with President Jimmy Morales," Cabrera said.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales. Trump thanks Morales for having supported the decision of the United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. They discuss various issues about the crisis in Venezuela, drug trafficking and the UN anti-corruption commission.