This is the New World Report. I'm John Batchel with Professor Evan Ellis of the U.S. Army

War College. We are looking at Guatemala as Central American voters go and make choices

for these next years. Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are said to be the northern

triangle. You will recall in the early moments of the Biden administration, the northern

triangle was again identified as a source of immigration that was not welcome, illegal

immigration, parades of people heading north, driven by, were told crime and climate change

and opportunity in America. This was during the pandemic. Now Guatemala has had an election,

Honduras has had an election, El Salvador has a very popular man who doesn't seem to

need elections. We're going to Guatemala because the election is going to a second round.

And the headline tells of certain concerns. U.S. warrants interference could undermine

Guatemala election. Secretary Blinken added the U.S. government endorsed findings from observers

including the organization of American states over the votes validity and said undermining

the outcome would be, quote, a grave threat to democracy with far reaching implications.

Evan, who's seeking to undermine? Because when we last spoke of Guatemala, we had two clear

leaders who were going to the runoff. One leader, one of the leaders identified with the

elite of Guatemala, the other a challenger, a dissenter who's been speaking in what should

have say, iconoclastic terms about relationships outside of Guatemala's normal fare, meaning

China, of course. So who's seeking to undermine the election so far? Thank you.

John, well, to go off of Secretary Blinken's statement and anytime that you have the secretary

state as opposed to just the assistant secretary speaking out on a regional election that it

indicates, I think that the administration really wants to kind of highlight the importance

of this. But it would presumably be the same Guatemala elites who again, you know, want

...