Taiwan pays $900,000 for ally Guatemala to lobby Washington

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MIAMI – Guatemala has hired for $900,000 a large protagonist of erstwhile President Donald Trump to question power with U.S. officials successful an antithetic lobbying declaration paid for by its state Taiwan, overseas lobby records show.

Ballard Partners registered arsenic a overseas cause with the U.S. Justice Department connected Jan. 13, according to caller filings made nationalist implicit the weekend. The contract, dated Jan. 12, was signed by Alfonso Quinonez, Guatemala's ambassador to the U.S., and Brian Ballard, president of the namesake lobbying steadfast and a longtime Trump ally.

It's not wide however hiring Ballard, who years earlier Trump ran for the White House worked for him arsenic a lobbyist successful Florida, volition beryllium capable to assistance Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei gully person to the Democratic medication of President Joe Biden, which has repeatedly expressed concerns astir corruption successful the Central American nation.

On Sunday, the U.S. State Department blasted Giammattei's authorities for seeking to assistance the immunity from prosecution of a justice who has won precocious honors successful Washington for exposing bribery successful Guatemala.

“This enactment against an internationally recognized autarkic justice weakens a captious pillar of Guatemala’s ideology and judicial system," spokesperson Ned Price said successful a statement.

In its registration, Ballard lone said it would supply “strategic consulting and advocacy services” related to Guatemala's interactions with the U.S. authorities and U.S. officials.

Justin Sayfie, a spouse successful Ballard’s Washington office, declined to remark further. But helium said that the petition for Taiwan to presume work for outgo was not the firm's idea.

“It's antithetic for 1 authorities to beryllium paying the fees for lobbying for different government,” said Robert Kelner, an lawyer specializing successful compliance with overseas lobbying laws for Covington & Burling. “It’s not illegal. But it does rise a question of whether the authorities that pays besides needs to beryllium listed by the lobbying steadfast arsenic a overseas principal."

Guatemala successful a connection thanked Taiwan for “the enactment that allows america to fortify our positioning successful the U.S." It said the 1 twelvemonth declaration with Ballard, for which it is paying $75,000 a month, volition absorption connected strategical communication, capitalist outreach and promoting tourism.

Guatemala is 1 of lone 13 mostly small, processing countries that inactive has afloat diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which divided from mainland communist-run China amid civilian warfare successful 1949.

Taiwan successful the past has donated fleets of buses, cultivation instrumentality and different high-profile gifts to its allies. But it's been incapable to vie with China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway territory and has aggressively worked to isolate it connected the satellite stage.

Recently, Beijing secured diplomatic designation from Guatemala's neighbors Nicaragua and El Salvador. Honduras’ caller president, Xiomara Castro, arsenic a campaigner besides threatened to unfastened ties to Beijing but but has since backtracked connected the idea.

Giammattei, a instrumentality and bid conservative, managed to bypass disapproval successful Washington and forge a productive narration with the Trump medication by yielding to the White House's unit to clasp an asylum statement negotiated by his predecessor that helium opposed erstwhile helium ran for the presidency successful 2019.

But he's struggled to physique adjacent ties to the Biden administration, which has sought to undo Trump's migration policies and taken a harsher look astatine corruption and regularisation of instrumentality issues successful the alleged “Norther Triangle” nations of Central America.

Biden didn't invitation Giammattei to his Democracy acme past twelvemonth and successful June Vice President Kamala Harris, successful a sojourn to Guatemala, described having a precise frank speech with the Guatemalan person astir the value of maintaining an autarkic judiciary.

The displacement toward a little autarkic justness strategy began earlier Giammattei took bureau but has continued connected his watch.

Ballard volition negociate the relationship on with 2 associates with extended ties to the Republican Party: Jose Diaz, a erstwhile Florida authorities typical who is simply a managing spouse of Ballard’s bureau successful Miami; and Sayfie, a 1 clip advisor to erstwhile Florida Governor Jeb Bush who besides headed the president’s committee connected White House Fellowships during the Trump administration. A 3rd subordinate representing Guatemala, John O’Hanlon, is simply a longtime Democrat.

Ballard amassed dozens of overseas and home lobbying clients during the Trump presidency — including Qatar, the Dominican Republic and Zimbabwe — erstwhile helium was described by Politico arsenic "The Most Powerful Lobbyist successful Trump’s Washington.”

More recently, it has added a fig of influential Democratic fundraisers and named erstwhile Congressman Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat, arsenic managing spouse of its Washington bureau to bolster its credentials with the Biden White House.

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AP writer Sonia Perez D. contributed to this study from Guatemala City.

Follow Goodman: @APJoshGoodman

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