Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announced last week that his country has apprehended and deported nearly 100 ISIS-linked operatives. He says they captured them and deported them to their country of origin. He also claims that they have captured 1,000 gang members, mostly MS-13. If this is true, it’s alarming that ISIS is set up so close to us.
Of course, it may not be true. President Trump has threatened to cut the countries the caravan passes through from foreign aid immediately. Morales could be trying to win favor with Trump, after his troops stepped aside and let the caravan pass through their border.
According to Todd Bensman of the Center for Immigration Studies, Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre quoted Morales as saying that his administration had captured “close to 100 people completely linked to terrorist issues, with ISIS, and that not only have we arrested them within our territory, but they have been deported to their countries of origin.”
Judicial Watch reported that Guatemala’s head of intelligence claimed that “several of the terrorists were Syrians caught with fake documents” and that Morales said the country had also taken more than 1,000 gang members into custody, including members of MS-13.
Morales made the remarks at the Oct. 11 Conference for Prosperity and Security in Central America, which was attended by several senior U.S. officials, including Vice President Mike Pence.
At the present time, Morales is trying to get 15 billion from the United States. That does add a little salt to his statements. But it is a possibility we should not ignore.
More from Judicial Watch:
All this makes ISIS terrorists operating in Guatemala incredibly alarming. President Jimmy Morales confirmed it during a recent security conference attended by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as well as the presidents of Honduras and El Salvador and other Latin American dignitaries. Morales said that his administration has captured “close to 100 persons completely involved with terrorists, with ISIS and we have not only detained them within our territory, but they have been deported to their country of origin.” Several of the terrorists were Syrians caught with fake documents, according to Guatemala’s head of intelligence. At the same event, President Morales also revealed that Guatemalan authorities captured more than 1,000 gangbangers, including members of the MS-13.