Grenell: Biden team 'weaponizing their power against conservatives in Guatemala'

'I’ve spent the last few days in Guatemala listening to some horrific stories of State Department officials trying to intimidate Guatemalans from criticizing Left wing policies,' Grenell wrote on X

By Nicholas Ballasy

Published: January 15, 2024 8:18pm

Richard Grenell, former acting director of national intelligence under former President Donald Trump, accused the Biden Administration of "weaponizing their power against conservatives in Guatemala."

Grenell, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 2018 to 2020, said he visited Guatemala and heard horrific stories from citizens.

"I’ve spent the last few days in Guatemala listening to some horrific stories of State Department officials trying to intimidate Guatemalans from criticizing Left wing policies. The Embassy has summoned business and political leaders to their offices to ask them to stop supporting the Attorney General, her work and conservative policies. They even demanded that people not support her re-election a few years ago. They are demanding people support Left wing policies or else," he wrote on X.

"This is an outrageous weaponization of visas, investigations and financial sanctions. Embassy officials have even threatened Magnitsky sanctions on some who continue to support the Attorney General of Guatemala. What the Biden team is doing to conservatives in America is exactly what they are doing overseas - thru the State Department’s INL and WHA leadership. It’s unAmerican and just may be illegal. I’ve called for the State Department IG to launch an investigation as quickly as possible. I know several U.S. Senators agree," he added.

Grenell responded to a post on X from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah about Guatemala.

"Why is @CBP holding Alejandro Giammatei for questioning at the airport in Miami? Could it have anything to do with this administration’s chronic disdain for his father, the conservative former president of Guatemala, who completed his term of office today?" Lee wrote.

Grenell replied, writing, "The Biden team is weaponizing their power against conservatives in Guatemala. They are ruining America’s brand when they do this."

Grenell also said that Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla and USAID Administrator Samantha Power "are united in their views that the Progressive Left in Guatemala won the election and must be put into power."

"Cuba stands with Biden," he wrote on X.