Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

While meeting on the morning of June 6 with a delegation led by Guatemala Congressional President Mario Taracena, President Tsai Ing-wen expressed hope that Taiwan and Guatemala can continue to enhance substantive bilateral cooperation and work for a lasting alliance.

In remarks, President Tsai noted that during her inauguration this past May Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales asked First Lady Hilda Patricia Marroquin Argueta de Morales to lead the Guatemalan congratulatory delegation to Taiwan for the event, and the fact that the congressional president has now led another delegation here shows that relations between the two countries are quite close. Mr. Taracena is a staunch friend of Taiwan who, in the many important posts he has held since first becoming a congressional deputy over 30 years ago, has worked very hard to promote bilateral diplomatic relations. And this past January, she added, Mr. Taracena was elected the Guatemala congressional president.

Commenting on diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Guatemala, President Tsai noted that official ties date back over 80 years, reciprocal visits are frequent, and cooperative ties are close. President Morales advocates transparent governance and emphasizes three major areas of focus: basic infrastructure, medical care and health, and education—and Taiwan, as a member of the international community, is more than willing to work together with Guatemala to promote substantive bilateral cooperation. "We will do everything we can to contribute," she said, adding that she hopes the two countries can continue to enhance their friendship through jointly devising bilateral cooperative projects.

President Tsai also mentioned that Mr. Taracena would soon proceed to the Legislative Yuan to meet for lunch with Legislative Yuan President Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全). Mr. Su, just like Mr. Taracena, was elected early this year to head the national legislature. President Tsai expressed hope that the two congressional leaders will engage in a full exchange of experiences in the conduct of legislative proceedings.

Also included in the delegation were Deputies Luis Hernandez, Jean Paul Briere, and Javier Hernandez.