Guatemala has hired a top ally of former President Donald Trump for $900,000 to seek influence with U.S. authorities in an unusual lobbying contract paid for by its ally Taiwan, according to official records.
Ballad Partners registered Jan. 13 as a foreign agent with the U.S. Justice Department, according to new documents released over the weekend. The contract, dated Jan. 12, was signed by Alfonso Quiñónez, Guatemala’s ambassador to the United States, and Brian Ballard, president of the eponymous lobbying firm and a longtime Trump ally.
In response to questions from The Associated PressTaiwanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Joanne Ou said the agreement followed the principle of “mutual assistance and mutual benefits to promote pragmatic diplomacy” based on the needs of Taiwan’s like-minded governments.
It was unclear how hiring Ballard, who worked for Trump as a lobbyist in Florida years before the businessman ran for president, would help Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei move closer to the Democratic administration of current U.S. President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly expressed concern about corruption in the Central American country.
The U.S. State Department on Sunday criticized the Giammattei government for trying to strip immunity from a judge who has been recognized in Washington for exposing bribery cases in Guatemala.
“This action against an independent judge with international recognition undermines a fundamental pillar of Guatemala’s democracy and judicial system,” spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
In his registration, Ballard said only that he will provide “advocacy and strategic consulting services” related to the interaction between Guatemala and the U.S. government and authorities.
Jutin Sayfie, a partner in Ballard’s Washington office, declined to comment further. But he noted that asking Taiwan to assume payment had not been the firm’s idea.
“It’s unusual for one government to pay lobbying fees for another government,” said Robert Kelner, a foreign lobbying compliance lawyer for Covington & Burling. “It’s not illegal. But it does raise a question of whether the government paying should also be included by the lobbying firm as a principal foreigner.”
In a statement, Guatemala thanked Taiwan for “support that allows us to strengthen our positioning in the United States.” The one-year contract with Ballard, for which it pays $75,000 a month, will focus on strategic communication, investor contact and tourism promotion, he added.
Guatemala is one of just 13 mostly small and developing countries that have full diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which split from mainland China during the 1949 civil war.
In the past, Taiwan has donated fleets of buses, agricultural equipment and other showy gifts to its allies. But it has not been able to compete with China, which considers Taiwan a rogue territory and has worked aggressively to isolate it from the international sphere.
Beijing recently consolidated diplomatic relations with Guatemala’s neighbors Nicaragua and El Salvador. Honduras’ new president, Xiomara Castro, also toyed with closer ties with Beijing during the campaign, but has since backtracked.
Giammattei, a conservative who based his campaign on security, managed to sidestep criticism in Washington and forge a good relationship with the Trump administration by bowing to pressure from the White House and accepting an asylum deal negotiated by his predecessor that he had opposed when he ran for president in 2019.
However, he has had trouble reaching out to the Biden administration, which is trying to dismantle Trump’s immigration strategy and has a tougher stance toward issues of corruption and rule of law in the nations of the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America.
Biden did not invite Giammattei to his democracy summit last year, and the vice president, Kamala Harris, said last June during a visit to Guatemala that she had a very frank conversation with the Guatemalan leader about the importance of maintaining an independent judiciary.
The erosion of judicial independence in Guatemala began before Giammatei took office, but has continued during his tenure.
Ballard will manage the account along with two associates with contacts in the Republican Party – Jose Diaz, a former Florida state representative who is managing director of Ballard’s Miami office, and Sayfie, who was an adviser to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and headed a White House leadership program commission during the Trump administration. A third associate who will represent Guatemala, John O’Hanlon, is a veteran Democrat.
Ballard won dozens of domestic and international lobbying clients during the Trump administration, including Qatar, the Dominican Republic and Zimbabwe, when Politico described him as “The most powerful lobbyist in Trump’s Washington.”
He has recently added several influential Democratic fundraisers to his lobby and named former Congressman Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat, managing director of his Washington office to bolster his contacts with the Biden White House.
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