Guatemala

French presence

• French community in Guatemala: 960 French nationals registered, 36% of whom are binationals.
• Guatemalan community in France: 684 people registered. 

Visits

• Visit to Guatemala by Ms Samantha Cazebonne, Senator for French nationals abroad, from 20 to 22 April 2024.
• Visit by President Bernardo Arévalo to France on 19 February 2024.
• From 9 to 15 January 2024, Ms Éléonore Caroit, National Assembly Deputy for the 2nd constituency of French nationals abroad (Latin America and the Caribbean), travelled to Guatemala, where she represented France at the inauguration of President Bernardo Arévalo.
• Mr Christian Rapha, Mayor of Saint-Pierre (Martinique), travelled to Guatemala in December 2021 to sign a twinning agreement between the cities of Antigua Guatemala in Guatemala and Saint-Pierre in Martinique.
• A delegation from the French Senate’s France-Mexico and Central America Friendship Group visited Guatemala from 8 to 13 February 2020.
• From 14 to 18 September 2017, Ms Paula Forteza, National Assembly Deputy for the constituency of French nationals in Latin America and the Caribbean, travelled to Guatemala to meet the French community there.
• Visit by President Jimmy Morales to France, from 8 to 11 June 2017.
• Visit by Mr Jean-Pierre Bel to Guatemala from 6 to 8 April 2016, during which he was received by the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Carlos Raúl Morales.
• Visits by the Guatemalan Ministers of the Economy and of Foreign Affairs to Paris, in September and November 2013.
• Visit by the Minister Delegate for French Nationals Abroad from 16 to 20 May 2013. 

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

The cooperation budget is regionwide and projects are implemented from the regional SCAC, based in Costa Rica. French cooperation efforts are implemented through the network of Alliance Française branches in Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango and Antigua Guatemala, which had a total of 1,248 students in 2022, as well as the French Lycée Jules Verne, which had 973 students in the 2022-2023 academic year.

The regional office of the Centre for Mexican and Central American Studies (CEMCA) ensures coordination with the scientific and academic communities, in the fields of social sciences and archaeology, which are important aspects of our cooperation.

Other cooperation

Guatemala maintains decentralized cooperation with Martinique, via a twinning agreement between the cities of Antigua Guatemala in Guatemala and Saint-Pierre in Martinique.