Foreign minister invites Guatemalan president to visit Taiwan

Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) invited Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo to visit Taiwan at the end of his trip to the Central American country on Friday (Guatemala time).

Guatemala is the first stop on Lin's trip to five of Taiwan's Caribbean and Latin American diplomatic allies from Oct. 23 to Nov. 2. He is now heading to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to attend the country's 45th Independence Day celebrations on Oct. 27.

In a Facebook post, Lin said he met with President Arévalo on Friday and, on behalf of President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), extended an official invitation for Arévalo to visit Taiwan.

"Taiwan and Guatemala support each other," Lin said in the post.

"When Guatemala suffered unreasonable economic coercion from China, Taiwan promptly expanded its purchase of Guatemalan coffee. When Taiwan was unfairly treated by the World Health Organization, Guatemala also supported Taiwan," the minister added.

Lin also said he and his wife enjoyed a dinner at the presidential residence, during which Arévalo gave him a commemorative album relating to Guatemala's Revolution Day.

The national holiday in Guatemala is celebrated on Oct. 20 every year to honor the revolution of 1944 that led to the country's first national democratic elections the following year, Lin said in his post.

The revolution is "extremely important" to President Arévalo, according to Lin, because Arévalo's father, Juan José Arévalo Bermejo, became Guatemala's first democratically-elected president.

Lin said that prior to meeting the president, he also met with Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez, who recently visited Taiwan to attend Lai's May 20 inauguration.

Lin embarked on his first trip to Taiwan's diplomatic allies late on Wednesday and is scheduled to return on Nov. 2.

After attending St. Vincent and the Grenadines' 45th Independence Day celebrations on Oct. 27, Lin will make stops in St. Lucia, Belize and St. Kitts and Nevis.

In each country on the trip, Lin is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with leaders and high-ranking officials, and inspect the results of cooperative projects, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.