By Sofia Menchu
GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 19 (Reuters) - In a bid to strengthen anasylum deal forged between Guatemala's outgoing president andthe United States, a U.S. official offered on Monday to triplethe number of temporary farmworker visas available toGuatemalans.
Last month, under threat of painful sanctions issued by U.S.President Donald Trump, Guatemala's Jimmy Morales agreed torequire U.S.-bound Hondurans and Salvadorans to seek refuge inGuatemala instead of proceeding north.
The deal, known as a "safe third country" agreement, ismeant to reduce U.S. asylum claims. While hailed by Trump, ithas also provoked widespread criticism from rights groups citingthe risks of sending vulnerable people to a country with endemicpoverty and violence.
Guatemala's incoming president, Alejandro Giammattei, won arunoff election earlier this month and said afterwards that thedeeply unpopular deal still needs to be approved by Guatemala'slegislature as well as the U.S. Congress, further complicatingits future.
The conservative Giammattei, who takes office in January,has also criticized the deal as "not right for the country,"citing Guatemala's lack of resources to provide for asylumseekers.
On a trip to Guatemala this week, White House Latin Americaadviser Mauricio Claver-Carone sought to shore up support forthe deal.
"We could help Guatemala by tripling the H-2A program," hetold reporters on Monday at the U.S. ambassador's residence inthe Guatemalan capital.
The H-2A visa is for temporary foreign farmworkers and lastyear nearly 4,000 Guatemalans were recipients, according to U.S.government data.
Mexican farmworkers were awarded far more H-2A visas in 2018- around 180,000.
The envoy did not provide further details on the visa offer.
He said Guatemala would soon be entering into an agreementwith the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR to help processasylum seekers and that the U.S. government would help financeit.
"UNHCR should be part of the process and the development ofthe agreement. We're counting on it," he said.
Morales' office and the UNHCR did not immediately respond torequests for comment.
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Writing by David Alire Garcia;Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)