The government of Guatemala has publicly criticized the United States over the American government’s treatment of 56 Guatemalans it recently deported. The 56 deportees were returned shackled and handcuffed on a chartered plane from Houston. The Guatelmalan authorities have pressed the US government for an explanation.
On July 29, 1997, US ambassador to Guatemala Donald Planty held a news conference and apologized to Guatemala. “We are profoundly sorry about the incident on July 20 when 56 Guatemalan citizens returned in chains to Guatemala. We have reviewed our policy, and in the future no Guatemalan citizen will arrive in the country or descend from the airplane in chains,” Planty told the news conference. Planty would not promise that deportees would be unchained on the flights nor would he agree to reprimand or otherwise punish US officials responsible for the shackling. According to Planty, no laws were violated.
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