On August 1, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs Dr. Rebecca Bill Chavez and Perry Center Director Mark Wilkins co-hosted a luncheon with the Guatemalan Ambassador to the United States, Julio Ligorria, and senior US defense policymakers to discuss the defense relationship between the United States and Guatemala.

Attendees from the Guatemalan government also included Deputy Chief of Mission at the Guatemalan embassy in the US, Libna Bonilla; Head of the Security and Human Rights office at the Guatemalan embassy in the US, Edgar Villanueva; and the Guatemalan Defense Attaché to the US, Major General Ismar Mendez. Attendees from the US government included Perry Center Dean of Academic Affairs Luis Bitencourt; and Defense Department Western Hemisphere Affairs Officer, Colonel Armando Fiterre. At the meeting, DASD Chavez offered the formation of a bilateral working group between the US Department of Defense and the Guatemalan government.