PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Guatemala’s capital and Rhode Island’s capital are now sister cities after a former Guatemalan president’s visit to Providence.
Guatemala City Mayor Alvaro Arzu and Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza signed the sister city agreement on Wednesday at Providence City Hall.
“The signing of this agreement marks the beginning of an exciting opportunity for Providence as we start to build bridges to grow our international reputation and explore opportunities for economic growth with a city that already has deeply-rooted ties with us,” said Mayor Elorza. “I thank Mayor Arzú and the delegation of business and government leaders from Guatemala City for their visit and their participation in the PVD+GTM Summit.”
Arzu was his country’s president from 1996 through 2000 and helped broker the 1996 peace accord ending 36 years of civil war. He was scheduled to deliver a speech about the peace process on Wednesday at Brown University.
Guatemala City will be the bigger sister: It has more than 1 million people, compared to about 180,000 in Providence.
Elorza’s family moved to the United States from Guatemala in the 1970s. They are among about 27,000 people of Guatemalan ancestry in the Providence metropolitan area, which includes parts of southeastern Massachusetts.
