Trump Administration must not abandon its responsibilities in Central America
The Trump administration announced a drastic cuts in funding toward Central America in late March. Believing that certain Central American countries had failed to not only use the funding properly but also to restrict people from immigrating out of them, Trump saw it fit to completely cut any funding headed their way.
The Trump Administration believes that this is the right call for a larger problem that faces these countries.
The “Northern Triangle,” as it is referred to by the administration, is a group of countries that consists of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras.
In 2015 alone, over 110,000 asylum seekers had made the journey to the United States in hopes of a better life. This is a direct impact of what is to come from cutting off US aid, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Over $700 million will be cut from these countries already in acute need.
This is another temperamental move by Trump and his administration. Even though many of the asylum seekers that are showing up at the Mexico-US border are from these three countries, the administration believes that it is a clear indication that the Northern Triangle is not doing a good job putting the aid to use. In fact, it simply shows the state of desperation.
Cutting off money for these Central American countries is not the right answer to stop the immigration that the US faces at home. If anything, the US will see an increase in the number of caravans leaving Honduras and eventually reaching the southern border.
The money that was being handed over to Northern Triangle was being used to revamp the police departments in some of the most dangerous cities in the world, where the murder rate runs high. In these small towns, the money was allowing for the department to pay police officers to use a tactics such as Operacion Bosque or Operation “Forest” where the police force would enter a village and become part of the daily lives of the residents that live there. This operation has become effective and has proved to lower the murder rate in large cities in Honduras.
This is a prime example that starting at the root of problem is better than not helping at all, cutting the funding leaves these countries drowning. The Trump administration wants to see immediate impacts with the money that is being handed over and doesn’t realize that these countries are structured differently. Most of them are still rebuilding from years of natural disaster and presidencies that have proven to be just as destructive.
This is another way of the administration trying to find some money to scrounge together to build a border wall, the same wall that will keep out people from “s*** hole countries,” and keep the ones that are from more modernized and well-established countries.
The pushing around and name calling that has taken place was one thing, but to take the money that was being granted to these countries to keep them alive is another.
Trump wanted a stop in the number of migrants that were being seen at the border, but now he has pushed the wrong buttons of the people that he needs to be on good terms with in order to stop the constant migration toward the US. Not only should the administration be working with the Northern Triangle, but also with Mexico to attack the problem at the source and promise these countries more aid to establish their economy.
Central America has depended on the income from the US to patch up the economy that was ruined during the Reagan era and after the natural disaster of Hurricane Mitch.
These three countries were seen to be top targets for staging grounds during the Reagan administration, where they would try to stop the spread of communism and the civil war that was raging in Nicaragua.
As quickly as the United States entered Central America, they soon picked up and left these countries in shambles and believed that they were fit enough to take care of themselves with a small income from the U.S. Unfortunately, cutting aid will only add to the misery.
