I wouldn't put it past Trump to have operatives south of the boarder encouraging people to come here thus creating an emergency.
2
“A rash response to a real policy dilemma.” Well heck, that’s right up Donald Trump’s alley!
More to the point, it’s exactly the sort of idiotic, knee-jerk response that wows the Fox talking heads and the crowds of bellowing buffoons at those Trump “rallies.” Let’s get on with the show!
2
Central American nations are overpopulated and corrupt. The answers to their problems must come from their own leaders and citizens—not from us gringos.
Enough pretending that the US can solve the worlds problems. Our government needs to start making immigration policy to further the common good.
3
Let’s just face facts,Trump doesn’t Care about anything but himself
1
And Putin is waiting in the wings to fill the gap.....
1
If China moves in,
will they accept the migrants?
2
Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala's economic difficulties and and absence of any pretense of law and order [Honduras and El Salvador most tragically] is a direct result of Republican foreign policy's illegal wars on these country's under President Reagan.
Any economic assistance to these nations is more accurately referred to as war reparations not aid.
All credible news reporting on the violence dominating society in Honduras and El Salvador identify MS-13 and 18th Street gangs as the sources of that violence.
MS-13 came into existence as a result of Salvadoran youth fleeing the violence of Roberto D'Aubuisson Salvadoran right wing death squads and as protection from the dominant gang in the Ramparts district of Los Angeles—18th St.—they formed MS-13.
Had Reagan not allowed Elliot Abrams'—Trump's current United States Special Representative for Venezuela—policies to prevail MS-13 18th St. gangs wouldn't have been our nations most significant exports to the region.
1
Could a county in Texas, or New Mexico, or
Arizona sell land for immigrants to settle?
In other words, refugees seeking a relatively
decent place to live compared to the dangerous places they're fleeing .
I suppose it's a lame suggestion, stupid and
unworkable, though an alternative to the
mess that exists.
People seeking refuge is to me the overriding
reason for the concept.
Deportation is immoral from what I note
from what PBS is admirably reporting.
Crisis needs good will, and the USA
ought to be humane and adaptive.
Are we too weak to accomplish
a magnificent solution
1
“What Trump Gets Wrong About Central American Aid”
Everything.
3
We are to blame for most of the issues facing these countries. If the CIA and the United States government hadn't encouraged gorillas to maim and brutalize those Central American countries for the greed of United Fruit co. and fear of communism, their people would not leave their beautiful and potentially prosperous countries.
We need to make amens for our mistakes. We owe them. For our murderous nature going into other countries as colonialists, fearing change in their politics, stealing land and manipulating and mutilating indigenous peoples.
4
Basicly you are right; improper and dismisive anlysis of how to apply our financial aid has undermined our effort.
Having worked with the Peace Corps as an advisor and consultant years ago and as an international ombudsman between the USA and Guatemala for many years, a great deal has do with good-will and cross-cultural expertise.
Central America has a wealth of clever industrious people who really just want to work for a better wage and be an asset to their communities.
Many NGO's see Guatemala as a money-laundering fee zone for gain over and above what they stand for on paper. True, Guatemalans are notorious at skiming and scheming to get a bigger cut. Still....who did they learn from?
IF our new administration had been simply kind and understanding, looking for any common ground to bring jobs and international investment we would be on different footing. IF CICIG in Guate had been proped up so that some semblance of justice and human rights could be in the offing, that too would've encouraged the people to stay and struggle on.
USA run by Trump turned its back on CentrAmerica perhaps to forment the projected lunacy that the latins could be transmorgified into deadful invaders bringing crime and uncleanliness to sully white folk America.
Now, see the result of our failure to understand the import of a caring n productive relationship with Latin neighbors south. We have hurt them by our neglect . Now at the border we have just what Donald wanted to show he was right.
He is not only shows alarming ignorance about foreign aid but also about the drug problem in this country...Instead of blaming the producing countries of cocaine Mexico and Colombia and talk so much about drugs pouring into this country thru the southern border he should be doing something about the demand for cocaine in this country...He said he has a bachelors degree in Economics, but I guess he skip the first course in Economics; Economics 101...Supply and demand !!
This will get Trump re elected, irrespective of any other chatter.
1
It appears to me that what Trump is doing with this threat to cut off aid is trying to force the governments of these three countries to do a better job of keeping their people from escaping their countries, to keep them imprisoned behind their borders, like his buddy Kim Jong Un does with the people in North Korea.
1
One would almost assume that this is a deliberate move to worsen the 'national emergency' at the southern border...
Aid doesn’t work. But cutting it off will drive up illegal immigration. Any suggestions of what might work?
2
I feel for these poor people. They have nowhere to go.
1
Trump has no earthly idea how aid to countries works. He simply wants to use it to anger his base even more that they already are by making it look like we are throwing cash into the air and drug dealers and rapists are picking it up and using it to make their way to the border. I kid you not, I had Trump supporter tell me this was exactly how aid to these countries was being handed out! Is there graft and corruption? Yes. Having said that stopping aid from reaching those countries would cause problems beyond our wildest imagination.
Maybe Trump wants MORE immigration from Mexico and Central America. It creates caravans, “national emergencies”, terror in the hearts of FoxNews viewers, and more intensity of Trump support. Plus the added bonus of destroying the lives of poor brown people, particularly the kids. For Trump, this is policy heaven!
Trump knows nothing about the complex political situation of history of Central America or anywhere else, for that matter. He is simply folliowing the suggestions of his right wing extremist circle of "advisors"..who are also as ignorant as Trump. The only thing Trump ever gets right is finding ways to stir up the hatred and racism in his fan club. He is indeed the face of the Republican Party!
1
trump could not care less whether or not the immigration issue is ever solved. For crying out loud, he hires illegals himself. this is just his idiotic need for constant attention and relevance. Cutting off aid to Central America will only make things worse for those trying to survive and will probably increase the numbers of migrants fleeing to the US. Plays into trumps hand perfectly. I even believe that he has 'his people' putting the bee abuze in the bonnets of Central Americans encouraging them to form another caravan. This is his reelection campaign issue. Rage and Fury.
Having first hand experience of how foreign aid is spent in the 3rd world, I'll that only pennies out of each dollar reach its intended source. The vast majority goes into the pockets of middlemen and corrupt politicians.
These middlemen and Politicians keep talking about the bogeyman so that naive NGO and the US govt keep pouring cash into this endless pit.
Rampant illegal immigration will hurt this nation sooner that we know. I have 3 illegal aliens (all Mexican men) in my ICU. They get the same care as citizens (ECMO, surgery for Brain bleed etc). One has already amassed bills of 250K.
I'm glad to treat them-It makes me feel righteous to treat them. But someone, somewhere is going to loose out.
1
I lived in Mexico for 5 years and traveled throughout for 10 more. Latin America is corrupt, plain and simple. They have beautiful weather and should be agricultural and tourist hot spots. Costa Rica and Belize are good examples of what they should all be. Giving them more money that will end up in Swiss or Panama bank accounts is just plain dumb.
8
A significant amount of aid money gets diverted to corruption before it ever is put to work helping people. That’s a given and is expected by the donor companies when they commit money to helping another nation or sector.
The US has never been afraid to get involved in proping up a dictator or two as long as they were friendly to the US and rejected Soviet (now Russian) influence and money. The Soviets were keen to upset the apple cart close to the shores of the US (remember the Cuba Crisis that almost brought the US into a nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union) so they looked for every opportunity to gain a toe-hold in Central America. Putin is likely doing the same today.
The concept of unintended consequences is not well understood by Trump and his close associates. They need to think this plan through before closing the border and cutting off aid to nations that they need influence with.
14
The money that was given by the US in the past did not go directly to improve the civilian life in Central America. Most of these countries are filled with death squads while the US money they receive goes to Switzerland and or into NYC and Florida condos. Why can’t Switzerland print out the number of accounts that are held by Central American families and leaders. Seems simple enough.
If anyone in the US was living in these countries they would be the first to head to the border. I would give them 72 hours before panicking .
The US has a history of supporting extreme dictatorships in Central America coupled with military training, if more of the wealth was shared
and a real middle class created and respected these countries would not have such an exodus
33
17% of El Salvador's GDP comes from personal remittances from the U.S.
So you think El Salvador is serious about curbing migration to the U.S.?
We should tax these remittances (how can it not be argued that this aspect of illegal immigration is a drain on the U.S. economy, when money earned here is funneled abroad to be spent by foreigners) and tie foreign aid to political reforms and migration controls.
I agree with the authors that we have to confront this issue more directly.
51
@Mmm Why do you think the earnings are not already taxed? Many people who are lawfully present in the US, and paying their taxes, send remittances to family in their countries of origin.
31
I agree to an extent. 17% is a significant sum. But that money isn’t coming from illegal immigrants. It’s mostly from TPS repricents who have been in the US legally for nearly 20 years as part of their temporary protection (although 20 years sounds more like permanent protection)
7
@Mmm People remitting funds to their families in Central America have already earned their salaries and paid the corresponding taxes. What they do with their hard earned dollars after that is their own business. Central American countries don't have the social network to properly support families, fight drug addiction, offer employment insurance, welfare funds, improve healthcare and education. Remittance helps ease that burden.
25
I feel that the decision to cut aid, while typically cruel and spiteful, is far from a "mistake" on Trump's part. If this does anything to increase the flow of migrants, especially in large, visible caravans, it would become a priceless source of xenophobic fodder for his fear-driven minions.
We used to complain that Cuba, East Germany, and the Soviet Union would not let their people emigrate. Now we want Guatemala and El Salvador to be responsible for preventing their people from emigrating, like North Korea does.
From reading these comments, it's apparent that U.S. Americans know very little about the politics in Central America and the role of the USA in those politics (both presently and historically). In fact, most U.S. Americans know more about the politics and issues in Europe and the Middle East than they do about our neighbors in Central America. Why? It might have to do with the fact that the U.S. news media don't cover Central America very well (hardly at all). The media reports on the Venezuela crisis and that's about it. Ironic, really. And unfortunate.
1
There are complex issues that at least partly includes past US policies in the area. Unfortunately we have a simple minded President playing to an ignorant base who thinks giving or taking away money resolves all issues. As long as unbearable conditions exist people will keep coming. Our best interests can be served by doing the hard work of fixing conditions in these countries and make staying a viable choice for people.
"Rather than turn a blind eye to creeping authoritarianism, [the Trump administration] should pressure governments to become more democratic and less beholden to corrupt elites and criminal networks." - You do realize we're talking about the Trump administration? "Creeping authoritarianism" is Trump's M.O. . He just wants them to bow, scrape, and acknowledge who the real "boss" is.
Caution: This comment contains blasphemy.
It is profoundly un-patriarchal to question population growth or even to consider it as the cause of human problems. Patriarchs always need more people. Bigger families, bigger armies, more folks living in poverty to exploit as cheap labor. Religions need more followers, lest some other religion becomes bigger than they are. Tribal and peasant cultures have overbred for centuries as a means to overcome infant and child mortality rates.
So now the pot just boils over. Do you see a problem? Me neither. Must be politics.
If there was even a trace of some surviving matriarchy we'd see there is an alternative. A mother to daughter family where children are not patriarchal possessions, but meaningful factors in an overall female ecology. Unslaved women controlling their own birth cycles.
It's hard to even imagine this because these words have been so little used of late. But the idea of a Mother Culture still exists in the poetic imagination.
Even if Trump got it would it matter? Why do we still always have to keep talking about this guy? We just love to hate him which we should be grateful for.
The insatiable American appetite for drugs cannot be left out of this equation. The hugely profitable illegal drug market feeds the corruption of governments and keeps gangs like MS-13 going strong. Teaching mental health skills in our schools would be a good way to slow down the American need for self-medication.
We need regime change in Central America. The Human rights violations scream out for us to intervene on the good side this time (vs. the silly Grenada/Panama stuff).
A new Monroe (type) Doctrine so that these people don't have to flee their native land and end up under a bridge in the US.
We changed regimes all through the 1960s and 1970s to ward off communism. Why can we not do it to ward off fascism/incompetence?
Amazing, aid is about $2 a person per year here. Where do I throw an extra $2 in?
It is not About what Trump gets Wrong..its was the 8 years before Trump that has us in this mess/ the so called Aid is only Aiding those in Power and keeping this Power struggle in place / the Aid should of been cut off a long time ago...and it is a Police force with a honest Military backing that they are lacking this is why the criminals are running the country thru extortion and nobody wants to do business there.....Trump is Absolute right in how he is handling this out of control situation from the previous administration ....and it is The Democrats that Do NOT Understand how to use Logic to Fix this!
Golly, now we'll probably have to build a bigger wall.
"What Trump Gets Wrong"
Let me count the ways he gets it wrong on almost everything.
But not when it comes to appealing to his core voters. That he gets right. He wants a continuing crisis on the border it helps his approval numbers and will increase his re-election chances. Yes, we have a President who wants conflict and crisis because politically it is pure gold. Who cares how many families are torn apart by the conditions down there, they are minor players when it comes Trump's career.
This man is as perverse and narcissistic as they come and almost all his Republican colleagues know it. And they sit or stand there and grin and bear it.
These countries that we give a two must play age allegiance to us by giving us oil, military bases or something that we can use, there’s nothing free in this world
“What Trump Gets Wrong About Central American Aid”
Maybe it’s because I haven’t yet had my coffee, but I found my brain pausing after the word “about”. A sentence which begins, “What Trump Gets Wrong About . . .” has far too many plausible endings - just about any complex political, economic, social or ethical problem could be substituted for “Central American AID”.
I would like to propose that, on April 22, Earth Day, the Times publish a companion piece entitled “What Trump Gets Right. . .” which will save a tremendous amount of paper and ink.
(Some days, it’s really hard to be optimistic about the future of our country and the world. . .)
2
Our government, i.e. Trump should be the place we send aid. We might be able to get him to hire somebody to help him do something that people start liking and start supporting. Meanwhile, his ideas will end up with EVERYBODY, even his base, get sick and tired of him. If he wants everybody to cheer him, one would think he would do something that makes people want to cheer.
Trump wants the situation to get worse at the border so he can build his wall. I'm surprised the authors don't get this.
If you start it, be careful about stopping it - with kids, co-workers, nd especially smaller nations.
We LOVE to give away other people's tax money when we land in D.C. It buys friends and repels enemies, no?
But getting too friendly always carries a price. The Left feels we are way too friendly with Israel, but Harry Truman's ghost disagrees.
Joe Biden may have gotten too friendly with Hillary Clinton as one old photo suggests. and soon after, he was seen in public with only one hand. Coincidence?
Let there be no doubt: in Central America, the US supports and has always supported dictatorship.
Honduras had a population of 1.5 million in 1950.
In 1980 it had a population of almost 4 million
In 2017 it had a population of over 9 million.
Guatemala had a population of about 3 million in 1950.
In 1980 it had a population of over 7 million.
In 2017 it had a population of over 17 million.
IN 1950 El Salvador had a population of about 2 million.
In 1980 it had a population of over 4 million.
In 2017 it had a population of over 6 million.
These population numbers have horrific consequences for all the other living things besides just humans that live in central America.
That this article makes no mention of these population numbers is testimony to the power of political correctness to stifle conversation, and to strike fear and mute even people who know better and are concerned about its impact. (the projected numbers are truly frightening)
Population explosion touches on the subject of immigration and climate change and is responsible for the mass animal genocide taking place on the planet – but so great is the fear of being called racist that its mention does not even come up in the most prestigious newspaper in the world.
Whether it is the reporters or the editors who refuse to face reality for fear of being labeled racist it needs to change for the benefit of not just humans but all the other living things which have rights as well and with whom we share the planet.
There is a massive disparity in money and power in these countries between the cartels/gangs versus the government/citizens. This is largely due to illegal the drug trade, which we've been fighting for decades and decades to little affect. (I know, because I have helped seize tons and tons of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific, so I speak from experience). So, why not go after the cartel's money source and legalize all drugs. All of them, including cocaine, heroin and fentenyl. Put all that enforcement money to education and rehab, instead. Go after the source of the cartel's money and power, which leads to all this corruption, violence and illegal immigration from these countries. Help tip the money and power scales back to the people. I really think this is the kind of dramatic policy shift that is needed to make a difference in these Central American countries.
3
Trump's decision to cut off aid has nothing to do with whether aid is effective. It also has nothing to do with attempting to influence the governments of Central American countries to curtail migration of their citizens to the United States.
Trump wants to encourage that very migration about which he rails at his rallies. He wants the caravans to keep coming. He wants the caravans to grow in size.
He wants to encourage the fear that motivates his base. He wants to whip his base into a frenzy. He wants Hannity and Coulter have new pictures of caravans that they can show nightly.
He wants a reason to send more troops to the border.
He wants the issue. He wants the emergency. He wants the caravans even more than he wants the wall.
He wants that caravans because it's how he plans to win the election.
4
How many of the 500 troops in the lead photo are American soldiers?
What percent of the funding has been pledged by the US?
What other countries have pledged significant funding?
The majority of funds appropriated for foreign aid goes into the pockets of US contractors and remains there. Only a little is actually spent on the project it was supposed to fund. So actually, the assistance is really not foreign aid at all, but subsidiaries given to Beltway Bandits.
2
It seems that the Trump, and more generally the Republican Party, approach to every problem is to punish someone. The migration problem is yet another example. Discontinuing funding to these impoverished countries might make the administration feel good and is easy to devise. However, Trump as president, along with the staff he selected, has a responsibility to really think about the problem and propose solutions that have a likelihood of improving the situation, rather than exacerbating it. Consulting with outside experts is allowed.
The value in cutting aid is the promise of restoring it. Certainly the currupt officials in these countries benefit from the cash. Stop the cash and the they change behaviours the cash flows again.
2
@Mkm A major portion of the article is dedicated to solving the social issues that create poverty and redirecting financial aid. As pointed out, cutting off the aid will increase the flow of refugees. And also invite China and Russia to step in with their solutions at our doorstep.
2
As with Trump you have it half right. What sort of economic development is envisioned for these countries? They have a hard time to produce enough food and clean water for their citizens. This will get much worse in the coming years. They have no extraction, manufacturing or tech industries. Tourists do not want to go there. The same goes for Puerto Rico. By all means aid distribution has to avoid supporting corruption. However, economic sustainability has to be considered when aid is dispatched. Aid can fuel continued population growth and without a sustainable economy it can lead to catastrophes like the Rwandan massacre where there was no immigration to reduce the environmental pressure.
1
@Daniel Salazar All three of these countries produce enough food to feed their populations, most of their agriculture is exported to the US or Europe which caused malnutrition among their populations. Where do you think bananas and coffee come from? There is tech in El Salvador and Guatemala. Guatemala has a thriving tourist industry and Honduras brings in tourists to its beaches to snorkel and scuba dive. Puerto Rico has pharmaceuticals. Clean water is a problem because often it is used for the "extraction" of minerals of which you are apparently unaware. As well, foreign companies like Coca Cola buy up water rights. Its far more complex than you think. The aid being sent is used to fight narcotics trafficking and gang violence.
7
@Duffy
These are the facts: http://www.aidforum.org/topics/food-security/thousands-at-risk-of-food-insecurity-in-central-america-following-a-prolong/
Bananas and coffee are not protein and not sufficient for life. Tourism is a significant portion of their GDP however it is also not sufficient to sustain their economies.
Puerto Rico has lost 90% of it's pharma base when the tax incentives expired.
I stand by my opinions. Plans for sustainable economies need to be considered.
1
@Daniel Salazar we may be talking past each other. My point is that Central American economies and agriculture are geared toward exports to us often foreign owned. Climate change has also hurt small farmers. They suffer for what we do. Poor people are injured by economic policy that favors elites in our country and theirs. I agree that sustainable aid needs to benefit all citizens. Mineral extraction is huge in all 3 countries but all the profits go to Canada and the US leaving local people with cyanide in their water. You seem to lump Puerto Rico a US possession with Central America. They are US citizens and deserving of concern. Once again the aid is directed at drug trafficking and poverty prevention programs.
How can a US that is becoming increasingly authoritarian possible hope to solve the authoritarian crisis in Central America? When we revive our movement toward learning how to be a people of democracy, then we might have something to offer.
8
Most USAID funding gets spent back in the US and not in the countries they are supposed to benefit. The funding is given to a small group of "beltway bandit" contractors that make huge profits on managing USAID funding. I expect that cutting off this funding is not going to have much of an impact on the daily lives of the average citizen in the 3 "Mexican" countries that are getting their USAID funding cut off.
5
Both the US and Europe are facing migrant waves. The reasons in both cases have more in common than not. Essentially, those taking the terrible risks to venture their journey northwards do so because of terrible conditions at home.
Let us be honest, Europe and the US share a great deal of blame for those terrible conditions.
The only way forward is to improve conditions at home. There is nothing pious about this approach (no, I'm wrong, there is); there is simply no other way.
5
Just typical spitefulness on the part of the president flailing around without seeking any real policy initiatives to help stem the flow of refugees fleeing desperate situations.
And the amount of money doesn't even equal some Powerball lottery payouts.
5
@T Smull
The way you sound, surely YOU have some ideas about reducing these hordes. Please share!
The amount of money Trump requested is a tenth of what Pelosi & Schumer went along with before.
USAID it’s making a GREAT job helping farmers in poverty areas in my country.
I know a good experience in a remote small town named Erandique, Lempira.
There USAID has been working with small communities to have irrigation for the farmers in order to help them with food.
USAID is doing a great job, working directly with the people in need.
If this kind of support is canceled, many people will face hunger and will start to consider leave to USA.
5
These countries need institutional changes. There have been many other countries in modern times that have changed and prospered but not by giving corrupt individuals in charge more money with which to line their pockets. Make these corrupt leaders suffer. Cut off their visa privileges, their foreign bank accounts, make them change the way they do business so it doesn't take weeks and months for people to start businesses. Help them combat gangs that extort money from their own citizens. They are not lacking in natural resources. They are lacking in tax money because of their monstrously bloated bureucracies. Have any future aid tied to positive reduction in gang activity, reduction in bribery, reduction in bureaucracy Sometimes a people need to suffer and fight their own wars. We can't risk getting too embroiled, yet there are smart ways of giving aid that will encourage true, institutional change.
5
Trump is incapable of putting together any program that is both politically savvy and founded on humanistic principles. On the contrary, he seems to want to provoke more trouble and chaos south of the border as well as at home. His pal Putin is expanding beyond Ukraine and Syria into Africa and into Venezuela. He has interfered in elections all across Europe. We can quarrel over how green we wish to be, or just how universal health care should be (issues I have favored for decades), but we have a saying in Gaelic: first cut the cord that is tightest on the throat. Let's also remember the problem of lining up the deckchairs on the Titanic. Our ship of state is listing like a cruise ship in a heavy sea. Let's fix it.
3
I lived and worked in Mexico and Central America for three decades. We have wasted untold billions in foreign aid to El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala and we have absolutely ZERO to show for it.
Our nearest neighbor, but never our friend or ally is Mexico. All countries in the world including the U.S. have some degree of corruption, but none can top Mexico and that is where this can and should be ended.
Mexico has the military and police resources with the strategic and operational intelligence assets in place to stop these caravans before they cross five feet over the southern Mexican border. Their Federal and state governments are totally complicit in augmenting and facilitating the movement of these illegals to our border using bus caravans.
If Trump were to use his skills at calling out people by directing all attention at the leadership in Mexico City, I can guarantee you there would be an immediate response.
Mexico City is acutely sensitive and reactive to all things in Washington. If Trump explains and highlights the endemic corruption that allows this, they'd hate him for doing it. but it would work.
Mexico has finally offered these refugees amnesty. Because of NAFTA it has an emerging middle class and job opportunities that never before existed. Let them take it.
These people are Mexico's problem and should have never been ours. Cut off the aid and seal the border if they fail to respond. This is our country, not theirs.
It is what it is....
5
The US has the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act which allows it to sanction government human rights abusers anywhere in the World. There are 2 Dominicans on it now but no one from the Northern Triangle or Mexico. The citizens of these countries abhor corruption and are frustrated by limited domestic forces to deal it. Trump should use the Act and would gain respect from these countries.
Most of the reportage on the origins of Central American out-migration (to the US) fails to note the US role in the rise of brutal dictatorships in those countries 4 to 5 decades ago. In the mid-80s, after being posted as US Ambassador to Pakistan, as the immediate past-US Ambassador to El Salvador, the late Dean Hinton described how US policy in El Salvador fostered the rise of that country's un-democratic government. While it is true that MS-13 originated among Central American, especially El Salvadorian migrants to the US, many, if not most of those migrants were relatives of corrupt El Salvadorian officials, who exported that brand of corruption to the US. So, the corruption that US policy facilitated decades ago still prevails throughout Central America and will not soon be squelched with any amount of US aid, and the out-migration to the US will continue.
4
Good Lord, it takes two people to write an article explaining what Trump gets wrong about something? No, let me adjust that: It actually needs to be explained at all what Trump gets wrong about any conceivable issue that he opens his mouth on for more than two seconds?
3
These three counties are close to being failed states. But they need to be fixed from within. Simply taking any and all entrants is not the answer for them or us. Some? Sure. But all who would ‘like’ to come? No. Not a long term solution.
2
Given that Trump could not find Guatemala on a world map without guidance, I'm impressed that the writers think that he has a clue where any country south of us is. After all, his favorite news outlet, the one he depends on most for information--Fox News--just invented two additional Mexicos.
If you want a chuckle--and I frankly think most of us could use one--see Andy Borowitz's latest column in the New Yorker about the "three Mexicos." We have so little to laugh about, and satire seems to hit a sweet spot these days.
3
@Janice, who do you think Google Earth was created for? For sure not you and me.
Three points. (1) The claim that "root causes" must be addressed to fix the problem of illegal immigration reminds me of the old days when liberals said crime in NY could only be fixed by addressing its "root causes." It turns out they were wrong. Better, more effective policing solved the crime problem. (2) Giving money to Central American nations to prevent illegal immigration creates perverse incentives. After all, the more illegal immigrants they send to the US, the more money they get. (3) The real problem is that the Democrats refuse to fix the flaws in the asylum laws that have encouraged migrants fleeing crime and poverty to come to the US. The flaw is that they border authorities must let them in pending a hearing (in most cases, never to be seen again), if they merely claim a "fear of persecution" even though the vast majority of them do not have any legitimate basis for claiming asylum. Congress could fix this and remove the incentive for these migrant caravans, but the Democrats believe in open borders so they refuse to do anything.
8
@Douglas
Please start your GoFundMe to take down the Statue of Liberty and return it to France. We can close all the borders and snuff out the light of freedom and the American Dream. Too many people, no room for growth, let’s raise the drawbridge and fight for the scraps. What a sad small-minded country we have become.
"For too long, Central American governments and elites have gotten away with abdicating their fiduciary, social and legal responsibilities to their citizens." And which nation has aided and abetted some of those Central American governments and elites? The United States of America, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s! And all that in an effort to keep communism, i.e., Cuba and Russia, at bay. If I may borrow a line from Dee Brown, the author of "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee", and place it within the context of the situation under discussion, "History has a way of intruding upon the present, and those who will take the time to study the foreign policy of the US of the last fifty years vis-a-vis Central America will have a better understanding as to why Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Salvadorians are now flocking to the United States."
8
I could write a novel on all of the things Trump doesn't understand nor cares about but he's about to make the same mistake again with Central America and Mexico. Each time Trump severs or diminishes a relationship with another country, China quickly fills the void. When Trump slapped tariffs on EU products and alienated EU, Italy joined China's Belt and Road. Trump's tariff war cost American farmer soy sales to China. Immediately, China forged a relationship with Brazil to replace US soy.
If Trump closes the border to Mexico and terminates assistance to Central America, it's a certainty that China will move in & fill the void.
Xi is a world class operative and Trump plays into his hands over and over again.
Threatening Mexico and Central America may appeal to Trump's knuckle dragging supporters, but he is systematically undermining America's standing in the world.
There are so many reasons to impeach Trump it's hard to know which is most important, but right after Climate Change comes Trump's damage to America on the world stage.
It's inconceivable this insanity will be allowed to continue thru the next election.
10
Well, you are right - Assistance doesn’t work. But ending it is likely to drive up immigration.
But it is an election year and whether it works or doesn't work really doesn't matter. What are the optics and do the voters like it or not is the question?
This border nightmare, whether Trump created or not doesn't matter, it looks like a mess. The public wants it stopped, yesterday.
Another year of this and the American public will not be thinking twice about separating families. AOC wants to end ICE and the public wants to raise ICE's annual budget.
Right now, with Biden being thrown under the bus and looking at the Democratic Party's sorry 16, it's not about whether or not Trump is going to win in 2020 but it is about how much he is going to win by.
The Democrats should just beg Alec Baldwin to run for President. He said he could beat Trump, and I think he probably has a better chance than the sorry 16.
8
The authors did a good job of stating why the governments won't do what they recommend the US pressure them to do. So, it won't happen.
So, what to do?
Clearly, the aid is meaningless given the ratio to remittance revenues and the illegal migration industry.
Just as clearly, the governments will continue to turn a blind eye or conspire with the gangs to sustain the illegal migration and gang denominated social / economic system. Those who benefit from it are also exposed to retribution should the system be overturned.
So the recommendations to "pressure governments to become more democratic etc" amount to empty words.
That just leaves real power politics. That is, unless we want Russia and or China to establish footholds on our doorstep. You know, like the footholds we have on their doorsteps. The more we dance this dance with the Central American countries, the more we invite a Venezuela situation with either Russia or China.
It may be time for some of that old fashioned imperialism.
4
This article highlights the problems with foreign aid that plagued the United States for many years. I lived in Central America for almost 3 years. From my perspective the root cause of why foreign and military aid does not work is; the United States government is directing foreign governments to do what they do not want to do, solve the humanitarian problems. When they don't comply we threaten to pull the aid. The absence of meaningful intervention by the churches in Latin America has contributed to the humanitarian crisis. Perhaps a better solution is to give something like block grants to humanitarian aid groups based on their success rates. No positive results no money. I recognize that is a carrot and stick approach. I believe groups intent on solving problems will rise to the occasion. If people are migrating towards the United States because of crime, lack of opportunity then lets help local groups try to resolve those challenges. This approach would also help ensure the people not their leaders would receive the funding.
President Trump is just driving a wedge between the people and their leaders. He is appealing to his base without regard to the impact on the people directly affected by his proposed policy. Sounds familiar, well it sounds just like the leaders most American's condemn.
5
@ek perrow: Might the billions in drug money pouring out of America have something to do with the problem? Dollars buy corruption, all the way from DC to Columbia and farther south.
We did not need professors to explain this, it's just common sense. Something Mr. I know better, and when I'm told I'm wrong I double down aka President, has none of.
3
I believe we need to help but stay out. The U.S. has too unpleasant a history in Central America to become personally involved. I would like the Organization of American States to play an interventionist role with our financial support. From what I can see of these people who move to New York, they are almost all hard working people who simply want to help their families and do not take kindly to getting themselves murdered by gangs in their home countries. And these people would much rather stay with their families and their own cultures in Central America. In the long run it would be cheaper for us to help support a return to democracy and peace for these people rather than building a wall, calling out our army and hiring huge numbers of new border patrol agents. It would not be easy; their governments are mostly corrupt and would have to be bypassed until a reasonably well-functioning democracy can be established.
7
We can be near certain that even Israel would acknowledge the greater benefit to modernizing a cooperative economic development region such as Central and North America should be.
Therefore I propose we shift economic aid from the Middle East to Mexico and C. American countries for one decade as a trial test; my guess is the Middle East will still be a quagmire of conflicts.
But that much money (50 billion) in the New American Green Economic Zone, would transform the hopes and dreams of hundreds of millions for many generations, in the USA and in Mexico and Central America.
6
Trump’s policy towards the region smacks of deliberately creating a problem for political ends. By ending aid in troubled areas, he exacerbates migration which fills the scenario of an invasion from the south that he can use to fuel the lunacy of a wall. However, in all fairness, it has to be said that aid channelled to Central America rarely arrives at where it needs to be, thus spurring migration. The solution seems to be to funnel aid through recognised NGO’s directly to the people while bypassing governments. If this was done in America, it would be deemed a threat to national security. The tight scrutiny of NGO’s operating in Russia testifies to that eventuality.
So, perhaps, the panacea is to actually allow migration at a generous but controlled rate into North America, thoroughly screening applicants individually on merit rather than banning them out of hand. In the meantime, aid is targeted where it is needed by a blend of charity and coercion until, slowly, the need to migrate is mitigated. Until then, Trump will only be adding heat to a pressure cooker.
The US created the chaos of Central America by installing a succession of friendly tyrants who were toppled when their expedience became obsolete. If there is any genuine interest in solving migration issues, some introspection would be well useful right now.
2
He's clearly trying to forge a border crisis. Even the naturally blind can see through this.
3
Can't really comment on all the countries in central and SA -- but many of them are a mess. We stopped being able to do business in most years ago -- it's a shame. The aid we give bleeds into the coffers of the elite and the masses get little.
I'm going to Costa Rica next week ....It and Panama work ....Even Colombia to a degree. Sorry -- Obama started this wave when he did not cut it off early on .. he was warned.
5
No, you have this wrong. Cutting off aid is neither a petulant act nor a shortsighted response to the immigration problem. It is a calculated and cynical strategy. President Trump knows that acting like a tough guy plays well to his base. And he has learned that mongering fear of non-white immigrants does too, with almost no political cost. Here, in one stroke, he gets to look tough by cutting off foreign aid and simultaneously sew the seeds of even greater immigration flows, which he knows will augment a humanitarian crisis that he can exploit for political advantage in the 2020 elections. Never mind that people will suffer and die. Never mind, too, that this cynical act damages our nation's reputation by violating our most fundamental ideals. He quite literally could not care less. This is nothing more nor less than creating and exploiting human suffering to amass political power.
11
American aid as a carrot to promote reform and help politicians achieve needed reform? Terrific idea!
But how could we do that? Our President and his cabinet of cronies couldn't organize a two-car funeral. Our Republican Senate will kill any sensible measure passed by the House. Our government limps from shutdown to shutdown on continuing resolutions, without plan or budget. Our economy is stuck in a 10-year boom/bust cycle. Our political discourse is inconsequential outrage and petty bickering. Our electorate is lazy and fickle. Our Constitution is an outdated, patched-up remnant of the time when America was a confederation of states instead of an interstate nation.
Come to think of it, America needs a carrot to promote reform and help politicians achieve anything. Where is divine intervention in this time when every nation but China needs it?
2
If global warming is real and caused by humans, and I believe it is, the number of humans migrating north will be in the millions in the near future.
6
@Kent Morlan
The US should think about annexing Canada.
What does it mean for aid to "work?"
El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were each wrecked by American intervention in their political lives. They were objects of regime change, and more, and each of them for more than a century of it.
El Salvador was one of the nastiest wars run by the US, and the killing squads that ran amok were the work of Elliot Abrams, the same man now assigned to do a regime change in Venezuela, so we know this is the method not just an aberation.
Honduras was the object of regime change with the help of Hillary Clinton's State Dept in 2009, which then continued to support a killing right wing government for the rest of Obama's term as it became the most deadly in the Americas. So we know it is also bi-partisan.
Guatemala has been a horror story of right wing killings with American support since before FDR. It has been unrelieved Banana Republic fascism.
So what paltry aid is supposed to work on that?
How is this nightmare a surprise?
How is it blamed on Trump?
Show me a good guy in American behavior for any of them, any man or woman alive or dead.
5
@Mark Thomason, and the British Empire once spanned the sun’s full trip around the earth each day and now they’re huddled by themselves confused in a dark lonely cave. Why do chickens always have to come home to roost?
If the goal is to eliminate immigration from these countries that violates our laws, we should provide aid to them that is decreased by the number of their respective illegal ("illegal" under our laws) citizens that arrive at our borders. To maximize effectiveness, pay the aid directly to the president of the country.
2
Just saw a heartbreaking story on the PBS Newshour about a migrant who has repeatedly attempted to escape the gangs of Honduras, only to be sent back several times.
We need to develop a new set of carrots and sticks for use with these governments. If the humanitarian situation does not improve in Central America, more and more of their citizens are going to be coming to America, whether we want them or not. And if we were in their shoes, we would be attempting it as well.
4
Our impact there should be in the form of strengthening unions and enabling land reform. Until there is some economic justice in Latin America nothing much will change.
In Honduras in the 1950s we helped banana workers have real unions (not company unions) for a time. It was a way to prevent an even more "extreme" approach: socialism. Today union organizers and campesinos are often killed. Our policies there should make their safety and effectiveness the highest of priorities.
2
Lets look at what we have tried thus far.
1. Separate kids from families at the border as a deterrent. How did that work out? How did it make you feel that this was being done in your name as John Q. Public?
2. Strengthen the border with new fencing etc. How is that coming along?
3. Build a wall. The Chinese built the Great Wall of China to keep the barbarians out. How did that turnout?
"The decision to cut off aid is bound to drive up migration numbers. American aid to Central America has a lot of problems: Its total amounts are paltry, and it is mostly distributed inefficiently in large blocks by foreign contractors."
So US AID isn't nearly enough to make the situation better so that migrants would choose to stay rather than leave. On top of that Trump (the stable genius) decides to cut the inadequate aid in the hope that the governments of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador do something to keep their people from leaving. This move will not work. It will make these countries poorer and unable to provide basic security.
What we should do is develop a Marshall Plan for Central America. Triple down on US AID and you will see a reverse migration of people. Once the word gets out that their home countries are safe again with lots of jobs...many will return.
5
"The amount of aid provided pales in comparison with revenue accrued through migrant remittances"
Then it's clear that one tactic we need to implement is to tax remittances to these countries at a prohibitive rate.
We need a variety of measures including prevention (border security, including walls) and internal enforcement.
5
@Jon
Tax remittances at a prohibitive rate? That does NOT solve the underlying issue. And it seems rather cruel--take even more money from the poor and disadvantaged.
4
@MJB Taxes are tools used to incentivize and discourage behavior. The intent is to not to mistreat the downtrodden, but to remove the economic "pull" factor attracting so many illegal immigrants. That is indeed the underlying issue that it would address.
3
@Jon
Jon, I am not actually stupid. I actually understand push/pull factors quite well. Whether the intent is to mistreat the downtrodden or not, it has the same effect...and it is cruel. The underlying issue is lack of economic opportunity in countries of origin, and gang violence.
1
President Trump's highlighting the issue of border crossings has contributed to the huge increase in immigration. It is human nature right? When you say you will not allow anymore immigrants and don't set a definitive date immigrants storm the bastions right? Cutting aid to Central America and stopping immigration is a crisis. A Trump caused crisis.
1
Do the authors believe Trump really wants to curb migration? Cutting aid will increase it, exacerbating a crises that he will exploit for political gain. If the governments of Guatemala and Honduras actually curbed the migration from their countries, that would not be in Trump's political interest. Much better for him to be able to rant about the "invasion" by mothers and children.
3
This editorial appears to be based on the presupposition that Trump wants in good faith to solve a problem at the border. What good would that do him? The more chaotic things appear at the border, the stronger his argument appears that a wall is needed, and the better he looks to his base.
It isn't that complicated.
4
There are many reasons Central America is a mess and a huge number of them are directly the result of either deliberate interference to benefit US interests; ie, the various filibusters including Walker and General Christmas, the Dulles brothers with the United Fruit Co, Reagan and the current NRA president's illegal war, which spawned MS13 to name a few. Then there is the simple geography of being forced to live next to the world's largest drug market, which is obviously of great significance too. So you would think that the USA would accept some responsibility and if it were a country of adults run by an adult it probably would, but it's a country of baby boomers and Fox News so here we are building a wall. It's something that future Americans will look back on with deep shame, assuming of course that there are any, because if we can't solve these issues in our own back yard, we don't have a prayer of solving the global ones like climate change.
3
The U.S. doesn’t own any country anything. I can think of countries less deserving than Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to receive economic aid though, but I digress.
Maybe allow the Country in question, a vote:
1. Bloodless coup. Annex the Country as a State. Give these poor people a reason to stay. Even more of a reason. Our immigration problem is solved, democracy in the world has expanded, we now have additional taxpayers, natural resources, additional vacation resorts, economic activity...The sky’s the limit.
2. Cut off economic aid.
You can continue giving aid but how do you eliminate corruption? The two seem to go hand in hand.
5
This policy is great for China. BRI will fill the vacuum. Thanks DJT.
2
Trump Inc. at 1600 Pennsylvania Drive is all about "provoking" a fight, the little man wants a war, as if anyone needs to spell it out.
To date we have been very lucky the US has not entered any new theaters of war since the GOP seized the presidency, other than the political theater, esp domestically.
Trump is very religious, his faith and it's followers even have a perky mantra "provoke, destabilize, hate - repeat"
What will it take for the majority to finally vote with their feet, in a loud voice. Take back America -
"Governments of the region, especially of Guatemala and, to a lesser degree, of Honduras, are indifferent to the plight of their poor who migrate"
The above part of the article. Is crucial to understand this. We can't make our government responsible for their well being. Those govts have an obligation to work to better the lives of their citizens but they dont because its easier to see them migrate back here.
6
It could be that the right wing wants a border crisis and failed states in Central America. Failed states are ripe for corporate exploitation and a border crisis provides a handy excuse for enacting xenophobic immigration policies. Fueling this fire feeds their fantasies.
2
Trump is trying a paradigm shift in foreign aid. why keep giving away tax payer dollars again and again to corrupt regimes or those supporting terrorist havens or drug cartels. That did not stop illegal immigration why not keep the tax dollars and spend that in our country to prevent flooding and other infrastructure collapses.
6
Let's not turn Central America into our education system. No more money in the hope they do the right thing. No more throwing good money after bad, with no results. We can't be held hostage by narco states just so actors can get cheap heroin and meth. I really don't want to subsidize Hollywood's drug problem. Build a wall, build it tall, watch the illegal immigration and drug flow fall.
5
Everybody knows that adding well paid jobs in Central America is THE solution, a move that capitalist US can't do. Principles are principles.
1
Check the picture. This is our idea of aid? Fund an action movie with advisors and second hand weapons, hold our collective noses while the bodies rot in the sun and call it foreign policy. We really could use a little reboot.
1
Put teeth in E-Verify and the issue with undocumented workers is solved.
The shame and folly of breaking up families, of putting children in concentration camps, and, perhaps, shutting down our border is easily avoided. Put American employers in jail for breaking existing federal law - then immediately establish a guest worker program to protect workers and employers from abuse.
Attempting to stop the endless stream of job seekers has proven over and over again to be useless. No wall, no amount of border security will stop desperate humans from trying to improve their lives.
5
The unwelcome truth is that the Central American countries are the victims of American (mostly GOP) policies: specifically, the long-lost "war on drugs" that guarantees cashflow to gangs, and the gun-rights movement, that guarantees a ready supply of guns for those gangs. The refugees are fleeing violence, social breakdown and government corruption, all fueled by policies in the region's biggest economy, ours.
6
@Lifetime Manhattanite
The Obama years. Already long forgotten. Apparently no one from Central America left from Jan 2009 to Jan 2017. At least, if you read this paper.
And there is the double-edged sword. If we stop aid to these Central American countries, migration will increase. And after listening to an informative segment of the PBS News' Hour just today, the conditions are dire, in this particular case Honduras. Yet if we give monetary aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, recent history shows that their leaders can not be trusted and are themselves corrupt. Money which can help in violence protection and the health and security of desperate individuals is squandered. Greed and corruption go hand in hand.
There is a plan, however. Unfortunately with the Trump administration it may be moot and irrelevant to its ambitions. It is called diplomacy, a word which has disappeared from our national vocabulary. Let our State Department, with the cooperation of Congress, open up communications and negotiate. Let us say: Yes, we will help you people; but we insist on accountability and responsibility. Personally, my heart is for these victims of abuse and trauma south of Mexico. We can not let them suffer. It is inhumane.
2
"Cutting off aid will needlessly deepen tensions between Congress and the administration..."?
Why is aid to Central American nations so important to members of Congress?
The endless flow of people into this country is destroying our collective future. Our descendants will not thank us for over-populating the world they will have to live in.
9
But ending that aid will just make everything worse.
That is why we elected Trump. We are tired of "it will get worse." It has been getting worse for decades. Stop it.
4
I agree with the tenor of this article. Simply cutting off aid is not the right approach. Better to consider how to make aid more effective.
The real problem in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras is population growth. For example the population of Guatemala has more than quadrupled since 1960---it has grown from about 4 million to 17 million in the last 58 years.
That means that the numbers of hospitals, for example, had to be doubled then doubled again just to keep health care at a constant level. As the country gets more crowded, resources run scarce. The typical response is a turn to violence.
Family planning and government policies that encourage small families is an essential component of any long-term answer.
12
@Jake Wagner. Promoting family planning is an approach that will have real immediate and long term benefits. Unfortunately, Trump and the GOP are opposing such efforts and accepting fundamentalist notions about birth control and abortion.
3
All of that might be true, but Trump's actions are not about Central America, its governments, or even its people. Trump's actions are about being a tough guy and about pleasing his base. He has painted immigrants from south of the border as a horde of criminals who come capriciously in order to take what we have and to lay around collecting government benefits while Trump fans work hard to pay for them. The fans and he want to keep those 'others' out of the United States.
Trump is showboating. He doesn't care whom he hurts or even if his behavior is ultimately bad for the country as long as it gets him cheers at rallies. The whole goal is, as always, Trump wins.
7
Left Hand Says: We need to give assistance to countries all over the world, involving ourselves in the affairs of countries abroad. Right Hand Says: We should not be the world police and have too much involvement in sovereign nations. You can pick one, you can't have both. As long as these countries are actively working to send their citizens northward, cutting off ALL aid is the appropriate response. Once these countries work on keeping the people in the country and trying to right their economic ship, then we should consider assisting them. What Liberals want is a cake and eat it to response to South America.
5
I would appreciate it if someone would point out to El Trumpo that we do not "pay" these countries. We send them aid to help them get out from under the plague of crime and corruption our forebears sowed there. As recently as reagan our government actively undermined and fought democratic elections in these same places because those politicians did not like the things they imagined about the elected. reagan himself set up death squads to murder innocents and this wave of victims today is the after effects of that campaign of terror reagan waged in Central America. It was that campaign that lead to the criminal drug gangs taking over.
3
@magicisnotreal
Oh yea the real reason El Trumpo is doing this is to wind up his base and to make life harder there so more people come north so he can say "SEE!? I was right"
Can we expect an innovative well-thought out approach to any situation given this administration? There is no such thing. We are just stumbling along behind Mr Trump’s impulses and punitive responses.
1
To be fair, the main reason is to give more tax cuts to the rich.
2
The Trump whisperers and Trump agree. They want the crises, as they feel it will help reelect him to the presidency in 2020. The more people pour over the borders, the more civil unrest in the "Three Mexican Countries" the more frightened his base will be and the more sure of his own opinions Trump will be. They hunger for and need chaos.
5
100 000 a month seeking asylum. Houston we have a problem. Bipartisanship is required to resolve our immigration problem. Let's start governing Government.
22
"...ending that aid will just make everything worse." I'm thinking that's exactly what Trump wants. To prove him right. To prove that we really do need a wall. Because, in the end, it's all about him.
6
Here is the ideal aid program:
First, USAID hires a consultant to tell USAID what program is required in the subject country- the proceeds from the survey go to a US firm based in DC for the most part. A RFP is prepared by the consultant.
Then, USAID issues the RFP to US (Washington DC-based) consultants to provide proposals to meet the requirements of the RFP. The consultants respond to the RFP with definitive staffing and effort levels. Most of the staff are US citizens, based in the US. (Most of the funding comes back to US citizens and resources).
USAID selects a consulting firm to perform the Scope of Work of the RFP, and the work is carried out with oversight from a USAID consultant. Again, all of the money spent comes back to US based consultants.
When the work is completed, USAID hires an independent consulting firm based in the US to review the work performed and opine on the success of the work and the RFP. Invariably, the work is declared to be successful.
US aid programs are just a job shop for consultants in the Beltway. They almost never do anything for the subject country, and from having participated in many USAID programs, they are poorly structured welfare program for people with PhDs.
A minuscule portion of their funding remains in the host country; all of the other funds flows back to the US.
Get serious. Take a hard look at where the dollars end up, NYT.
19
@UTBGI couldn't agree more. In one country I know about they hired a US company that had trained all over the world to present agricultural talks on how to grow better: use of pesticides/herbicides and GMOs - The country does not want GMOs and try to use other methods for pest/weed control (they have small farms). They used the same training book for every country in the world - not customized for this country. A year later they paid a large US firm to evaluate their training. They were very upset that almost no farmer had taken their advice. AID money could have been spent more wisely. US contractors get most of the money just like the article says.
1
It’s amazing how inconsequential the Obama years were to the world that one cannot find any stories in the Times that mention his influence or non influence of any part of the world. It’s as if he has been erased from history. If there were accomplishments, I’m sure they would be written about. Instead all I ever read is the misery that Trump has brought to everyone in the world with no mention what their lives were like just 3 years ago. For example, no mention of Obama in any story on immigration. One can only surmise that there were no barriers to immigration prior to Jan 2017 which of course is not true.
9
@Shamrock. That is nonsense...there simply isn't enough time or space to devote to much else besides the continual mean spirited, unethical, environment destroying, etc. (not to mention all the investigations) garbage put forth from the current administration. Trump spends all his negative energy undoing everything obama did.
@Shamrock
In many ways the Obama Administration worked perfectly in that it was in the background. Cool and reserved.
This administration is in your face 24/7 and operates kinda like the Bowery Boys.
What Latin America needs is not aid, but greater free trade, technology sharing, and integration with the US. Look at what Europe did. In 1950, Southern Europe was as poor as Latin America and largely ruled by dictators such as in Spain, Portugal, and Greece. Yet the wealthier countries in Northern Europe like France and West Germany pushed greater integration and invited those countries into the European Union, and within a generation Southern Europe became democratic and had caught up most of the way to Northern Europe in terms of living standards. In the 1990s and 2000s, the EU repeated this feat with bringing the poor ex-Communist countries in Eastern Europe. It is shameful that Western Europe brought two sets of its poor neighbors into first-world status while Latin America has stagnated under American hegemony.
3
@Aoy
But the European Union began November 1, 1993.
Spain became a democracy in 1975 and was on its way to prosperity before the EU was formed.
Greece became prosperous on borrowed money, as evidenced by the riots and murders when their borrowing became a problem.
The EU did help Portugal in many ways.
2
@Aoy
So you are blaming Obama without mentioning his name? It’s like the Soviet Union erasing people from history. I can pick up the Times on any given day and read every editorial and op ed and never see Obama’s name. He was President just 3 years ago. Incredible. No mention of him on issues of Syria, terrorism, immigration, ISIS, Central America, South America, NATO, Russia, etc. If he isn’t mentioned now, he will never be mentioned. I see his wife’s name more often.
Most Americans welcome LEGAL immigrants, but do not want ILLEGAL immigrants. We cannot afford (or choose not) to support our own citizens: the poor, the ill, elderly, disabled, veterans, et al. US taxpayers cannot possibly support the hundreds of millions of foreigners who would like to come here.
US laws allow foreigners to seek entry and citizenship. Those who do not follow these laws are in this country illegally and should be detained and deported; this is policy in other countries, too.
The cruelty lies not in limiting legal immigration, or detaining and deporting illegal immigrants, or forcing those who wish to enter the US to wait for processing. What is cruel, unethical and probably illegal is encouraging parents to bring their children on the dangerous trek to US borders and teaching the parents how to game the system to enter the US by falsely claiming asylum, persecution, etc. Indeed, many believe bringing children on such perilous journeys constitutes child abuse.
No other nation has open borders, nor should the US.
19
Illegal immigrants who live in NYC homeless family shelters FOR FREE (at taxpayer’s expense), receive benefits such as Food Stamps, Medicaid and free education for their children. Some claim they are “victims of domestic violence” and flee from far away countries. If I wanted to flee to Sweden saying that I do not feel safe under the current political regime in the US, would they let me in and give me free shelter and health insurance? I will be shipped back in no time. Immigrants who come here legally sometimes wait months and even years for approval and most of them are highly skilled and employable. No sanctuary cities and ICE should have access to the shelter rosters to weed out who is here illegally and who needs to go back to their country of origin. People who are born here, particularly older adults often end up living and dying in poverty because we do not have enough resources.
The authors write, "Instead of being a giveaway, it [U.S. development assistance to the three countries] needs to be structured as an incentive for domestic reform."
But they forgot to tell us anything concrete about what aid currently does.
I think an objective reader would want to hear more before just trusting them that U.S. development assistance is a giveaway with no effort to support reform.
5
We don't need to cut aid to Central American countries. We need to cut aid "tax cuts/subsidies" to those corporations that benefit from cheap illegal immigrant labor coming from Central America. That is the reason illegal immigrant come here in the first place. Jobs!!!
You cannot expect our corrupt POTUS to fix a corrupt foreign country. Trump doesn't know a thing about being corrupt free in the first place.
9
After a pragmatic review of past US invasions of the Central American area........it may be that the best solution is, in fact, another invasion.
Only this time with less of the idealistic visions of democratic nirvana with social justice and land reform and "we'll all just live as happy peasants".
NOPE.
Invade. Declare Guatamala and El Salvador to be US Territories.....permanently. Run by Americans....for Americans.........and Guatamalans and Salvadoreans recieve status the same as Guam USVI or any other US Territory..............
But first we must deal with the local Upper Class........land WILL be appropriated.........criminals WILL be punished.........the real estate rules are about to be re-written...with that good ole "40 acres and a mule" reapportionment clause for starters. Then everything goes up for sale..........American Style.
3
@Wherever Hugo
It’s the only way.
You'd think Trump would be celebrating the pro-American authoritarian governments in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Just look at the unprincipled fuss he's making over Venezuela, for declining to be a vassal state....
The trouble for the U.S., and Trump, is that no pro-American government in the region could be even minimally competent -- only criminals thrive in the world of accommodating U.S. geopolitical interests, with levels of income inequality and racial discrimination which are the envy of our own white nationalist movement.
Far from complaining, Trump should be celebrating these places: they're exactly what he imagines the U.S. should be.
4
The name of the town in the photo depicting a border crossing is Nuevo Laredo, not Neuvo Lardeo.
5
This is the First thing I thought of when I heard and was going to be cut in Central America. This will only drive up illegal immigration. The unwillingness of Americans to take responsibility for the migrant crisis from Central America is staggering. Centuries of military intervention, banana republics, and puppet states. In the 80s we propped up death squads in El Salvador, Contras in Nicaragua and Honduras, and Noriega in Panama, among othrs. Whatever happened to "you break it, you bought it?" We created the immigration crisis by destroying Latin America and then we have the gall to complain when they come here seeking refuge from the chaos we unleashed. If you really want to keep Central Americans from crossing the southern border, then help to fix the mess we helped to create and make it worthwhile to stay in their homeland.
The media says Central American migrants are fleeing violence, yet when it presents specific accounts, the motivation for migration turns out to be financial, not violence. For example, the 2 children who died, after being taken into custody by the border patrol, had been brought here by their fathers in search of economic opportunity. Their fathers had heard that they would be allowed into the U.S. if they arrived with a child, and requested asylum.
A Daily Beast article, titled "Father of Dead Guatemalan Boy Crossed the Border to Flee Poverty” said, "In Guatemala, the family reportedly lived in extreme poverty, with Gomez making only about $6 a day to support his six children in a house without floors.”
A 12/18/18 NYT report titled "In Home Village of Girl Who Died in U.S. Custody, Poverty Drives Migration “ the mayor, Mr. Castro, was asked about why 200 families had recently left for the U.S. “Somebody came and tricked people and told them, ‘I will get you political asylum — and take a child with you,’” Mr. Castro speculated. “It’s a new tactic, and people believe it because of their poverty.”
The 7/11/11 NYT article titled "Immigrants May Be Fed False Stories to Bolster Asylum Pleas”, relates how asylum seekers have learned to make up stories to improve their chances of gaining asylum.
Most are seeking economic opportunity, not fleeing violence.
22
@ann you cite 4 articles covering specific cases and decide that means "most?" How about the household surveys of representative samples that show otherwise?
1
@Michael Lisman
The 8/17 U.N. report “Food Security and Immigration: Why people flee and the impact on family members left behind in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras” , in its Executive Summary, said "Emigrants reported the lack of employment or economic hardship (65 percent), followed by low income and poor working conditions (19 percent) and violence and insecurity (9 percent) as the main reasons for migrating”.
Less than 10% said they were fleeing violence and insecurity.
This is such a tragic mess.
3
President Trump--take up Spanish-give this beautiful language a try and experience an "aha" moment of the nuance, subtle, beauty it encapsulates in a culture. These are incredibly brilliant people that speak this language. Open Up your horizons--Don't Close Down--a President is a constant student........
1
Thank you for an OpEd that actually does more than wave the red cape in front of the bulls. I found your explanation of the dynamics more informative on the effects and possible strategy of providing foreign aid to these countries than anything I've seen in NYTimes recently. I'd like to see more reporting like this, factually rich and well-written.
2
Just say,, "No".
No right to immigrate to America.
No right to jump the border.
No right to overstay a visa.
No right even to get a visa.
Nor right to twist asylum laws
to afford "asylum" from "poverty",
nor "asylum" from "domestic violence",
nor "asylum" from "gang violence".
No right to run loose inside the USA
while pursuing a bogus "asylum" claim,
nor to run loose while dragging out the "process".
If necessary, change any contrary laws to make that clear.
If necessary, renounce contrary international treaties.
The laws can be changed.
The treaties can be renounced
(they have renunciation clauses).
Dems in Congress are not representing Americans.
Dems are representing foreigners.
Dems obstruct immigration control.
Dems refuse to fund immigration control.
That's S.O.P. for the Dems.
That makes them de facto pro-open-borders.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck,
it is a duck.
18
@sam finn I think first and foremost,there needs to be changes made to the 14th amendment. The US can no longer afford to give citizenship to people just because they happen to be born on US soil. The face of the South American hispanic is the face of the illegal alien but here in New York there are just as many from Asia,the European Union Africa and the former satellites of the Soviet Union.
5
@Patrick
Agreed --
but constitutional amendments are a heavy lift --
not impossible--
but far from easy.
The only amnesty for Dreamers that I would support would be one in exchange for a Constitutional Amendment abolishing Birthright Citizenship --
fully adopted and ratified and in effect --
before -- not after -- amnesty.
4
But Trump prefers presidents beholden to corrupt elites and criminal networks. Makes him feel right at home.
3
Saying that someone like Trump is half-right is like saying he's half-pregnant. He'll read this op-ed (ok, so he'll never read it...)-but someone will tell him about it and he'll start honking that "the best people are saying I'm right to stop aid."
My point-please don't pander to Trump. He's wrong to discontinue aid. He would be right to "establish a commission to investigate corruption" but do you really think that would ever happen????
5
To the authors:. Firstly, thanks for an actually well-reasoned analysis. I also have a question, and maybe you or someone at the NYTimes can answer: Does the aid that is being cut also include any and all assistance to the military and paramilitary forces of these countries, or is it only the economic aid that is being cut? I somehow doubt that to be the case.
10
Don’t legitimize Trump. Even a broken clock is still correct twice a day.
5
Cutting off aid to countries as retaliation for illegal immigration from those countries is like refusing to help your neighbors fix their own houses in the hope that they'll stop taking shelter at yours. It's both cruel and idiotically self-defeating -- hallmarks, as usual, of this stellar administration.
2
While some migrants are fleeing violence, the vast majority are not. They are seeking economic opportunity.
Over 90% of recent migrants are Guatemalan. Back in 2016, a U. of Colorado researcher noticed that at least 80% of unaccompanied minors were from Guatemala. In a 4/12/18 article on the Wilson Center’s blog New Security Beat titled "Beyond Violence: Drought and Migration in Central America’s Northern Triangle", she said the violence in Guatemala is concentrated in 2 areas, but only 20% of Guatemalan migrants were from these 2 areas. The rest came from areas where the homicide rate was comparable with the U.S.
Guatemalans have had too many children for too many generations. In 1955, the country had only 3,625,300 people. Today it has 17,577,842. The following was stated on a 3/8/11 PBS Newshour segment with Ray Suarez titled ""In Guatemala, Family Planning Clashes with Religion, Tradition”:
"Here, populations are overwhelmingly Mayan and overwhelmingly religious. Women typically have eight, nine, 10 children.”
"Years ago, more children meant more hands to work the land. But generation after generation, farms are divided
11
On the one hand, these poli-sci majors say that assistance doesn't work.
On the other, they say "...[t]here is good evidence that violence-prevention assistance to El Salvador has contributed to a decrease in the homicide rate"
Which is it, mesdames?
And then there's this gem: "...it should pressure governments to become more democratic and less beholden to corrupt elites and criminal networks."
Do you really expect Trump to do so? Trump, whose best buddies are Putin, Kim Jong Un and El Duterte?
Obama tried, and he should be given credit for it. But Trump? Not a chance.
So what, mesdames, is the point of this article?
2
@spindizzy
I could not agree more. All tree, no forest.
If Democrats don't step up immediately in the House of Representatives with some solutions to this crisis..they're going to get wiped out next fall in the 2020 election.
There may be 20% of the AltLeft who wants open borders and maybe another 10% of the population that is sympathetic to the desires of these immigrants, but the fact they're jumping the line is no different than some jamoche jumping in front of me in line at Starbucks.
How many of you would tolerate that?
13
I agree that cutting off assistance to these three failed Central American states is the latest in a series of egregious ideas proposed by our Latino-phobic leader. Even so, I keep wondering why so many of the hard-pressed citizens of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador opt to migrate north in search of better prospects. Why not head south- to Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia (Nicaragua is hopeless...)? Why contend with the Anglo bigots in Washington and throughout the U.S. when you're likely to receive a far more hospitable reception from your fellow Latinos who are so very much closer to home?
7
"Especially as these governments turn increasingly authoritarian and criminal, they are more than happy to rid their countries of real and prospective opponents."
This sounds...familiar.
2
The US could start by stopping the export of guns to Mexico and central America.
8
Trump knows exactly what he's doing. He NEEDS Central American immigration to soar still higher to motivate his base next year.
5
Here's a wild idea. Fund, establish, and monitor special courts in the 3 CA countries. Surround them with US troops. Don't even pretend its not paternalistic.
Build sanctuaries, enclaves where people can go to be safe. So they can testify. Also surrounded by US troops.
Build robust prisons. With troops.
Get Costa Rica, Mexico, or other Latin American countries to provide police, investigators, and judges. Protect them.
Spend 5 years arresting criminals and putting them away.
Evaluate.
It will cost a lot. Who knows when it can end. But only justice can stop cycles of violence.
6
@Brian
But don't forget the screams from both parties at the Irag invasion when every indication was that Hussein (theirs, not ours) was building weapons that would cause mass deaths.
He was also hip-deep with the international terror networks and had tried to have an American President murdered.
This is a fitting and proper solution, and has occurred to many of us.
Just prepare for second-guessing, even IF it works out pefectly. The Times, for example, will never forgive you.
1
American aid is not working, and Central American governments need to be called to account for their mismanagement.
It is up to the US to do this? Why? Should the people of the Central American countries not demand this of their governments? Instead of running and walking to the United States for salvation. Wouldn't a more simple and straightforward solution for the US of illegal immigrants be to withdraw from all international agreements pertaining to refugees and asylum? If less than 10 per-cent of asylum seekers from Central America qualify it is obvious the other 90+ per-cent are utilizing the refugee and asylum process for bogus claims which enables them to gain entry to the US.
10
Whenever a child goes to bed hungry in Wheeling or Youngstown or Flint, I think of all the cash we send abroad as "aid." Why should a truck driver in Gary, Indiana have to share part of his hard-earned pay with the Honduran government when poor kids in this country need help? How many kids are living in homeless sheltered in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York? How many veterans go without decent healthcare because we're sending money to every country under the sun?
19
@Zen Dad
I think the same about the money and arms we "give"/sell to various countries around the world. What are our goals in doing this? Meanwhile, thanks to the Military Industrial Complex, our domestic needs at home go unmet. Other nations have real safety nets and universal healthcare, while we do not, thanks to guns (and Corporate Healthcare) winning out over "butter".
6
Meh. Why does one person deserve my money more than another simply by virtue of where they were born?
2
@Zen Dad
It is not that we don’t have the money to help the poor, the homeless, the veterans. It is that we give it all to the big corporations and the billionaires in the form of tax cuts. Now the Republicans want to cut Medicare and Medicaid and other forms of assistance to those who need it because they are all “lazy takers.”
2
I wonder if it is wise to try logic and reason to understand the actions of the Trump administration. If you look at their actions from the perspective of inflicting maximum cruelty and division, his decisions are more understandable. His administration is not interested in solving this problem as it excites his followers to have an enemy. His vicious base cheers the death of a young child and to his aim is to inflict needles harm & pain to those he deems less than human.
3
He doesn't want to reform them. He wants to know how they get away with it. South America has a hugely wealthy and totally in control 0.1%. They own the land, control the industries and set the minimum wage. There are exceptions, some countries have public health and public education, Uruguay, Paraguey, Chile, not too bad, Argentina, trembling on the brink, Brazil, Oh, Brazil. People earn less and have fewer protections. By and large, governments in South America does less and they have higher immigration than we do. I know a few people who have emigrated to Scandinavian countries, South America, not so much.
It is true that these governments should do more, and America should not have to bear the burden of their "irresponsibility" or
"really good public policies", depending on how you look at it.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
5
Certainly, much more sensible aid to these nations would have a huge impact.
But Trump and company only want sound bites and simplistic “solutions “ that rile up the base and hurt people. And, ideally, make them money.
Good ideas in the article, in search of adults to implement them.
9
Forgive me, but this sounds as hopeless as regime change and nation-building.
16
The title - at least the qualifier "assistance doesn't work" does not reflect this nuanced commentary.
The sorts of political arguments that hit the press usually consist of one side or the other yelling a lot.
Aid shouldn't be simply ended - - the US should get back into the painfully slow and frustrating work of encouraging changes we want, and trying to see that aid goes to the right places, to the right hands, which is difficult.
And it would be good if all of the aid - humanitarian, military or police related, and whatever else, provided by the US ended up promoting the same goals -- that hasn't been the case in the past - or now.
The reason for doing this is humanitarian, but, for those who don't prioritize that part, it also follows the old arguments for enlightened self-interest: if those countries functioned better, and their populations weren't desperate, our own country faces fewer future problems. We can;t remedy all the problems but can use our influence to move the dial in the right direction.
6
@cheryl
Envision this: A group of thousands of junior college and four-year college graduates who speak both English and Spanish go to Central American countries and work with local populations on issues that keep those countries poor: education, government, drug trade, health care, vegetable gardening and fruit orchards, etc.
The Central American Peace Corps envisioned would be comprised of Dreamers who are single or married but childless. The Dreamers would be immersed in the culture of their assigned country - and if they have relatives in the country, so much the better.
No communication problems. Knowledge to convey. Interaction from day one - with in-country population and Dreamer population learning from each other.
Pay a stipend but have the Dreamers live among the people they are to serve. Take the stipend and transportation expenses from the aid budget; no doubt it would be better spent.
Take Dreamers who are teachers; nurses; police officers; fire-fighters; mathematicians; accountants; industrial engineers; civil engineers; water-supply specialists; plumbers; electricians; architects; industrial management majors; etc. Take people who can help with ground-level problems - no philosophy, no artists, no musicians, no actors: the people in the countries have their own philosophy/art/music - they don't need help there.
They need help in learning how to live a better life.
CAP-Corps could help them find their way to have better lives.
3
This article looks only at the push factors. Even if some set of policies magically removed those, we’d still have the powerful pull factor that has made the migrant waves a social contagion: they observe that many thousands of their fellow countrymen before them left for the US, easily walked in by bringing a kid, were released into the country and now enjoy life here while the kid gets a free education. The word has spread, via smugglers and social media, that the US can’t stop them. The authors’ well intentioned strategies would do nothing to change this, and no matter how much you improve these countries on the margins, life in the US will always seem far better.
36
@Noelle - Quite right. I took note of a Guardian article, "Under the bridge: migrants held in El Paso tell of dust, cold and hunger", March 31, 2019. Notable, I thought was how the press sometimes omits certain facts. If anyone is interested I have included the link at the bottom. The article implies the under the bridge migrants were a photo op ploy by Trump and team to showcase a "crisis" for his base. It was implied there was no food but these people were provided with food. Missing is the fact she is NOT eligible for asylum, court date - years
For three days and nights, Maria and her 14-year-old son were penned behind barbed wire, under a bridge in El Paso. Cold, hungry, surrounded by sick and crying babies and with only the stony ground for a bed, her first experience of America was not as she had imagined.
"I came here to work and get a better future for my family,” she said. “I never thought I would go through this.”
Maria and her son, who also asked to remain anonymous, fled Guatemala because of crime and the lack of jobs, she said. They paid $8,000 to coyotes to be taken north, the money raised from her extended family and by putting a lien on her home.
As for Maria and her son, they boarded a Greyhound bus on Saturday night. It would take them to Indianapolis, where friends were waiting – as was an immigration court that has already booked a date to hear their case.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/31/el-paso-border-bridge-migrants-trump-beto-orourke
2
Then why has Mexican immigration effectively stopped? It is because the Mexican economy is better and the Mexican birth rate has fallen.
Wasn't Eliot Abrams recently bragging about how U.S. intervention in Central America during the '80s led to thriving democracies? Guess they really aren't thriving, after all. Also, the subtitle: assistance doesn't work, doesn't match the text, which indicates that it DOES help!
13
@Laura Robinson: Assistance may help if it goes to the intended recipients, but there is so much endemic corruption in these countries that most of the US aid ends up enriching the dictators and their friends and families.
4
It's amazing that the authors are professors but can't see the contradiction in their most basic idea! If it prevents immigration, then aid apparently works (assuming that's the goal of hardliners). Or to put it differently, if you want to stop immigration, there is only one effective way to do it. Build institutions to stop violence and help development to remove the worst forms of poverty, so they have drastically reduced incentives to leave. Stop propping up the authoritarian governments just because they serve our oligarch's interests. That last bit is the sticking point, no? How do you rein in our own oligarchs, who would do anything to ensure that the situation doesn't change- neither here nor there!!
8
@PaleBlueDot: No, there are other effective ways to stop this, but to succeed there has to be a hard line taken against illegal immigrants and their employers.
Dems (I'm one) seem to be dead set against this. In fact, haven't the Dems created the 'sanctuary cities' and advocated against any effective border security? That doesn't exactly discourage illegals.
5
@PaleBlueDot. What oligarchs are you talking about?
These countries are failed or failing states so let’s not say they don’t need any aid. Are they magically going to pull themselves out the situation?
Maybe we should say rules based aid or aid given to help forge an outcome such as lowering corruption and crime. Do these authors suggest we should lower funding to inner city schools if the money isn’t being well spent?
And to think Trump knows or cares what is happening on the ground in these countries seems like wishful thinking at best.
2
The histories of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador are filled with U.S. interference in their governments and with U.S. aid tied to programs that benefit the U.S. The gangs spreading fear and threats of murder started in U.S. prisons and moved to Central America with prisoners were deported back to their home counties. Aid to Central American is not only practical in light of the current immigration problem, the U.S. also has a moral obligation to help these countries that have so long been decimated by our interference and trade policies.
63
Exactly! Finally a perspective that acknowledges the historical elephant in the room...two centuries of foreign intervention in Latin America.
10
@Linda Bell: The problems - corruption, illiteracy, and extremely large families despite poverty - are not problems which US interference has caused. They've always existed in these countries.
4
@Linda Bell Yes, these gangs were started in the U.S. - by Salvadoran ex-pats, not Americans.
3
This article makes no sense. It starts by saying that the aid does not work. It then immediately states that eliminating the aid will drive the refugee/immigration flow even higher, as conditions get even worse.
So which is it?
28
@Carlos Gonzalez
It’s hard to follow the logic. And then they say Trump should reign in corrupt leadership something he seems to have zero concern with.
3
Short answer - both.
Aid, as presently structured, principally goes to enrich the few. There are exceptions such as the anti-violence program in El Salvador. But cutting it off will make things worse.
An intelligent aid program, directing payments to the people, is needed.
6
@Carlos Gonzalez
Agree with you. But the authors are academics. Much of the knowledge of academics doesn't translate well into the real world.
4
For people that work in foreign aid, and are involved in programs like business, youth development, or agriculture development in the Northern Triangle region, there is often a different take as to the effectiveness of the programs. Historically some projects have certainly failed, while others have done well. However, to make a blanket statement that says "Assistance doesn't work" is a bit disingenuous. It is easy to make that statement if you're not exposed to any of the programs being carried out and managed by government employees, NGOs, and others who experience first hand the success or failures of aid.
To measure a program's effectiveness is nuanced and complex (using qualitative & quantitative data), requiring independent reviews that may take many years to measure true, long-term impact. Those that do not work in this arena are not exposed to this, and until they are in some manner, they will continue to bemoan the value of foreign assistance.
3
What happened to the aid we provided for organizations fighting corruption, like the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala? Corrupt president Jimmy Morales surrounded the headquarters with US-provided military vehicles, as if to make it plain that he had US backing. The amount we send in aid is less than 2% of what Trump wants to spend on the wall. Yes, this is a difficult problem, but it can only be solved at the source. Q: What is the most effective way to lower the birth rate in underdeveloped countries? A: Provide education for women. Show them that they have opportunities greater than being the mother of a dozen children and they will take those opportunities.
57
@Dan Woodard MD
One would think that it would be much easier to promote education for girls' and women in these countries than in Afghanistan, where the US became involved in those efforts against deadly opposition.
6
The author makes an excellent point regarding the potential for China and Russia to capitalize on these opportunities. Guatemala and El Salvador are the perfect targets for China's famour 99 year leases; while Russia's contributions are mere unrest and increased arms exports. Just look at what's happening in Africa and Pakistan.
It's up to the president to fix the issue, not pull the plug and cry victim. I believe it's more than fair to state that the political involvement of the United States in Central America makes us complicit for the fallback that is ensuing today, and it's up to us to take the initiative to fix this issue rather than stand back and play victim.
20
While some migrants are fleeing violence, the vast majority are not. They are seeking economic opportunity.
Over 90% of recent migrants are Guatemalan. Back in 2016, a U. of Colorado researcher noticed that at least 80% of unaccompanied minors were from Guatemala. In a 4/12/18 article on the Wilson Center’s blog New Security Beat titled "Beyond Violence: Drought and Migration in Central America’s Northern Triangle", she said the violence in Guatemala is concentrated in 2 areas, but only 20% of Guatemalan migrants were from these 2 areas. The rest came from areas where the homicide rate was comparable with the U.S.
Guatemalans have had too many children for too many generations. In 1955, the country had only 3,625,300 people. Today it has 17,577,842. The following was stated on a 3/8/11 PBS Newshour segment with Ray Suarez titled ""In Guatemala, Family Planning Clashes with Religion, Tradition”:
"Here, populations are overwhelmingly Mayan and overwhelmingly religious. Women typically have eight, nine, 10 children.”
"Years ago, more children meant more hands to work the land. But generation after generation, farms are divided into smaller and smaller plots. There's less food to harvest. And with big families comes more mouths to feed. Nearly half the population of Guatemala suffers from chronic malnutrition.”
34
@ann
Many of the more traditional areas of the world seem to have higher birthrates than the USA or Europe or Japan. There is a good chance that increasing prosperity (and the better education, medical care and crime prevention that comes with it) will lead to a rapid decline in the birthrate.
The country is small enough that a high rate of migration is not a disaster for other countries in the short run. The underlying policy challenge might simply be how to grow the legitimate economy in a rapid and sustainable way.
4
@ann
Ok you wrote over half of Guatemala suffers from chronic malnutrition, and most are not fleeing violence. Didn’t we used to mythologize the Irish coming here fleeing a famine? What is it that’s different about large malnourished Mayan families and large malnourished Irish families?
4
@Jon T
The Irish landed in Ellis Island and entered legally for the most part. The people here are breaking our laws by sneaking in illegally.
Big difference.
7
Interesting and unusual experiment. Well, foreign humanitarian aid is fraught with corruption, misdirection and misuse. Seeing a correlation between foreign aid exported and enhancement of freedom, democracy and humanism in the target country is a truly abstract unproven concept as well. Exporting democratization or at least the nourishment of the democracy concept is probably more cost effective and concept productive by teaching it to those invited to the United States and helped to flourish responsibly in the community and in the system - and also allowed to send both money and ideas/ideals/experiences back home. That truly exports democracy/freedom ideas and ideals by example. May be not only more productive and cost efficient but may even actually work.
2
@John B Wood
The Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Hondurans who came here illegally have been experiencing democracy. Let them go home, armed with their experiences, to work for democracy in their own countries. NGO’s could provide them with support.
2
Thanks for a more nuanced discussion than has been in most of the media.
7
"Mr. Trump should reach out to the Salvadoran president-elect, Nayib Bukele, and help him make good on his campaign promise to ensure transparency by establishing a commission to investigate corruption and criminality."
Sure, because Trump is such a supporter of our own commissions and investigations into corruption and criminality. This would be funny were it not so tragic.
84
*Trump* is going to encourage the Salvadoran gov't to be transparent and avoid corruption. You don't say.
81
@MdeG
A wee bit of wishful thinking there...
2