US To Earmark $1 Billion In Aid For Central America

The United States is earmarking US$1 billion in aid for promoting security, democracy and prosperity in the Central American countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, where drug-related violence is forcing millions of youths to emigrate to the North in search of better prospects.

According to Francisco Palmieri, U.S. State Department’s deputy assistant secretary, President Barack Obama has asked the Congress to approve the proposal quickly.

This was in fact hinted at by Palmieri when he addressed the Nexus 2015 earlier in April, and now Spanish papers in Central America have played up the news after speaking to Palmieri, who held talks with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega last week.

The U.S. will provide $400 million for promoting economic growth, $300 million for boosting security, and another $300 million to foster democracy, according to interviews with the newspapers El Nuevo Diario and La Prensa published Wednesday.

Over the past decade, the US helped Colombia to restore peace and mitigate drug-related violence. As a result, Colombia is today one of the fastest-growing economies in the region.

Palmieri, who was a keynote speaker at the Nearshore Nexus 2015,  has first-hand experience in the region, having served in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela, and overseen over $800 million in International Law Enforcement and Narcotics programs in Mexico and Colombia.

At the Nexus event, he hinted that “change is underway in the region and in U.S. foreign policy.”

Enhancing security, education, infrastructure and economic prosperity will create a wealth of business opportunities and enable the region to fulfill its potential and achieve the same level of success that Colombia has done in recent years.

Violence has long been an issue in many Central American countries. According to a report by the United Nations’ refugee agency last month, there has been a nearly fivefold increase since 2008 of people reaching the United States from those three nations to seek asylum.

In addition to violence, the region is choked by high energy costs, cumbersome bureaucracy and inadequate infrastructure. The US believes that six million young people entering the Central American workforce over the next decade would be unable to find jobs.

But things are improving. Murder rates are falling in Honduras and Guatemala, while El Salvador has passed an investment stability law to promote growth.