Central American Leaders Facing Deep U.S. Aid Cuts Pledge to Do More Mica Rosenberg - Reuters
go to original June 16, 2017

Colombia's minister of Finance Mauricio Cardenas (L), talks with Vice President Mike Pence (R), during a conference on Prosperity and Security in Miami (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Facing deep cuts to foreign aid by the Trump administration, Central American leaders pledged on Thursday to take more responsibility to battle organized crime and curb illegal immigration from the region.

Washington is pushing the violent countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, known as the Northern Triangle, to enact economic reforms to lift private investment and stem the flow of migrants at a meeting of Latin American leaders in Miami.

The Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America began with the Inter-American Development Bank announcing $2.5 billion in funding for infrastructure projects in the nations which make up the bulk of migrants crossing the U.S. border.

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Trump's administration hopes tax and regulatory changes in the region will boost growth and encourage companies to invest, filling the gap left by less aid to the region. He sent Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to oversee talks in Miami.

The U.S. 2018 budget proposal plans cutting aid to Guatemala by almost 40 percent compared with 2016, and by nearly a third to Honduras and El Salvador - two nations which have competed for the title of the world's most murderous in recent years.

Still, leaders from the region told the conference organized by the U.S. and Mexican governments that they are committed to local integration and improving common infrastructure. Read the rest at Reuters

Related: US, Central America Work Toward Common Ground at Security Conference (The Christian Science Monitor)

Related: US, Central America Discuss Migrants, Drugs and Economic Aid (Associated Press)

Related: Militarization of US Policy on Latin America Deepens Under Donald Trump (FPIF)

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