7/26/2014
Central American Presidents Call on U.S. Development as a Brake to Immigration
WASHINGTON – The presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, who met U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, have asked Washington for a “long term” commitment to develop Central America as the only way to curb the incessant migration flow towards the north.
On the first day of an official visit to the U.S., the three presidents on Thursday defended joint and humane solutions to the current wave of child immigration, which has caused a border crisis in the United States.
In meetings with U.S. congressmen, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina proposed that the U.S. government invest in development only 10 percent of what it spends on security on its southern border, around $2 billion.
For the Guatemalan president, the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), which, according to the Department of State has invested $600 million in the region since 2008, is “practically a failure.”
Perez Molina said in order to fight the causes of children immigration, such as violence and drug trafficking, the U.S. would have to implement a specific plan in the region similar to the multi-billion dollar “Plan Colombia” or the “Merida Initiative” developed in Mexico, which would be known as “Central America Plan.”
Coinciding with the visit of the Central American presidents, U.S. authorities admitted they were studying various options to face migration problems posed by unaccompanied minors.
“We have two important goals in the U.S. and the region: effectively dissuading the illegal immigration and protecting those who are legitimately eligible for humanitarian protection,” a U.S. Administration source said.
The presidents also met Thursday with Organization of American States Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, who called for a humanitarian treaty for the immigrant children and asked the host and transit countries to adopt migration policies “based on human rights.”
The President of El Salvador, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, highlighted the need to improve the quality of life of minors “in the long term,” since “lack of opportunities, poverty, inequality, are the problems of the coming years.”
His Honduran counterpart, Juan Orlando Hernandez, asked the U.S. to understand that “a violent Central America” due to drug trafficking represents “a high cost for the Unites States,” while if investments are made in programs that bring prosperity, they will also benefit the U.S.
Coinciding with the arrival of the Central American leaders, President Obama called his Mexican colleague, Enrique Peña Nieto, to thank him for his efforts in controlling the flow of unaccompanied children towards the North.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were to receive the Central American leaders in the White House Friday in order to continue working on a multilateral solution to the crisis that has led more than 57,000 unaccompanied minors to the U.S.-Mexico border in the last 10 months.
Central American Presidents Call on U.S. Development as a Brake to Immigration
WASHINGTON – The presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, who met U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, have asked Washington for a “long term” commitment to develop Central America as the only way to curb the incessant migration flow towards the north.On the first day of an official visit to the U.S., the three presidents on Thursday defended joint and humane solutions to the current wave of child immigration, which has caused a border crisis in the United States.
In meetings with U.S. congressmen, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina proposed that the U.S. government invest in development only 10 percent of what it spends on security on its southern border, around $2 billion.
For the Guatemalan president, the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), which, according to the Department of State has invested $600 million in the region since 2008, is “practically a failure.”
Perez Molina said in order to fight the causes of children immigration, such as violence and drug trafficking, the U.S. would have to implement a specific plan in the region similar to the multi-billion dollar “Plan Colombia” or the “Merida Initiative” developed in Mexico, which would be known as “Central America Plan.”
Coinciding with the visit of the Central American presidents, U.S. authorities admitted they were studying various options to face migration problems posed by unaccompanied minors.
“We have two important goals in the U.S. and the region: effectively dissuading the illegal immigration and protecting those who are legitimately eligible for humanitarian protection,” a U.S. Administration source said.
The presidents also met Thursday with Organization of American States Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, who called for a humanitarian treaty for the immigrant children and asked the host and transit countries to adopt migration policies “based on human rights.”
The President of El Salvador, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, highlighted the need to improve the quality of life of minors “in the long term,” since “lack of opportunities, poverty, inequality, are the problems of the coming years.”
His Honduran counterpart, Juan Orlando Hernandez, asked the U.S. to understand that “a violent Central America” due to drug trafficking represents “a high cost for the Unites States,” while if investments are made in programs that bring prosperity, they will also benefit the U.S.
Coinciding with the arrival of the Central American leaders, President Obama called his Mexican colleague, Enrique Peña Nieto, to thank him for his efforts in controlling the flow of unaccompanied children towards the North.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were to receive the Central American leaders in the White House Friday in order to continue working on a multilateral solution to the crisis that has led more than 57,000 unaccompanied minors to the U.S.-Mexico border in the last 10 months.
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