EFE.- US Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Thursday a strategy to address migration from Central America, which, in addition to cFighting corruption or violence in places of origin includes support from other US governments and companies.
The plan focuses on Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, countries that make up the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America, where the largest flow of migrants seeking to reach the United States come from.
Harris admitted in a statement that the US commitment “has often been inconsistent” and has “stopped working in the region,” especially in recent years.
Hence, it will base its strategy on five pillars such as address economic insecurity and inequality; combat corruption, strengthen democratic governance and promote the rule of law, and promote respect for human rights, labor rights and freedom of the press.
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Also counteract and prevent violence, extortion and other crimes perpetrated by criminal gangs, human trafficking networks and other organized crime organizations and combat sexual, gender and domestic violence.
The initiative, which Harris described as “powerful,” focuses “on alliances with other governments, international institutions, companies, foundations and civil society ”.
The vice president assured that the US has already received a commitment from Mexico, Japan, South Korea and the United Nations to “provide relief to the region.”
To differentiate this new strategy from the one promoted by former President Barack Obama (2009-2017) with similar objectives, Harris stressed that his Administration will work more with the private sector, a partner that has been “underused” in the past.
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Harris assumed last March the mission of reducing migration from Central America, which led her to Guatemala and Mexico last June.
During a conference call, the special envoy of the State Department for the Northern Triangle, Ricardo Zúñiga, stressed the importance of adding the private sector to the strategy.
“We are prepared to work with those who are prepareds to work with us to fight corruption and impunity ”, he explained.
Regarding the decision to paralyze cooperation with the Guatemalan Public Ministry after the removal of that country’s anti-corruption prosecutor, Juan Francisco Sandoval, Zúñiga ratified Washington’s position.
“We made it very clear in our response that we lost trust in the Guatemalan attorney general (Consuelo Porras) as a partner in the effort to combat corruption,” he said.
According to the official, the protests that have taken place in Guatemala after Sandoval’s removal, “are a reflection of the profound importance that the citizens of Central America give to good governance and accountability.”
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, included in the budget for fiscal year 2022 (October 2021-September 2022) a investment 861 million dollars to address the causes of irregular migration, according to official figures.
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