Joe Biden: A Plan for Central America
The region has seen this sort of transformation before. In 1999, we initiated Plan Colombia to combat drug trafficking, grinding poverty and institutional corruption — combined with a vicious insurgency — that threatened to turn Colombia into a failed state. Fifteen years later, Colombia is a nation transformed. As one of the architects of Plan Colombia in the United States Senate, I saw that the key ingredient was political will on the ground. Colombia benefited from leaders who had the courage to make significant changes regarding security, governance and human rights. Elites agreed to pay higher taxes. The Colombian government cleaned up its courts, vetted its police force and reformed its rules of commerce to open up its economy. The United States invested $9 billion over the course of Plan Colombia, with $700 million the first year. But our figures show that Colombia outspent us four to one.
White House Proposes Plan to Address Causes of Children Fleeing Central America
The administration’s plan, as laid out by the Office of the Vice President, attempts to address these root causes of migration. Specifically, it aims to help Northern Triangle countries by addressing the security, good governance, and economic needs of the region. Some of proposed activities include supporting improved access to education, improved access to affordable and reliable electricity, trade capacity building, police reform, attacking organized crime, and strengthening rule-of-law institutions that administer justice in order to protect human rights within the region.
A New Beginning for the United States in Central America?
According to the White House, $400 million of the money requested will be for programs to promote trade, reduce poverty and improve customs and border integration. $300 million will be for security assistance and anti-crime activities (including the continuation of programs conducted under the umbrella of the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI). Approximately $250 million will be for institution building and reform programs.
The Drug War: Towards a ‘Plan Central America’
U.S. anti-drug policies have not been able to impede production of drugs in Colombia, or other parts of South America. They have not been able to stop drugs smuggled through Mexico, and they have not been able to stop the historic high number of illicit drugs that enter the United States today. Nonetheless, U.S. policymakers are attempting to replicate the same failed strategy, as they turn to Central America, sandwiched between Colombia and Mexico, in an attempt to cut off the traffickers before they ever reach Mexico and the U.S. border.
The Obama Administration Turns Its Gaze South of the Border
The request also includes $142 million to help Mexico strengthen its porous southern border. “They really focus on three particular issues,” said Larry Nowels, a consultant with the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. “Improving education and workforce training; improving governance through civil service reform and tackling corruption; and enhancing security.”
Mexico’s street art tells stories of grief, anger and resistance
Although Martínez and Vega’s Lapiztola collective – a pun on the Spanish words for pencil and pistol – was born on the streets of their home town, its work has spread far beyond Oaxaca and the upheavals of 2006. In recent years, Lapiztola has used artworks to highlight everything from the cult of the drug lords and the use of genetically modified corn to the plight of Central American migrants and the enduring grief of the mothers who have waited decades to bury the bodies of their disappeared children.
Pope Francis Just Showed He’s Not Afraid to Part With the American Right
Many fault Catholic prelates for getting too involved in politics. But it’s important to note that when the Church engages in politics, it isn’t to pursue a political end, but rather to defend the dignity and the well being of God’s people. So Francis’s decision to honor Romero confirms what so many Catholics know to be true: to defend the poor is to defend the faith. Francis himself has made this clear: “We have to state, without mincing words, that there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor.”
Immigration Rules in Bahamas Sweep Up Haitians
The tough new policy echoes similar stances around the region, where new citizenship policies and anti-immigration measures have overwhelmingly affected Haitians, who are fleeing the hemisphere’s poorest country and are the most likely group to migrate illegally in great numbers. The top court in the Dominican Republic ruled in 2013 that the children of illegal immigrants, even if they are born in the country, did not have the right to citizenship.
It is in the FARC’s interest, too, that the peace agreement be proofed against future revision by Colombian or international courts. And it must be accepted by Colombians in the referendum that Mr Santos has promised. In other words, it cannot involve complete impunity for war crimes. Some of the FARC’s leaders, who have been sentenced (in absentia) for crimes against humanity, must go to jail after new trials. They might be prepared to accept punishment to give their followers security and protection from prosecution. But they resist the humiliation of their movement that their collective incarceration would imply. Mr Santos’s task is to persuade the FARC to choose pragmatism over pride.
Bolivia Leads UN Efforts on Debt Restructuring
The ad hoc committee expressed an urgent need to implement more transparent and democratic mechanisms in the process of sovereign debt restructuring. “There seems to be a broad recognition among member states and experts, that the absence of a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring to complement existing mechanisms, such as contractual clauses, is one of the major gaps in the international financial architecture and that this should be addressed,” it said in a statement.