Global Courant 2023-05-04 16:00:59
Wrong messages regarding the fight against corruption, misdirected financial resources and unclear investment offers are part of the statements made by the Root Causes Initiative, about the US Strategy to address the root causes of migration in its second year of validity.
The plan of the Democratic administration, headed by Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, came to light on February 2, 2021, when the executive order for its creation was approved.
It has five pillars: economic insecurity and inequality, governance and the fight against corruption, and promotion of human rights and freedom of the press. In addition, the fight against extortion, organized crime and violence in general.
Harris even visited Guatemala in a show of political will to get the plan up and running so that what had happened years before with the failed Plan Alianza para la Prosperidad del Triángulo Norte (Paptn) would not happen.
However, the Root Causes Initiative, a conglomerate of organizations made up of religious, civil sectors and specialists in migration issues from the US, Mexico and Central America, presented a report detailing several shortcomings that have not allowed the strategy to advance. .
Democracy and rule of law
The organization, says the report, questions the response that the US has given to what they consider the dismantling of the democratic achievements during the Government of Alejandro Giammattei, and they believe that the Biden-Harris administration “sends mixed messages”, since it At the same time that he has issued criticisms about corruption in Guatemala, “there are no serious consequences” for the actors indicated and, on the contrary, he continues with the rapprochements with the Guatemalan government.
In addition, they believe that the US is willing to ignore the weakening of the rule of law in exchange for Guatemala implementing actions to contain irregular migration.
They also criticize that the sanctions have been limited to the cancellation of visas and there are few of an economic nature, and that no one from Giammattei’s close circle has been sanctioned.
Economic development
Regarding the economic sphere, the Root Causes Initiative insists that the resources invested in Guatemala by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have not been adequately directed.
He believes that it is necessary to change the cooperation model and that the funds are no longer executed primarily through for-profit US contractors and that they be redirected towards local entities and community organizations that have a clearer focus on priorities and models of intervention.
“To contribute to sustainable change, USAID must understand and support the work that many local civic and religious organizations in Central America are already doing to create government accountability and change the systems and structures that drive migration,” the report details. .
Likewise, he refers to Vice President Harris’ “Call to Action”, a project through which multimillion-dollar private investments from large transnationals would be attracted to Central America. These commitments, according to the offer, would reach US$4.2 billion and generate more than 33,000 jobs.
However, the organizations regretted that of the total of the 56 projects released, only one refers to increasing the transparency and accountability of government spending.
It also points out that the initiative “lacks transparency and detailed reports”, nor does it have a timetable for investments or a mechanism that allows organizations to monitor them. They assure that the US Government has even already announced the disbursement of a US$100 million bank loan of which, they affirm, they have found no information.
Regarding work visas, they indicated that the number has grown, although it is still insufficient. Thus, the number of workers who received temporary permits went from 11,000 in 2021 to almost 20,000 in 2022, when a minimum of 50,000 is required.
migration does not wait
And while the functionality of the strategy is being debated, Guatemalans continue their unstoppable exodus to the US. In the last four and a half years, the Border Patrol records the detention of 918,516 Guatemalans on the southern border of the US.
The Root Causes initiative tells the US to continue with its approaches to the Giammattei government when his government has several allegations of corruption and undermining democracy. (Free Press Photo: AFP)
Migration is more dramatic in terms of minors, since in 2022 alone 60,780 unaccompanied minors were detained, a historic figure that made Guatemala the country that expels its children and adolescents the most.
Guillermo Díaz, coordinator of the Economic Research area of the Rafael Landívar University, stated that the number of work visas granted plus the jobs generated by private investment in the region would generate 42,000 direct jobs, a figure significantly lower than the total number of people who migrate every year from the countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America to the United States.
Díaz added that “the problem of migration is complex” because there are expulsion factors in the countries of origin, but also attraction factors in the US. Therefore, he does not see the solution in the short term “as is conceived in US government strategy.
The solution, he stressed, “goes through a process of social change in the three countries that is a long-term change, because it implies education, investment, change in the social imaginary about migration, among other aspects.”
For this reason, the specialist envisioned, the Strategy to address the root causes of migration “will have similar results to the Alliance for Prosperity Plan”, that is, it will not reduce irregular migration, because the expulsion and attraction factors remain in Central America. and USA
Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, in a meeting with investors from transnationals that promised to invest in Central America. (Free Press Photo: PL Newspaper Library)
