America’s objective is to fight corruption to prevent mass exodus in Central America

America Combat target Corruption On Central america stop The stay Vishal said President Joe Biden’s diplomatic envoy to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador is at the core of the growing influx of undocumented immigrants along the South American border.

“Corruption has been going on for years due to instability and lack of development, causing us to end mass exodus over many years,” said Ricardo Zunega, the state department’s special envoy for the Central American Northern Triangle.

In an interview with AFP, he said, “So we have a keen interest in ensuring stability and good governance in Central America and we want to work with people who have similar interests.”

Junega, who traveled to Guatemala and El Salvador last week and met with Honduran officials in Washington, said the United States was making progress on its declared project of forming a regional anti-corruption task force.

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“There will be a task force led by the Department of Justice and other allies to help Central American governments and public servants in their search not only for specific cases involving acts of corruption, but also for systems that fight corruption and Help prevent corruption, ”she elaborated.

Honduran-born American Zuniga said, “Solid implementation is something we are going to negotiate with partners in the region.”

He stressed that there are already efforts to pursue transparency in the Northern Triangle: in civil society, in prosecution offices, and in the independent press.

“There is a lot of work going on, which we will continue in the presence of our embassies and our legal attachments and others,” he said.

The Biden administration also wants to induct Congress.

Zuniga recalled that US law already provides “tools” to identify and punish people and entities involved in acts of corruption abroad, such as the Global Magnitsky Act. It also empowers the State Department to stop granting visas to persons accused of corruption.

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But he assured that Congress would “be willing to consider new provisions to support those working against corruption in Central America.”

According to Zuniga, both Guatemala and El Salvador and Honduras are asking the United States for a “strong presence” and “help” to counter the Kovid-19 pandemic, triggering a humanitarian crisis from two devastating hurricanes last November And attracted investment.

“From the United States’ point of view, it’s all right. Our job is to try to create the right conditions in Central America that help reduce not only economic and social conditions, but also political conditions, especially this transparency. Belongs to. And work against corrupt actors, “he said.

Are Northern Triangle countries interested in working with the United States to fight corruption, particularly following the mandate of two internationally supported anti-corruption bodies, MACCIH with the OAS in Honduras, and CICIG with the UN , Was not renewed in Guatemala? The

Zuniga reiterated the “disappointment” of the United States at the end of both missions, whose work he considered “historic in terms of identifying acts of corruption.”

“They are sovereign decisions of Central American governments and we recognize this. But we also believe that these commissions had very strong popular support. And we believe that this is important,” he said.

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“We support the victims of corruption, because our own interests are also victims of corruption. Central america“she added.

For this reason, he enforced the laws saying Illegal migration, And strives to improve avenues for legal migration, the United States needs to “create and foster” the conditions that allow people in their countries to create “respectable, safe and prosperous lives”.

It is a “difficult” and “long-term” effort, but it is necessary in the national interest of the United States, “he emphasized.

And he warned: “We are missing opportunities.”

Zuniga highlighted that the Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Central America, and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR in English) included two-way exchanges worth $ 57 billion in 2018.

He said, “If we look for stable and prosperous conditions in Central America, where will we be in terms of the social interests of the United States in terms of the commercial interests of the United States.”

jabf / lsm