WASHINGTON, United States
Legislator Norma Torres, the only Central American member of the United States Congress, prayed to the government of Joe Biden limit “severely” assistance to Central American governments, in which he pointed to “corruption” and “bad governance,” his office reported Thursday.
“I beg you to resist sending money directly into the hands of corrupt officials,” said Torres, a congresswoman for California. born in Guatemala, In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“Our foreign assistance must go to civil society, non-governmental organizations, multilateral institutions and other credible institutions that have a proven track record of helping vulnerable people and communities,” he pointed out.
It is not the first time that Torres, a member of the Subcommittee on State Assignments and Foreign Operations of the House of Representatives, has sought to help US aid those in need in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras most undocumented migrants increasingly reach the southern border of the United States.
In the 2020 omnibus funding bill, Torres secured funding for the fight against corruption in these three countries, as well as the identification of corrupt officials and the elimination of military funding.
Torres, of the Democratic Party, questioned the management of former Republican President Donald Trump, to allow for “rampant” corruption in the so-called North American North Triangle.
In his letter, he noted that in Guatemala, the military used U.S. security assistance to intimidate the U.S. embassy itself.
He also cited court proceedings in federal courts in New York, According to which Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez “protected drug traffickers while bragging about bringing drugs to the United States.”
He also said that in El Salvador, “President Nayib Bukele uses his influence to discredit legitimate democratic processes and institutions.”
The Biden government, which took over on January 20 with the promise of a “just and humane” migration policy, said it was determined to attack the “root causes of migration.”