San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
In contrast to Donald Trump’s strategy of detaining undocumented people at the borders, the Joe Biden administration will attack corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering and promote human development in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, to curb the wave of migration.
The Biden administration will invest in the Northern Triangle, but at the same time it must make strategic institutions available, such as the Office for the Control of Foreign Assets (OFAC), Treasury Department, Department of State and Department of Justice to prosecute citizens who, through corruption and criminal activities, have impoverished and turned violent areas in these countries.
Juan González, special assistant president and chief executive officer of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere, and Ricardo Zúñiga, special envoy for the North Central American Triangle, said yesterday at a press conference with reporters of the region, among them from Diario LA PRESSA of Honduras, that Washington will create a task force in cooperation with civil society, the private sector and with governments that are prepared.
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Gonzalez said at the conference that President Biden “is committed to re-establishing a regional anti-corruption task force” with the various actors in the three countries, including international organizations. which promote transparency in the region.
“First, there are (actors who) are committed to justice, but they are working alone. They don’t have the support. Part of that task force is how we can help them so they can do their job. Number two, is to seek to work with the governments of the region to try to build capacity in the prosecutors who sometimes do not have the necessary support to be able to move forward.We have a history of doing this with the Department of Justice, Treasury Department, DEA and others, ”he said.
Gonzalez said that at the same time, the United States can take “individual action” through OFAC, the State Department and the Treasury Department to punish individuals who are involved in corruption, human rights violations and money laundering. “. “We need to try to strengthen a regional effort against corruption and that is something that is it does in collaboration with governments, ”he said.
Zúñiga added that “the fact is that the fight against corruption will be a central axis, the axis of President Biden’s policy for Central America because (…) organized crime and public corruption is one of the elements fundamental in the deteriorating conditions in Central Americato (…) in recent years and previous years.
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Keys to strategy 1. Respect for democracy “We are ready to seek a relationship (..) with all Governments that are prepared to dedicate themselves to strengthening democracy (…) respecting freedom of the press, respecting the political freedom of all and of expression,” he said. dir Ricardo Zúñiga 2. Rule of law The American diplomat of Honduran origin stressed the importance of the independence of state powers and said that for a society and an economy to function, “there must be high confidence, that there will be full respect for the Rule of Law “. 3. Preferential relationship Zúñiga warned that “the United States had a preferential relationship with actors who are committed to anti-corruption efforts and this means that, for example, there are quite a few actors within civil society and within the private sector.” |
It is also about creating conditions of good employment, conditions that create opportunities and take advantage when there is full democracy. “
González and Zúñiga that, because of its implications for U.S. national security, all three countries must have an independent, transparent, and objective “system that responds to all, not just a few,” so that citizens have access to justice on equal terms.
When being consulted by Diari LA PREMSA on the goals that the task force plans to achieve in the short and medium term and on the possibilities of speeding up new extraditions of people linked to criminal acts, González replied that “one of the reasons why the president ( Biden) wanted to form a regional task force is because obviously the mandate of the CICIG ended (International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala) and the Maccih (Support Mission Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras) “.
“The president (Biden), as vice-president, strongly supported the work of the CICIG and the Maccih and now the lack of these commissions has left the Public Ministry and civil society without sufficient tools to form cases and To do something quickly, in the short term, this regional task force is a one-sided element of the United States where we are investing our resources to ensure that our investigators, the Treasury Department and others are willing and prepared to punish enemies who are involved in acts of corruption, ”he said.
But he clarified that “in the medium and long term it is difficult to fix or strengthen a judicial system only with sanctions. We must work together with governments to strengthen this domestic capacity so that hopefully one day no CICIG is needed, a regional task force, but that these national judicial systems be sufficiently transparent and objective so that they do not protect those involved in acts of corruption within a country. “
Zuñiga added that indeed “one of the reasons why the President is so focused on corruption issues is precisely because Maccih and CICIG were removed. “
“Why? Because we understand that (despite) all the shortcomings that have been attributed to these bodies, we also saw that it was not the international actors, but the prosecutors, investigators and judges of the countries themselves who carried out these such important research in Honduras and Guatemala. In El Salvador 1 CICIG independent could play this role. In the case of Honduras and Guatemala we will look for another way to be able to support the actors within the countries and within the systems. legal, ”he said.
During the conference, Zúñiga, appointed this week as special envoy for the Northern Triangle, said that the “peoples of Central America have the right (….)” to be “free from this influence of organized crime or any other detrimental influence “.
“We as an actor, partner and friend of the peoples of Central America, are willing to help find ways to get rid of these influences, for example, we know about the influence (that there is) through contributions and This is something that affects several countries in the country. Central America, including Honduras. We are willing to help, to look for ways (to) get rid of that influence in any way possible, ”he said.
Biden’s strategy, according to González, does not focus on the symptom, “but on the solution,” on “creating economic opportunities in Central American countries, ensuring that a 10-year-old’s alternatives are not go to a gang or emigrate to the United States, create opportunities for them within their countries, create opportunities for people who do not want to take this risky trip to the United States. United States, have these opportunities that they seek within their countries “.
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Zúñiga’s appointment reaffirms his commitment to TN SANT PERE SULA. The appointment of Ricardo Zúñiga as special envoy for the North Central American Triangle responds to the relevance that the Joe Biden government is giving to this region within its foreign policy. . |