Ricardo Zúñiga will visit El Salvador and Guatemala from April 5 to 8 to talk to “stakeholders” about the causes of illegal migration to and from Central America.
After President Nayib Bukele’s attack on California Congresswoman Norma Torres for her criticism of the migration policies of El Salvador and other countries in the region; the Office of the Spokesman of the United States Department of State, reported that the special envoy for the Northern Triangle, Ricardo Zúñiga, will travel to El Salvador and Guatemala from April 5 to 8 this year year, to address the causes of illegal migration to and from Central American countries.
en the notice states that the goal of the Zúñiga tour is to “talk to stakeholders about our broad and united efforts to address the root causes of migration and irregular migration to, from, and across the region, and humanitarian efforts to expand access to protection for the needy. “
The Special Envoy for the Northern Triangle will be accompanied by Katie Tobin, who is the Principal Director of Cross-Border Security at the U.S. National Security Council.
SEE: US Congressman. UU. He attributes the migration crisis to corrupt and failed governments in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras
This will be Zúñiga’s first official visit to Guatemala and El Salvador. The diplomat was appointed to the post by the State Department on March 22, 2021, and is responsible for leading U.S. diplomatic efforts, advising Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and the Acting Undersecretary of the Western Hemisphere Affairs Office.
It should be noted that Zúñiga’s visit to El Salvador will take place in the framework of Bukele’s attacks on Democratic Congresswoman Norma Torres after her criticisms of migration policies driven by Central American governments.
According to an official US State Department publication, Zúñiga will act in close coordination with National Security Council officials in the government’s exhaustive efforts to curb irregular migration to the United States and implement funds for 4 billion dollars that U.S. President Joe Biden has arranged to be spent over several years to eradicate the causes of illegal migration to Central America.
In this statement, the State Department also details that Zúñiga “will be responsible for the partners (countries in the Northern Triangle) to be accountable for their commitments to address the structural causes of migration and the increase in child arrivals. unaccompanied on the southern U.S. border. “
Zúñiga has a U.S. government mandate that his Central American partners be held accountable for the commitments they made to address the root causes of migration and the increase in the arrival of unaccompanied minors on the southern border with the United States. USA.
Implications of the visit
In this regard, foreign policy expert Napoleon Camps has stated that this visit virtually “leaves aside the governments” of El Salvador and Guatemala to speak directly with other interlocutors or “stakeholders.”
“Undoubtedly, the same language of the congressmen: governments do not inspire confidence in us, very strong, the line is clear, some interlocutors had advanced, for example, churches and non-governmental organizations,” Camps explained.
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The specialist also regrets that Bukele’s answers to Congresswoman Torres for her questions have not been the most appropriate, as he has stated that, with his attitude, what he has done is erode the confidence that the US government can to have in El Salvador and to lead to a decline or withdrawal of the aid that the country receives from the American government.
“President Bukele is ignoring something, President (Joe) Biden has put at the head of the team towards Latin America and towards migration issues Vice President Kamala Harris herself,” says Campos and it is the case that the Congressman Torres is part of the team that leads these initiatives to Latin America on migration issues.
Torres also announced that this week they will publish the list of corrupt in Central American countries, which further strained relations between the congresswoman and Bukele, as several Salvadoran government officials have been sprinkled with acts of corruption reported by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken last Tuesday in his latest report on Rights Practices humans 2020.
The current government’s lack of transparency has been denounced by several organizations, including
the National Foundation for Development (Fon), National Chapter on International Transparency.
According to the Fund, they have always faced the resistance of previous governments to their requests for information, but, “with the current government the information ban is almost absolute” and have even reached the point to use the Police to “try to prevent investigations into corruption offenses conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of Auditors.”