Weekly Report - 06 May 2010 (WR-10-18)

REGION | Valenzuela. The US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Arturo Valenzuela, undertook a regional tour this week. His visit follows that of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March, which yielded little more than an acknowledgement of US responsibility for problems posed by drug-trafficking in the region and a vague pledge regarding future cooperation. With regard to security, Valenzuela's visit also frustrated Central American leaders, who are calling for the creation of a new regional entity in the mould of the UN-backed Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig). Valenzuela said that US cooperation would remain within the framework of the current US multi-year 'Mérida Initiative' for Central America and Mexico, although he added that the US was considering assigning US$210m to the region as part of the plan for 2010 and 2011 (up from US$100m of its US$550m budget for fiscal year 2009). He also announced an 18-month extension of the Temporary Protection Status (TPS) for migrants from Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras. The TPS, which was due to expire on 5 July 2010, is granted to countries that have suffered natural disasters or civil wars and allows undocumented migrants to remain temporarily in the US with a work permit.

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