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LatinNews Daily - 22 October 2018

Breier confirmed US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs

Central America: On 16 October US President Donald Trump threatened to cut off financial aid to Central America’s so-called ‘Northern Triangle’ (Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala) if their respective leaders fail to stop illegal migration. Initially made in relation to Honduras, President Trump’s threat was provoked by a caravan of between 2,000-3,000 Honduran nationals that has been traveling towards Mexico looking to enter the US, since 13 October – the second such caravan in recent months. In a tweet President Trump said: “We have today informed the countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador that if they allow their citizens, or others, to journey through their borders and up to the United States, with the intention of entering our country illegally, all payments made to them will STOP.” US Vice President Mike Pence also made similar comments in phone calls to the presidents of Guatemala and Honduras, Jimmy Morales and Juan Orlando Hernández respectively. According to the US-based Washington Office on Latin America (Wola), in both fiscal years 2016 and 2017 the US allocated around US$432.2m in bilateral assistance to Guatemala, US$391m to Honduras, and approximately US$302.2m to El Salvador. Human rights institutions like the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have expressed concern about the plight of those travelling to the US from Honduras while think-tanks like Wola continue to point out that until the root causes of migration are addressed in these countries (insecurity, lack of economic opportunity, and impunity) the situation is unlikely to change.

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