LatinWeek

Central America: On 4 May the US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Arturo Valenzuela, said that US cooperation with Central America on security would remain within the framework of the current US multi-year 'Mérida Initiative' for Central America and Mexico. The US insistence on maintaining cooperation within the Mérida Initiative will frustrate Central America leaders, led by El Salvador's President Mauricio Funes, who have repeatedly called on the US to either deepen the initiative (which assigns only US$100m of its US$550m budget for fiscal year 2009 to the region) or draft a specific plan for the sub-region. Valenzuela's remarks were made in El Salvador, as part of a week-long tour of Central America. 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.