WASHINGTON, United States
Legislator Norma Torres, the only Central American member of the United States Congress the Joe Biden government pleaded limit “severe” aid to Central American governments, in which he pointed to “corruption” and “bad governance,” his agency reported Thursday.
“I beg you to oppose sending money directly into the hands of corrupt officials,” said Torres, a California congressman. born in Guatemala, in a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“Our foreign aid must go to civil society, non-governmental organizations, multilateral institutions and other credible institutions that have a proven track record of helping vulnerable people and communities,” he said.
It is not the first time that Torres, a member of the Subcommittee on State Assignments and Foreign Operations of the House of Representatives, has been seeking US aid to those in need in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, the home of most undocumented migrants. with whom they increasingly reach the southern border of the United States.
In the omnibus financing law of 2020, Torres secured funding for the fight against corruption in those three countries, as well as the identification of corrupt officials and the elimination of military funding.
Torres, of the Democratic Party, questioned former Republican President Donald Trump’s management for allowing “rampant” corruption in the so-called Central American Northern Triangle.
In his letter, he noted that the military in Guatemala used US security support to intimidate the US embassy itself.
He also cited legal proceedings in federal courts in New York, according to Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, “protected drug traffickers while bragging about bringing drugs to the United States.”
He also said that “President Nayib Bukele in El Salvador is using his influence to discredit legitimate democratic institutions and processes.”
The Biden administration, which took office on January 20 with the promise of a “fair and humane” immigration policy, said it was determined to tackle the “root causes of migration”.