The US approved funds for the Northern Triangle countries, but on the condition that they do not go to the military. “We cannot let the US fund the militias that control corruption,” said Guatemalan congressman Norma Torres.
On December 21, the United States Congress passed a bill for economic aid for the countries of the Northern Triangle, but that specifically limits military funding to the governments of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala as one of the main conditioning factors.
The economic aid approved for the Northern Triangle should only be used for social projects to fight corruption and maintain the rule of law. Restriction of funds is being considered in the bill (omnibus law) to finance the remaining months of the 2021 financial year.
“We cannot let the US fund the militias that control corruption,” said Guatemalan congressman Norma Torres, who advocated the provision to ban such funds from being used for the military.
And it was even more powerful: “My provision in the spending bill ensures that our military funding does not subsidize the trampling of the rule of law and freedoms in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.”
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Torres, who is a member of the House of Representatives’ Credit Committee, based his initiative on the fact that his work continues to focus on supporting stability and the rule of law in the northern triangle.
The approved project targets a total of $ 55.505 billion for state programs related to foreign operations, including a $ 9 billion post under the concept of international security assistance.
US Congress “sends a message against Bukele’s authoritarian practices”
While the Committee on Solidarity with El Salvador (CISPES) applauded the US Congress’s decision to restrict El Salvador’s access to foreign military aid funds from the US budget, which serve to finance the purchase of weapons, defense equipment and other services .
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CISPES Executive Director Alexis Stoumbelis said limiting funding to governments such as El Salvador, with authoritarian expressions from President Nayib Bukele, is most appropriate.
“While there is much to be regretted in this bill regarding measures for the working class and poor communities of the United States in the face of the pandemic, we can see well that members of Congress are limiting military funding to El Salvador as the behavior President Nayib Bukele’s last year, aimed at politicizing the security forces, is troubling, ”he said.
Stoumbelis added that “with these cuts, members of Congress are trying to send a signal against the Bukele administration’s practices of attacking democratic institutions, human rights defenders and the independent press; and we organize ourselves to keep spreading that message in the months leading up to the elections in El Salvador ”.
The militarization of the Assembly by the Salvadoran military, on the orders of President Bukele, caused alarm at the international level about his government’s authoritarian tendencies.