San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
In contrast to Donald Trump’s strategy of trying to stop undocumented migrants at borders, the Joe Biden administration will tackle corruption, drug trafficking and money laundering and promote human development in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, to stop the migration wave.
Biden’s administration will invest in the Northern Triangle, but at the same time will make available strategic institutions such as the Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac), Department of the Treasury, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Justice Department to prosecute civilians who have been impoverished by corruption and criminal activity and turned these countries into zones of violence.
Juan González, Special Assistant to the President and Chief Executive of the National Security Council for the Western Hemisphere, and Ricardo Zúñiga, Special Envoy to Central America’s Northern Triangle, said yesterday during a telephone press conference with journalists from the region: among them from Diario LA PRENSA Honduras, which Washington will establish a task force in conjunction with civil society, the private sector and governments that are prepared.
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González stated at the conference that President Biden “pledged to create a regional anti-corruption task force” with the different actors of the three countries, including international entities. that promote transparency in the region.
“First of all, there are (actors) who are committed to justice, but who work alone. They don’t have the support. Part of this task force is how we can help them do their job. Number two is to try to work with the governments of the region to try and build capacity in the prosecution service that sometimes does not have the necessary support to move forward. We have a history of doing that with the Justice Department, Treasury Department, DEA and others, ”he said.
González said the United States could simultaneously take “individual actions” through “Ofac, the State Department and the Treasury Department to punish those involved in corruption, human rights violations and money laundering”. “We have to try to strengthen a regional effort against corruption and that’s like that it does in conjunction with governments, ”he said.
Zúñiga added that “the fact is that the fight against corruption will be a central axis, the axis of President Biden’s policy for Central America, because (…) organized crime and public corruption are one of the fundamental elements. in the worsening conditions in Central Americaa (…) in past and previous years.
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Keys to strategy 1. Respect for democracy “We are ready to seek a relationship (…) with all governments that are willing to commit to strengthening democracy (…) with respect for the freedom of the press, with respect for the political freedom of everyone and speech, ” said Ricardo Zúñiga 2. Rule of law The North American diplomat of Honduran origin stressed the importance of the independence of state powers, saying that a society and an economy can only function if “there must be great confidence that the rule of law will be fully respected.” “ Preferential relationship Zúñiga warned that “the United States will have a preferential relationship with actors working in the fight against corruption, which means, for example, that there are quite a few actors within civil society and within the private sector.” |
It is also about creating conditions for good employment, conditions that create opportunities and benefit when there is full democracy ”.
González and Zúñiga stated that, because of the implications it has for the national security of the United States, the three countries should have an independent, transparent and objective judicial system “that responds to everyone, not just a few” so that citizens have access to justice . on an equal footing.
When consulted by the newspaper LA PRENSA Regarding the short- and medium-term objectives that the Task Force aims to achieve and the options for accelerating new renditions of people linked to criminal acts, González replied that “one of the reasons President (Biden) wanted to form a regional task force is because the Cicig’s mandate is clearly over (International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala) and the Maccih (Mission in support of corruption and impunity in Honduras) ”.
The president (Biden), as vice president, was very supportive of the work of the Cicig and Maccih and now the lack of these committees has left the prosecution service and civil society without enough resources to formulate cases and combat these problems directly. . To get something done quickly, in the short term, this regional task force is a one-sided part of the United States where we invest our means to ensure that our investigators, the Treasury Department and others are willing and willing to punish enemies involved in corruption, ”he said.
But he clarified that “in the medium and long term it is difficult to establish or strengthen a judicial system with sanctions alone. We need to work with governments to strengthen that domestic capability so that hopefully one day a Cicig, a regional task force, will not be needed, but that these national judicial systems are transparent and objective enough so that they do not protect those who are involved with them. corruption in a country ”.
Zuñiga added that indeed “one of the reasons why the president is so focused on corruption issues is correct because Maccih and Cicig have been removed ”.
“Why? Because we understand that (despite) all the flaws attributed to these organizations, we also saw that it was not the international actors, but the prosecutors, investigators and judges from the countries themselves who are investigating these important in Honduras and Guatemala. In El Salvador a Cicig Independently could play this role. In the case of Honduras and Guatemala, we are looking for a different way to support the actors within the countries and within the systems. legal, ”he said.
Speaking at the conference, Zúñiga, appointed this week as special envoy for the Northern Triangle, said that the “peoples of Central America have the right (…)” to “be free from the influence of organized crime or any other shameful. influence. “
“We as an actor, partner and friend of the peoples of Central America are willing to help find ways to remove those influences, for example we know about the influence (that is) through unauthorized contributions to political campaigns. This is something that affects several countries Central America, including Honduras. We are willing to help, to find ways to bring that influence to the fore in any way, ”he said.
According to González, Biden’s strategy is not focused on the symptom, but on the solution, on creating economic opportunities in Central American countries, ensuring that a 10-year-old does not go to a gang or emigrate. To the United States; create opportunities for them within their country, create opportunities for people who are not on that risky journey to the United States America, have those opportunities they are looking for in their country ”.
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Zúñiga’s appointment reaffirms his commitment to TN SAN PEDRO SULA. The appointment of Ricardo Zúñiga as special envoy for the Northern Triangle of Central America is in line with the relevance that the Joe Biden administration gives to this region in its foreign policy. |