Ricardo Zúñiga will visit El Salvador and Guatemala from April 5-8 to talk to “interested parties” about the causes of illegal migration from and through Central America.
After President Nayib Bukele’s attack on California Congressman Norma Torres for criticizing the immigration policies of El Salvador and the rest of the countries in the region; The office of the United States Department spokesperson reported that the Northern Triangle Special Envoy, Ricardo Zúñiga, will travel to El Salvador and Guatemala between April 5 and 8 this year to address the causes of illegal migration from and through. Central American countries.
In The advertisement It states that the purpose of Zúñiga’s tour is “to talk to stakeholders about our broad and united efforts to address the root causes of migration and irregular migration in, from and through the region, and humanitarian efforts to increase access to protection for those people. need “.
The Northern Triangle Special Envoy will be joined by Katie Tobin, senior director for cross-border security for the United States National Security Council.
SEE: US Congressman Attributes Migration Crisis to Corrupt and Failed Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras
This will be Zúñiga’s first official visit to Guatemala and El Salvador. The diplomat was appointed to the post by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 22, 2021. and is responsible for leading the US diplomatic efforts, advising Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and the Acting Undersecretary of the Office for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
It should be noted that Zúñiga’s visit to El Salvador will take place in the context of Bukele’s attacks on Democratic Congressman Norma Torres after her criticism of the migration policies of the Central American governments.
Zúñiga will act in close coordination with National Security Council officials in the government’s exhaustive efforts to curb irregular migration to the United States and fund the $ 4,000 billion funds provided by the U.S. President, according to an official State Department publication. Joe Biden has ensured that they are used for several years to eradicate the causes of illegal migration in Central America.
In this statement, the State Department also states that Zúñiga “will ensure that the partners (Northern Triangle countries) are responsible for their commitments to address the structural causes of migration and the increase in the number of unaccompanied minors at the southern border of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA “
Zúñiga has been mandated by the US government to hold its Central American partners to account for their commitments to address root causes of migration and the increased arrival of unaccompanied minors to the southern border with the United States.
Implications of the visit
In this regard, the foreign policy expert, Napoleón Campos, stated that this visit practically disregards “the governments” of El Salvador and Guatemala to speak directly with other interlocutors or “interested parties”.
“Undoubtedly the same language of the congressmen: governments do not inspire confidence in us, very strong, the line is clear, some interlocutors had come forward, for example churches and non-governmental organizations,” Campos explained.
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The specialist also regrets that Bukele’s answers to Congressman Torres to her questions were not the most appropriate, as he stated that his attitude has eroded the confidence that the U.S. government has in El Salvador and led to a decrease or withdrawal of aid that the country receives from the US government.
“President Bukele is overlooking something, President (Joe) Biden has placed Vice President Kamala Harris at the head of the team on Latin America and immigration issues,” said Campos, and Congressman Torres is part of the team leading it. initiatives towards Latin America on migration issues.
Torres also announced that they will be publishing the list of the corrupt countries in Central American countries this week, something that further strains relations between the congressman and Bukele as several Salvadoran government officials have been riddled with corruption, as reported by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in his latest Rights Practices report last Tuesday. Humans 2020.
The current government’s lack of transparency has been denounced by several organizations, including
the National Foundation for Development (Funde), National Chapter of International Transparency.
According to Funde, they have always met resistance from previous governments to their requests for information, but “with the current government, the disclosure ban is almost absolute” and have even reached the point of using the police to “try”. to prevent investigations into corruption crimes carried out by the Public Prosecution Service and the Court of Auditors ”.