Hector Silva on The United States and Central America’s Northern Tier

Hector Silva has a new working paper on The United States and Central America’s Northern Tier: The Ongoing Disconnect for the Inter-American Dialogue. I haven't read it yet but it looks promising.

In this working paper, Silva offers a review of US security cooperation with the nations of Central America’s Northern Triangle—Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Organized crime, rampant corruption, and largescale violence have stunted the region’s economic and social development since the end of Central America’s civil wars in the 1990s.

As Silva notes, US aid has missed the mark and done little to reverse climbing homicide and crime rates. By examining the history of US engagement in the region and the political forces that have driven both US and Central American action, Silva reveals a disconnect between Washington’s national security agenda and that of the region’s leaders.

According to Silva, it is this disconnect that has prevented the United States and the countries of the Northern Tier from pursuing the sort of comprehensive strategies needed to address the institutional weaknesses that lie at the heart of the region’s security challenges.

See also Hector's piece on The Infiltrators: Corruption in El Salvador's Police for Insight Crime.