US assistance allows Northern Triangle to invest in other areas

Voices on the Border has a good, thoughtful piece on More Neoliberal Economic Policies Will Not Stop Unaccompanied Minors From Seeking Refuge.

While the Plan arguably contains some constructive approaches towards decreasing violence, the emphasis is on implementing neoliberal economic policies. The proposal reads more like CAFTA-DR 2.0 or a World Bank structural adjustment plan, than an effort to stem the flow of emigration. The Northern Triangle and U.S. governments are proposing that foreign investment, more integrated economies, and free trade – and a gas pipeline – will provide the jobs and opportunities necessary to keep youth from seeking refuge in the U.S.

Income inequality and violence are the driving forces behind youth seeking refuge in the U.S., but its hard to imagine how more neoliberal economic policies, which many cite as the reason for inequality over the past 25 years, will do anything except ensure the region’s rich will remain so. A skeptic might even argue that the U.S. and Northern Triangle governments are using the “crisis” of violence and emigration in order to implement policies that further their own economic interests.

It's a helpful piece. One concern is that they frame the last twenty years as times of increasing poverty and inequality in El Salvador as a result of neoliberal economic reforms. However, while unevenly, poverty and inequality statistics improved under both ARENA and FMLN administrations. Don't just assert that poverty and inequality have worsened when the objective indicators tell a different story.

While I am concerned that the benefits of the $1 billion aid package to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras will be marginal at best, it is also important to remember that it is not the only money to be invested in the region. As Voices rightfully points out, the Salvadoran government has proposed another $2 billion worth of progressive programs to also tackle violence. There have also been notable improvements in education and health care delivery. As long as investments keep up in those areas, the money from the US might help in areas not currently being funded to the extent that they should.

US assistance frees up our Central American partners to spend money in other areas. How much they spend and how effectively they do so, are just as important to the success of our partnership.