Trump threatens to make everyone worse off

Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2018

For various reasons, the United States has long supported repressive and corrupt governments in Honduras and Guatemala. While it has tried to push certain reforms to improve governance, tackle corruption, and improve the rule of law in the region, the results have been limited at best and done little to improve democracy in the region. US “allies” have in fact thwarted many of our best efforts. CICIG is an example. From what I told David Agren last week:

You have alleged $100 million-plus corruption scandals in each country with little evidence the governing elites have changed in anyway,” said Mike Allison, an expert in Central American politics at the University of Scranton. “The U.S. should be more concerned about what message that sends.”

If it were not in the United States’s self-interest, the US would not be providing a significant amount of assistance to the region. There is a strong consensus behind the understanding that punishing the Northern Triangle will make the region worse which is in no one’s interest, including the United States.