U.S., Supporting Mexico's Plan, Will Invest $5.8 Billion in Central America
The United States, joining an effort by Mexico, will commit to investing billions in Central America in hopes of ending the poverty, violence and drug-trafficking that are driving thousands of people in the region to undertake the difficult trek to the United States, the State Department announced on Tuesday.
Mexico's new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, introduced what he called a "Marshall Plan" last week to address the root causes of Central American migration: a $30 billion initiative to invest in the region and welcome migrants into Mexico with visas, health care and employment.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration signaled its support for the plan, saying it was committing $5.8 billion in private and public investments in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Much of that amount, however, was previously committed or contingent on the identification of "commercially viable projects."
Also at The Washington Post and The Hill.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday December 21 2018, @11:45PM (4 children)
Holy shit, I just realized that the number is almost exactly the amount that the House of Representatives passed for funding the wall:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/12/20/government-shutdown-house-adds-border-wall-funding-spending-bill/2381057002/ [usatoday.com]
Coincidence?!?!?!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Saturday December 22 2018, @12:17AM
Fixed your spelling error there. No need to thank me, I've been here all day.
Also, Betteridge's law of headlines doesn't apply here, as your remark actually ended with an "!"; and strangely enough, the answer is almost certainly "yes." Well. Once the spelling issue was addressed, anyway. Otherwise, probably no.
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Cats have 32 muscles in each ear to ignore you with
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Saturday December 22 2018, @03:34AM (2 children)
Changing social circumstances so that central Americans don't want to migrate is probably as effective a building a bigger wall.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Saturday December 22 2018, @04:24AM (1 child)
Maybe, but one of those ~$5.8 billion piles gets us a wall, presumably made with at least some American materials and labor (acting as economic stimulus), while the other ~$5.8 billion goes into the pockets of G_d-knows-who, with no guarantee of effectiveness. Kind of like giving food aid to Africa which ends up diverted to warlords. Or it could end up being used for the usual counterproductive purposes such as fueling a Drug War. Since the way to achieve stability is obviously to fund attacks against cartels and burn fields of coca plants... right?
So given the two choices, maybe mixing up some concrete, steel memes, and slapping some sensors into the ground isn't such a waste o' money.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday December 22 2018, @01:44PM
In other words, not much difference. The aid will probably be linked to kickbacks to US businesses as well.