U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America: An Overview

U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America: An Overview

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Updated February 16, 2021
U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America: An Overview
Introduction
for Engagement in Central America and, with congressional
Central America has received considerable attention from
support, more than doubled annual foreign aid to the region.
U.S. policymakers over the past decade, as it has become a
major transit corridor for illicit narcotics and a top source of
The Trump Administration repeatedly sought to scale back
irregular migration to the United States. In FY2019, U.S.
funding for the Central America strategy. It proposed
authorities at the southwest border apprehended nearly
significant year-on-year assistance cuts for the region in
608,000 unauthorized migrants from El Salvador,
each of its annual budget requests and suspended most aid
Guatemala, and Honduras (the Northern Triangle of Central
for the Northern Triangle in March 2019, two years into the
America); 81% of those apprehended were families or
strategy’s on-the-ground implementation. Congress chose
unaccompanied minors, many of whom were seeking
not to adopt many of the proposed cuts, but annual funding
asylum (see Figure 1). Although the Coronavirus Disease
for the Central America strategy declined from $750
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted illicit trafficking and
million in FY2017 to $505.9 million in FY2021—a nearly
irregular migration flows in FY2020, many analysts expect
33% drop over four years (see Figure 2).
a resurgence once governments throughout the Western
Hemisphere begin lifting border restrictions.
Both Congress and the Biden Administration have called
for a reexamination of U.S. policy toward Central America
Figure 1. U.S. Apprehensions of Northern Triangle
in 2021.
Nationals at the Southwest Border: FY2011-FY2020
Funding
From FY2016 to FY2021, Congress appropriated more than
$3.6 billion to implement the U.S. Strategy for Engagement
in Central America. Congress has divided appropriations
relatively evenly between bilateral assistance programs
focused on good governance, economic growth, and social
welfare and Central America Regional Security Initiative
(CARSI) programs intended to prevent violence, reform
justice-sector institutions, and combat gangs and organized
crime. U.S. agencies have allocated the majority of funds to
the Northern Triangle countries. Annual appropriations
measures have required the State Department to withhold a
portion that aid, however, until the Northern Triangle
governments take steps to improve border security, combat
corruption, protect human rights, and address other
congressional concerns.

Sources: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “U.S. Border Patrol
Nationwide Apprehensions by Citizenship and Sector in FY2007-
FY2019”; and “U.S. Border Patrol Southwest Border Apprehensions
by Sector Fiscal Year 2020,” press release, November 19, 2020.
Note: FY2020 data include both apprehensions and public health
expulsions for March 2020-September 2020.
These narcotics and migrant flows are the latest symptoms
of deep-rooted challenges in the region, including
widespread insecurity, fragile political and judicial systems,
and high levels of poverty and unemployment. In 2014, the
Obama Administration determined that it was in the
national security interests of the United States to work with
Central American governments to improve living
conditions in the region. It approved a new U.S. Strategy
https://crsreports.congress.gov

U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America: An Overview
Figure 2. Funding for the U.S. Strategy for
the COVID-19 pandemic, and address other health and
Engagement in Central America: FY2016-FY2021
humanitarian needs in the region.
FY2021 Appropriations
Congress appropriated $505.9 million of foreign assistance
for Central America in the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260). That amount is $129 million
more than the Trump Administration requested but $27
million less than Congress allocated to the region in
FY2020. Similarly to prior years, the FY2021 act requires
the State Department to withhold 50% of CARSI and
military aid for the Northern Triangle governments until it
certifies those governments are addressing certain
congressional concerns.
Results and Regional Developments
According to a September 2019 U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO) report, “limited information
is available about how U.S. assistance [has] improved

prosperity, governance, and security in the Northern
Sources: U.S. Department of State, Congressional Budget
Triangle.” GAO notes that U.S. agencies lack a
Justifications for Foreign Operations, FY2018-FY2021; FY2020
comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan, and that
estimate data provided to CRS, June 15, 2020; and P.L. 116-260.
project-level assessments have found mixed results. For
example, an October 2020 State Department and USAID
Suspension of U.S. Assistance
progress report found that U.S.-backed prosecutors in the
The Trump Administration suspended most foreign aid to
Northern Triangle tripled their convictions from FY2017 to
the Northern Triangle countries in March 2019 due to the
FY2019, but U.S.-backed law enforcement units seized
continued northward flow of migrants and asylum-seekers
fewer assets and illicit narcotics in FY2019 than in FY2017.
from the region. Although some Department of Homeland
Security and Department of Justice programs continued, the
Although country-level indicators measure factors outside
aid suspension forced other U.S. agencies to begin closing
the control of the U.S. government, U.S. assistance can
down projects and canceling planned activities. In
contribute to improvements over the longer term.
Honduras, for example, the total number of beneficiaries of

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Real per capita gross domestic product increased by an
activities fell from 1.5 million in March 2019 to 700,000 in
average of nearly 9% in the Northern Triangle from
March 2020.
2014 to 2019. The International Monetary Fund
estimates most of those gains were wiped out in 2020,
The Trump Administration reprogrammed approximately
however, by the COVID-19 pandemic and two
$396 million that Congress had appropriated for Central
hurricanes. Several million people in the region have
America in FY2018, reallocating the funds to other foreign
lost their livelihoods and are facing crisis levels of food
policy priorities. The Administration withheld much of the
insecurity.
remaining assistance for the Northern Triangle countries for

more than a year as it negotiated a series of migration
Homicide rates in the Northern Triangle have fallen
agreements with the Northern Triangle governments. Under
significantly since 2014, but they remain high by global
an Asylum Cooperative Agreement (also known as a Safe
standards. According to preliminary data compiled by
Third Country Agreement), for example, the United States
journalists at InSight Crime, homicide rates continued to
sent nearly 1,000 Hondurans and Salvadorans to Guatemala
decline in 2020, falling to 37.6 per 100,000 residents in
between November 2019 and March 2020, requiring them
Honduras, 19.7 per 100,000 in El Salvador, and 15.3 per
to apply for protection there rather than in the United
100,000 in Guatemala.
States. Guatemala suspended that agreement in March 2020

due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Similar arrangements
After making tentative progress holding high-level
with El Salvador and Honduras were never implemented
officials accountable, the Guatemalan and Honduran
prior to the Biden Administration’s suspension of all three
governments expelled international anti-corruption
Asylum Cooperative Agreements in February 2021.)
commissions in 2019 and 2020, respectively. According
to Transparency International, perceptions of corruption
In October 2019, the Trump Administration announced it
deteriorated in all three Northern Triangle countries
would begin restoring targeted aid to the Northern Triangle.
between 2014 and 2020. The Northern Triangle also
By June 2020, U.S. agencies reportedly had programmed
experienced democratic backsliding during that period,
all of the previously suspended assistance. According to the
with Freedom House reporting erosions in political
Trump Administration, the released funds aimed to deter
rights and civil liberties .
migration, advance U.S. national security interests,
implement the Asylum Cooperative Agreements, respond to
https://crsreports.congress.gov

U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America: An Overview
strategy as it carries out its oversight responsibilities and
Outlook
considers appropriations and other legislation to guide U.S.
U.S. policy in Central America is at a crossroads. The
policy in the region.
United States-Northern Triangle Enhanced Engagement Act
(P.L. 116-260 , Division FF, Subtitle F), signed into law in
Additional Analysis
December 2020, directs the State Department, in
For additional analysis, see CRS Report R44812, U.S.
coordination with other U.S. agencies, to develop a new
Strategy for Engagement in Central America: Policy Issues
five-year strategy to advance inclusive economic growth,
for Congress.
combat corruption, strengthen democratic institutions, and
improve security conditions in the region. During his
Peter J. Meyer, Specialist in Latin American and Canadian
campaign, President Biden pledged to develop a
Affairs
comprehensive, four-year $4 billion regional strategy to
address the root causes of migration. The 117th Congress
IF10371
could influence the formulation and execution of the new

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