Visit Central America | Blinken wants to address the reasons for the arrival of immigrants

Francisco Fantemagi
France Media Agency

For his first visit to Latin America, Anthony Blinken chose to travel to San Jose, Costa Rica, where he would meet with the foreign ministers of the member states of the Central American Integration System (SICA): Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Dominica Even in the presence of a Mexican counter.

At the heart of this two-day visit, the tedious immigration issue quickly became a puzzle for US President Joe Biden.

“What we want to hear from our partners is a partnership commitment to address the root causes of” illegal immigration, “Anthony Blinken told a news conference with Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado.” People know everything they know, their home, their family, their culture, their language What pushes them to leave is because they feel they have no other choice. ”

Joe Biden, who arrived at the White House in January, was immediately confronted by a large number of immigrants from Central America to the Mexican border. Republicans have accused the man who promised a more “humane” immigration policy of flipping the page on Donald Trump’s tough sanctions on the presidency, creating the draft – and rejecting its present existence. Crisis “.

Democracy “weakened”

The Democrat has handed over a high-risk document to his vice president, Kamala Harris, who will be visiting Mexico and Guatemala for the first time next week.

To fulfill his desire to solve the problem “at source”, he announced an envelope of four billion dollars over four years to help the development of the countries of the Northern Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador).

However, the distribution of these funds now comes against the backdrop of growing ties with El Salvador, of which Washington has condemned attacks by the authorities against the independence of the judiciary.

More broadly, in Central America, Nicaragua, the United States has not hidden its concern in terms of democracy, freedom of the press and human rights.

“We are meeting at a time when democracy and human rights are weakening in many parts of the region,” said Anthony Blinken. “We see this in the decline of the independence of the judiciary, the suppression of the independent media and NGOs, the banning of political opponents and the lagging behind in the fight against corruption,” he said. In all “transparency” to his colleagues concerned.

“Questions surrounding corruption” or “undemocratic behavior”, which is a direct cause, are pushing immigrants toward the United States, a senior American official told reporters after a meeting of regional ministers.

“We can not wait for governments to be perfect,” he urged another member of the American delegation, adding that “civil society and the private sector need to work together.”

The Secretary of State effectively assured that the United States was ready to cooperate with all governments on the right or left, but insisted that they reaffirm their commitment to democracy and the fight against corruption.

In contrast, he praised Costa Rica’s “example” of joining the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).