{"id":130416,"date":"2019-04-01T12:01:29","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T11:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=130416"},"modified":"2019-04-08T11:41:20","modified_gmt":"2019-04-08T10:41:20","slug":"trump-cuts-all-direct-assistance-to-northern-triangle-countries-honduras-el-salvador-guatemala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/04\/trump-cuts-all-direct-assistance-to-northern-triangle-countries-honduras-el-salvador-guatemala\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Cuts All Direct Assistance to Northern Triangle Countries Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala"},"content":{"rendered":"

The stunning development came late Friday [29 Mar] night. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WATCH | Trump threatens to shut border with Mexico<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bdQCBTN4aMY<\/p>\n

30 Mar 2019 – <\/em>In a stunning about-face, State Department officials said that President Donald Trump<\/a> is cutting off all direct assistance<\/a> to the so-called Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the Secretary\u2019s instruction, we are carrying out the President\u2019s direction and ending FY [fiscal year] 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle,\u201d a State Department spokesperson told ABC News, referring to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo<\/a>. \u201cWe will be engaging Congress as part of this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: Trump threatens to completely close southern border as early as next week if Mexico doesn’t stop ‘illegal <\/a>immigration<\/a>‘<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These three countries are the primary source of migrants<\/a> to the U.S., but for years the U.S. has worked with them to stabilize their political environments and economies and end violence and corruption so that migrants wouldn\u2019t leave in the first place.<\/p>\n

Trump hinted at the cuts earlier on Friday, telling reporters,\u201dI\u2019ve ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras, and to El Salvador. No money goes there anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the president has threatened these cuts before, this time the administration is actually following through.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Border Patrol agent Vincent Pirro touches a section of the border wall separating Tijuana, Mexico, behind, from San Diego, Feb. 5, 2019, in San Diego. (Gregory Bull\/AP)<\/p><\/div>\n

Trump said the funds totaled $500 million, but it wasn\u2019t clear Friday if that figure was accurate. The State Department announced in December that the U.S. would mobilize $5.8 billion in public and private american investment to these three countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not paying them anymore because they haven\u2019t done a thing for us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

His senior-most advisers, however, have carried a very different tune, talking very often about the importance of this assistance to stem the flow of illegal immigration.<\/p>\n

MORE: Pence to immigrants: ‘If you can’t come legally, don’t come at all’<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was in Mexico and Honduras this week meeting with their leadership to sign new partnership agreements. Pompeo testified before the House of Representatives on Wednesday about the administration’s efforts, saying the president had instructed him and Nielsen to use U.S. funding to “develop a set of programs that reward effective outcomes, that reward good leadership, that get us to a place where we actually achieve the outcomes.”<\/p>\n

In a speech in Brazil last June, Vice President Mike Pence touted the \u201csignificant resources\u201d the administration was putting toward this effort, though much of those resources were allocated under former President Barack Obama\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A U.S. Border Patrol agent pats down Honduran migrants after they crossed onto U.S territory from Tijuana, Mexico, Nov. 30, 2018. Thousands of migrants, who traveled via a caravan, want to seek asylum in the U.S. (Felix Marquez\/AP, FILE)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe United States of America has never been more committed to strengthening our partnership with the nations in the Northern Triangle to help … tackle the problems facing our shared neighborhood,\u201d Pence said in October when hosting leaders from the Northern Triangle and Mexico at the State Department with Pompeo.<\/p>\n

Trump’s previous threats to pull the plug, however, had often left U.S. officials scratching their heads and straining to explain why these funds described as key to stemming migration would be cut off — as punishment for not stemming migration.<\/p>\n

When Pompeo was challenged on the president\u2019s previous threatening tweets on Wednesday, he told Congress, “I\u2019m not going to comment on my evaluation. You asked me about the U.S. policy, and I\u2019ve done my level-best to articulate it.”<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 abcnews.go.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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