{"id":554216,"date":"2021-06-06T08:23:57","date_gmt":"2021-06-06T12:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=554216"},"modified":"2021-06-06T08:50:18","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T12:50:18","slug":"harris-visits-latin-america-to-tackle-migration-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/harris-visits-latin-america-to-tackle-migration-corruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Harris Visits Latin America to Tackle Migration, Corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fharris-visits-latin-america-to-tackle-migration-corruption%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=554216&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GetFile-273.aspx\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Kamala Harris, on her first foreign trip as vice president, is looking to deepen diplomatic ties with Guatemala and Mexico, two Latin American nations key to the Biden administration&#8217;s efforts to stem the spike in migration at the U.S. border.<\/p>\n<p>Harris, who is set to depart Washington later Sunday, is seeking to secure commitments for greater cooperation on border security and economic investment, but corruption in the region \u2014 a far more intractable challenge \u2014 will complicate her efforts.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s already had a significant impact on her work in the region. Harris has yet to engage substantively with the leaders of Honduras and El Salvador, who are both embroiled in corruption scandals. And it\u2019s an issue that experts in the region say will need to be addressed to make any lasting changes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorruption is a cancer in the region,\u201d said Jason Marczak, director of the Atlantic Council&#8217;s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. \u201cAddressing corruption is fundamental to creating hope and creating the potential for opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marczak noted that corruption in the region affects human rights protections, employment opportunities, the cost of goods and much more. Jobs, he said, will come &#8220;with investment, and investment comes where there is certainty in the rule of law.\u201d Without that, efforts to improve living conditions can only go so far.<\/p>\n<p>In the months since she was tasked by President Joe Biden with addressing the root causes of migration to the U.S.-Mexico border, Harris has laid out an approach centered on creating better opportunities and living conditions in the region through humanitarian and economic aid.<\/p>\n<p>Harris announced plans to send $310 million to provide support for refugees and address food shortages, and recently secured commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in the Northern Triangle countries to promote economic opportunity and job training.<\/p>\n<p>Washington won some goodwill through its vaccine diplomacy this past week. Guatemala&#8217;s president, Alejandro Giammattei, and Mexico&#8217;s Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador both received calls from Harris on Thursday telling them the U.S. would be sending 500,000 doses and 1 million doses, respectively, of COVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>While in Guatemala, Harris plans to meet community leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs. In Mexico, Harris will participate in a conversation with female entrepreneurs and hold a roundtable with labor workers. That&#8217;s in addition to bilateral meetings with the leaders of both countries.<\/p>\n<p>Harris said during a May meeting with Guatemalan justice leaders that corruption is a \u201csignificant deterrent\u201d to economic investment there.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s underscored the need to address corruption in public remarks and events. In her meeting with a number of leading voices on Guatemala&#8217;s justice system, she noted her work as a prosecutor and said that \u201cinjustice is a root cause of migration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPart of giving people hope is having a very specific commitment to rooting out corruption in the region,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Harris has also raised the issue during virtual meetings with the leaders of both countries and aides say she will do it again during meetings on her trip.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are acute factors \u2014 natural disasters, food insecurity, the climate crisis, and then there are root causes \u2014 poverty, violence, corruption,\u201d said Harris&#8217; chief spokesperson, Symone Sanders. \u201cFrom the vice president\u2019s perspective, this is about helping build hope in the region, and that a better life is in fact possible at home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While in Latin America, Harris will also have to navigate the politics of immigration. Congressional Republicans have criticized both Biden and Harris for deciding not to visit the border, and contend the administration is ignoring what they say is a crisis there. April was the second-busiest month on record for unaccompanied children encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border, following March\u2019s all-time high. The Border Patrol\u2019s total encounters in April were up 3% from March, marking the highest level since April 2000.<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives will be watching Harris closely for any missteps, hoping to drag her into further controversy on an issue that they see as a political winner.<\/p>\n<p>In her efforts to win commitments on corruption from the region&#8217;s leaders, Harris can point to a number of moves by the Biden administration this past week.<\/p>\n<p>Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the problem during his own recent trip to Central America. The White House issued a memo elevating foreign corruption to a major national security issue, and directed all federal agencies to prioritize it and modernize their foreign corruption-fighting tools.<\/p>\n<p>Eric Olson, director of policy at the Seattle International Foundation, which works to promote good governance in Central America, said that addressing corruption will take particular diplomatic skill. Harris will need to hold the leaders of Guatemala and Mexico accountable while also deepening trust and cooperation with the two nations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe challenge that she faces is how to, on the one hand, have a conversation, keep the door open \u2014 while not seeming to ignore the obvious elephant in the room, which is this incredible penetration of the state by corrupt actors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In Mexico, L\u00f3pez Obrador continues to face a complicated security situation in many parts of the country. Nearly three-dozen candidates or pre-candidates were killed before this weekend\u2019s midterm elections as drug cartels sought to protect their interests. The government\u2019s inability to provide security in parts of the country is of interest to the U.S. in an immigration context, both for the people who are displaced by violence and the impact it has on a severely weakened economy trying reemerge from the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>The number of Mexicans encountered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection rose steadily from December through April. Mexico remains a key U.S. ally in trying to slow immigration, not only of its own citizens, but those crossing its territory. Successive U.S. administrations have effectively tried to push their immigration enforcement goals south to Mexico and Guatemala.<\/p>\n<p>Nongovernmental organizations placed Guatemala\u2019s widespread corruption at the top of their list of concerns before Harris\u2019 visit. Last month, two lawyers who are outspoken critics of Giammattei\u2019s administration were arrested on what they say were trumped-up charges aimed at silencing them.<\/p>\n<p>The selection of judges for Guatemala\u2019s Constitutional Court, its highest, was mired in influence peddling and alleged corruption. Giammattei picked his chief of staff to fill one of the five vacancies. When Gloria Porras, a respected force against corruption, was elected to a second term, the congress controlled by Giammattei\u2019s party refused to seat her.<\/p>\n<p>Harris\u2019 visit comes with high expectations, but organizations concerned about the rule of law and corruption in Guatemala have doubts about what the U.S. can do to halt the deterioration or co-optation of government institutions.<\/p>\n<p>Tiziano Breda, a Central America analyst with Crisis Group, said the challenge for Harris \u201cis to not play the Guatemalan government\u2019s game, where on one side it expresses willingness to collaborate with the United States while on the other it takes steps that weaken the rule of law, accountability and the fight against corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Breda said the risk of any public show of support to the government could embolden it.<\/p>\n<p>While experts say they are watching for potential announcements on further food or economic aid coming out of the trip, clear progress on corruption may be more elusive, and any efforts will take much longer to bear fruit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are societies built on corruption,\u201d said Olson. \u201cYou\u2019re not gonna have an impact in six months.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kamala Harris, on her first foreign trip as vice president, is looking to deepen diplomatic ties with Guatemala and Mexico, two Latin American nations key to the Biden administration&#8217;s efforts &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2279349,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GetFile-273.aspx","fifu_image_alt":"Harris Visits Latin America to Tackle Migration, Corruption","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GetFile-273.aspx","fifu_image_alt":"Harris Visits Latin America to Tackle Migration, Corruption","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2279349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}