From the Nations Capital to wherever you are. The opinion that matters the most is your own. This is what democracy looks like. Cspan, powered by cable. U. S. Ambassador to belize Michelle Kwan joined u. S. Ambassadors to costa rica, el salvador, honduras, and guatemala for a discussion about u. S. Central American relations. The diplomats were asked about regional migration, economic challenges and threats from cartels and crime syndicates. The interamerican dialogue in washington, d. C. Hosted this event. It is one hour 20 minutes. I want to say that upfront. I think everyone here knows that the u. S. Is in the process of building the state department after four years of attack under the trump administration. The department lost 60 of its career ambassadors. Providing the tools and resources they need. Excuse me. So more targeted and pushed out. Others resigned in protest. I think i just saw john seeley that actually served in panama. When he left that post, it was open for far too long. These capable and dedicated diplomats on the stage today are among our best, committed to the region and many weathered attacks on our diplomatic institutions. These are the individuals leading our engagement with Central America. It is a region critical to the United States for multiple reasons that we will hear about today, not just migration. Like the rest of the americas, it deserves greater attention and resources. Turning to the challenging context in which these dedicated Public Servants are working. Many of these challenges are laid out in the Biden Harris Administration that caused recognizes addressing migration is about more than enforcing the u. S. Southern border, it is about providing hope. These include poverty and inequality, corruption and poor governments, the impact of climate change, citizen insecurity and alarming democratic backsliding. We have nicaragua, a fullfledged authoritarian repressive regime. We are saying the dismantling of Democratic Institutions in other Central American countries often starting with attacks on the a ptolemy of the judiciary. We elections, changes to the constitution that prevent indefinite reelection. We are seeing attacks on the press. This week the sentencing of a guatemalan journalist in an attack on Civil Society. In el salvador we have president because i addressing citizen insecurity issues with extremity. It is incumbent on us to Work Together to find ways to address crime and violence within a rule of law framework. As we know, bouquet he has quite a Propaganda Machine and his policies are getting traction in other countries in the region. I will turn it over to the director of the interamerican dialogue. Thank you for being here. We had the opportunity to work with you in the past and it is good to see you. Good morning, everyone and welcome, ambassadors. We will talk about migration now. We are here to talk about Central America u. S. Diplomatic relations in the region. Central america has become or continues to be a focus of attention to the United States promoting diplomatic relations. We have 300,000 people that have died since 2000 from homicides resulting from violence, more people that died in the wars of the 1970s and 80s. These are terrible situations. We have. 5 Million People migrating every year since 2018. And 40 billion in remittances, basically 23 of the regional gdp. Basically, coming from Migrant Workers in the u. S. We also have 40 billion in trade. A lot of it is produced with labor rights violations. We have environmental problems. Climate change causing Food Insecurity in guatemala. As rebecca said, we have problems with the rule of law. How do we cope with all these things . What are the main challenges we are dealing with . On top of that, we have come you know, we have, you know, trade agreements with china. China putting its nose in Central America. Russia signing agreements sending troops to nicaragua. Nicaragua has more weapons from russia and the three country then the three countries of the northern triangle combined. There are Regional Security problems. There are Regional Economic problems. So, what is your view on the ground . What i wanted to hear is a conversation mostly with the audience and you. I just want to ask one question that you can address in your own way. Basically, what is your view on the ground about the trends in the countries where you have been posted and their effects on relations with the United States . In costa rica we have a president that has been losing popularity their role was to be good just signed an agreement with the United States over a migration issue. How are costa rica and addressing this issue . In what model we have an election coming. An election that has been proven to be a test of legitimacy versus popularity versus an effort to prevent the powers that be to choose without the choice of the electorate. And, the United States has become a little bit in the middle of it. Not influencing politics in the country, but, at least, putting their foot on the ground on issues relating to the rule of law and collaborating on economic element. Then we have honduras. A president that, like in costa rica, has been losing popularity. Now i do 40 low. Now at a 40 low. And on top of that, he has alienated everyone practically. They are isolating themselves and yet they are in power. They keep a conflicted relationship with the United States. How do you, you know, think of what i am going to do tomorrow when i have to meet with soandso in the honduran government . And belize, you know, we dont talk much about belize. A small country, 100,000 people with no really with nearly 2 million tourists coming, the majority of which are gringos. You have organized crime there. How does the u. S. Seek to protect its interests with 30 of the population that is practically americans in the region at the same time . Then, el salvador. Rios is using bukeles platform and says this is the way it works. At the same time we have an economy where the government actually has very little in practical terms. The fact is, the elephant in the room, the gangs were already in decline when bukele arrived. How is the administration your job . Let me start with you. How easy is my job. I dont know how easy my job is. I think my job is an incredible honor. I have worked on the relationship. I was doing this nearly 30 years ago. I believe firmly in the importance of the relationship of both countries. There is a phrase i use frequently in el salvador that i believe. It is an article of faith for me. El salvador has no better friend than the United States. I can prove that to you in any number of ways and quantify that in any number of ways. And i think the el salvador and people appreciate that. For this anxiety to do is maintain strength and deepen that relationship. Our differences on certain issues are wellknown. We have made no secret of them. I would disagree a little bit with the invocation that gangs were already in decline when president bukele took over. That would not be the perception of the average salvadoran. Part of his astonishing popularity, pulling around 85 and is Public Security policy poles around 96 , we have to recognize there is something there. I have said publicly, and i will keep on saying, the government has at least two obligations. One to provide Public Security. The other to provide due process of law. Is not an either or choice. It needed not be in either or choice. Nevertheless look at the demographics of el salvador. Look at the number of people in el salvador that are greater than 50 of the population that have never in their lives known the time where they could walk the streets in safety. Now they can. Think about what that means to them. That is what explains those polling numbers. I think we have to reckon with that and the failures of previous governments in el salvador both in terms of governance and Public Security. What is happening today in el salvador has historical context. If we fail to understand that, then, we are not going to be the kind of partners for el salvador that i think we need to be. Is my job easy . I dont know. But it is a heck of a lot of fun. Thank you so much for the opportunity, first of all, to be here with all of you. I was really excited when the wha undersecretary Brian Nichols said, you will be meeting with the think tank. Then my conversation last night with the ambassador to canada david cohen, he said, make sure you get something out of it. Make sure that you are very clear on the ask because, think tanks can help you do your job better. So, first of all, i would have to agree. I would have to agree with you. It is really deeply and honored to be serving the United States in this capacity in belize. I touched ground in belize six months ago. Being a little a political appointee it seems like a lot of information. Though, i have worked in the state of armored over a decade ago. It is sort of wanted to be. I am proud to serve alongside such talented and incredible diplomats. Some of the challenges in belize range from the increase of tcos, transnational criminal organizations, migration, and as though belize is not in the northern triangle, we are very close. As i looked to my right, there is currently an icj ruling we are waiting for about a territorial dispute between what obama and belize that is still pending between guatemala and belize that is still pending, though, hundreds is now involved because they have argued for the keys on the far south of belize. That means, its about 50 of belize it is votes of the other way. Other things. The economy is back to prepandemic times. As you mentioned, about a million american tourists travel through belize. Also, belize is one of the seven countries that recognizes taiwan. And, when there is a lot of democratic backsliding in the region, it is a champion of democracy. It has been a huge advocate for human rights. One of the very first things that was on my table of things to do was reset all the first guantanamo detainee. That was not an easy task. And what else . I guess i will stop there. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to speak about a region that i think is absolutely vital to the United States. I think the importance of this region, not just Central America, but latin america and the caribbean as a whole is of importance not understood properly in the washington, d. C. Area or across the United States. We have a deep and profound connection between the people of honduras and the people of the United States. That is one of our most important relationships. I came to the position of ambassador last year after a vacancy of five years in the ambassadorial role. I arrived in april. One of my first jobs within my first week was to complete the extradition of the former president of honduras who is awaiting trial in the United States now. We all need to recognize and doris honduras came under the administration of president castro in a very difficult position and the economy has really struggled come back after covid. It was weeks before covid. Health care system is struggling to recover from covid and it was weak going into the pandemic as well. So, we are happy to work with the administration and president castro. Her election was something very notable in many senses. Not only is she the first female leader in the country of honduras as president , she also came in with a sweeping victory of the votes. This demonstrates the strength of the democratic desire, i think, in honduras people honduras. People came to vote on a very large numbers because they wanted to make their opinion of the last president perfect and clear. We are working together in the government in a lot of important areas to benefit both countries. We are looking at human rights. We are looking at education. We are looking at health care. We are working hard to try to create jobs. Much of what we do is under the root causes of migration strategy because if we cannot improve conditions in honduras we will continue to see a never ending flow of people moving to the north. It is also an increasing challenge in the country to manage transit migrants coming through. While we talk about honduras in the context of a source country we have to think about it also as a transit country and increasingly a destination country. Its also a very poor country. Its capacity to deal with a lot of these challenges is incredibly limited. There are a lot of things we still need to address. We are pushing forward and working closely with the government at president castro herself has taken a leadership role with an International Anticorruption commission that has moving far more slowly that i think either she would like or any of the rest of us would like. But it is moving and we would anticipate we would see people on the ground from the u. N. Shortly there. We are focused on prosperity, security, and democracy. All those items tied together. I think you have to strengthen all of them simultaneously or you will not have a successful country. We are working on encouraging the government of honduras to put into place strong and good economic policies. They have made some decisions, especially in some very important sectors, that i have commented on previously. Some concerns about Energy Legislation and things like that. The country now unfortunately is experiencing severe power outages. Much of that is due to longstanding problems in the energy sector. It has nothing to do with what has been going on recently. Combined with severe drought on going out. It has created difficult challenges. Like our neighbors in el salvador, they have put in place an exception for security. However they are doing is very differently than what has been going on in el salvador. So, this has been underway for several months. Extended it expanded several times and i anticipate it will probably remain in place. I have not seen andy indications the government intends to step back on their state of emergency. I will leave it there and turn it over to my colleague in guatemala. I will begin by echoing colleagues thanks for the invitation for the opportunity to be here today and to talk about the very important region. Specifically in the case of guatemala where i have been ambassador for almost three years we have seen, i think, a little bit it really then some of the other countries on the economic front, pretty strong recuperation and relatively rapid recuperation from the covid19 pandemic. What a model already had very strong macroeconomic circumstances prior to the pandemic. It was able to emerge pretty quickly. It had good, strong flows of not only remittances come as was mentioned earlier, but also, investment over the last two years. That has helped feel quite a bit of new job creation. Thats positive because guatemala, one of its Biggest Challenges is, economically speaking, the high degree of and formality. Thats not unique to walla walla, but two guatemala, but particularly, spaces in the interior of the country that feels migration. A little less though dead other countries in the region. Economics is the primary driver even among securities. Migration to the United States, 90 plus of migrants are leaving for lack of economic opportunities. And connected in large part in formality. To the extent investment has been growing, the Vice President s call to action now referred to as the Central America forward effort to attract more investment not only to guatemala, but other countries in northern and Central America. It is bringing new opportunities here. There is hope that will bring alternatives to migration going forward. Security continues to be a challenge. But, not quite at the high levels of crime of other nations in the immediate area. However, transnational criminal activity has unfortunately, been very closely linked out only to narcotics trafficking but human smuggling. The guatemalan authorities are in an area where the u. S. Cooperates closely with them. They have been very successful particularly in captures or extraditions. The last two years have been record years in that space. As well as new efforts to go after human smuggling and trafficking in persons that. Those have been bright spots of cooperation, certainly more to do with some Gang Activity that has continued to spread into what about a from neighboring countries as well. Into guatemala from neighboring countries as well. We are a few days into the first rounds of National Elections come in not only at the president ial level but for every member of the Guatemalan Congress and every one of the 340 municipalities. Its an election, that, were lh levels of participation but a lot of it happens with the backdrop of concerns around rule of law, strength of institution. Prosecution of judges, prosecutors, independent media so a lot of focus on the process. The electoral process at the state. There have been a number of congress that have not been permited to run. Thats presented a high degree of attention on who has been included and who hasnt. From the u. S. Perspective, weve been calling for as inclusive a process as possible and free and fair process throughout the electoral period. Of course, there will be likely under guatemalan law, 50 plus one process for the presidency so theres a li