Video On Demand

The Consequences of Cutting U.S. Aid to the Northern Triangle

May 9, 2019 • 9:00 – 11:00 am EDT

Please join CSIS Americas and the CSIS Project for Prosperity and Development for a public event on the critical nature of U.S. foreign assistance to the Northern Triangle and the security, socio-economic, and migratory consequences of recent changes in U.S. policy toward the region. 

On Friday, March 29, President Trump stated that his administration was cutting off federal funding to the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. A day later, the State Department announced that the cutoff not only affected future grants, but also ended spending in the Northern Triangle countries on programs funded with FY2017 and FY2018 appropriations, as well as funds recently approved in the Omnibus Appropriations bill for FY2019. In total, more than an estimated $1 billion could be affected. This policy change would not only impact political stability and economic opportunities in those countries, and therefore the push factors affecting migration, but will also likely have additional consequences unexpected by the Administration, which will reverberate throughout the entire region.
 
During this public event, we will be joined by a panel of experts from the Northern Triangle and U.S. government, business, and civil society communities to discuss what those potential consequences will be. Mark Schneider, Former USAID Deputy Administrator and CSIS Senior Adviser, will moderate the panel.
 
Additional congressional speakers to be confirmed shortly.

This event is made possible by general support to CSIS.
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Mark L. Schneider
Senior Adviser (Non-resident), Americas Program and Human Rights Initiative
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Daniel F. Runde
Senior Vice President; William A. Schreyer Chair; Director, Project on Prosperity and Development

Leah Campos

Former Senior Staff to Chairman House Foreign Affairs Committee

Dr. Rebecca Bill Chavez

Former DASD for Western Hemisphere; Non-resident Senior Fellow, Inter-American Dialogue

Dan Fisk

Chief Operations Officer, International Republican Institute; Former NSC Senior Director for Western Hemisphere

Ambassador (ret.) Stephen McFarland

Former U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala

Katie Taylor

Executive Director, Pan American Development Foundation

Michael A. Matera