In the "Northern Triangle" of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador) it is estimated that the coronavirus has killed more than 10.000 people as well as causing the economic devastation common to the rest of the world.
Currently in this area of the planet, however, in addition to crime and violence, poverty and unemployment remain the main factors that lead populations to emigrate to "lands coveted by their hope for a better future".
It was Donald Trump himself who took drastic measures to close the southern border with his country, blocking asylum requests and tightening all laws, so as not to allow border officials to deport migrants who attempted to enter the country illegally. United States.
In the opinion of an authoritative official from the Washington Office for Latin America, if the new presidential administration restores the right to seek asylum, the exodus from the Northern Triangle is likely to resume with the risk of traveling migrants on their own they would be raped, extorted, injured or killed. Authorities are rushing to dismantle migrant caravans bound for the United States traveling together for safety.
According to the American CINS observatory, "the last caravan to leave Honduras was stopped by the Guatemalan security forces, who forced it to leave the highway using batons and tear gas".
It was Biden himself, about seven years ago, when tens of thousands of children from the area reached the border with the US, who became the main interlocutor of the Obama administration and managed the humanitarian crisis. On that occasion he visited the three countries of Triangle Norte to discuss massive US aid. The administration exerted pressure on Mexico and Guatemala at the time to strengthen security and increase the number of checkpoints and raids on migrant favorite routes.
Donald Trump would later make "repression of migrants" virtually the only priority of his administration's relations with Mexico and the countries of the Northern Triangle, by signing controversial agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that required asylum seekers to seek refuge in the country. country they travel to first. According to study sources concerning humanitarian crises, this repression would have pushed migrants towards the trafficking networks.
The difficulties of this area are also linked to the future of the United States and the prosperity of those countries are keywords for the national interests of the United States. Illicit trafficking, economic development, corruption are challenges in the Northern Triangle as well as ensuring that the population has other options to face the risky journey to the United States. There is much anticipation on this in the new policies of the new Biden administration.
Photo: US DoD
