The Northern Triangle Alliance: Is there a secret agenda?

Javier Suazo

27/02/2015

Opinión

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In a Forum promoted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), celebrated in Washington in September of 2014, US Vice President Joe Biden, indicated that his country would be the “strategic partner” for executing the Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle, made up of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, which was presented by the presidents of the three countries. He noted the interest of the US in supporting areas of common interest such as regional security, where they have invested more than 800 million dollars, the strengthening of the institutions to make the justice system more just, without corruption or impunity, improvement in the collecting of taxes and the struggle against poverty.

He called on the private sector to invest more in the region, working together with multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and the IADB, improving the competitiveness of their economies and training youth to enhance participation in labour markets. He also spoke of resolving the problem of child migration, by guaranteeing adequate living conditions for lower-income families and those facing social risks.

The execution of the plan depends in great measure on the support offered by the Obama administration, involving a billion dollars that was requested from the Congress as part of the investment priorities in the region. In the judgement of President Barack Obama, the needs of the countries and the population of the Central American region and of those that make up the Northern Triangle Alliance are actually greater. There is a need for some five billion dollars.

In Honduras, the government of the Republic has accused opposition parties such as the Anti-Corruption Party (PAC) of giving the country a bad image and conspiring against the Alliance by denouncing in the US acts of corruption, impunity and systematic violations of human rights; the same can be said of the Guatemalan government, accused of violating human rights of campesinos and indigenous communities. The concern is that funds for the execution of the Plan will be used to finance anti-development in these countries, that is to say, supporting politicians, the military, private enterprise and bankers dedicated to doing business with the State, without any guarantees for fast reduction of corruption and impunity, and much less for the reduction of violence, poverty, indigence and destitution.

In a meeting being held in Tela, Honduras, on Thursday, February 26, 2015, the presidents of the countries, under the leadership of Juan Orlando Hernández, in addition to the support of organisms such as the IADB, UNDP and the OAS, are looking for the support of the Business Council of Latin America (CEAL), in order for regional businesses to participate in executing the plan, generating jobs as a way of combatting poverty and migration. Among those invited to the meeting of CEAL with the presidents of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle are Antonio Meade Kuribreña, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Mexican States, Scott Nathan, special representative for Commercial Affairs of the US State Department, and Gina Montiel, IADB Administrator for Central America, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.

The questions that arise from this tripartite initiative are: What is the role of other countries of the region such as Nicaragua and Costa Rica? Are they not part of the region, and facing economic and social problems? Is this a plan of exclusion devised by the US to support its real allies in the region? What is the role of civil society organizations dedicated to the defence of human rights? How do opposition parties see the management of the plan? What is the real interest of the Obama administration in Central America?

A necessary point of reference for answering those questions is the interest of the US to strengthen the Pacific Alliance (Colombia, Peru, Chile and Mexico), as a regional commercial and strategic block to counterbalance UNASUR, MERCOSUR and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) promoted by Venezuela. The countries of the Northern Triangle would participate as a regional block in the Pacific Alliance, since in spite of their smaller economies (a GDP of some 103 million dollars), with problems of poverty, inequality and violence, alongside Mexico they form the backyard of the United States and possess a geopolitical location favorable for increased trade and direct foreign investment. Up to now, this has been small (some 3,450 million dollars in 2014), much less than that of each of the Pacific Alliance countries.

At the same time, the plan involves the execution of an agenda that is opposed to that outlined by the countries that took part in the CELAC Summit (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States), celebrated in San José, Costa Rica. As defined at the CELAC meeting, economic, commercial, social, regional and political integration of the countries involved will be a recurring and important theme, promoting more autonomous public policies, as well as a new financial architecture for Latin America already begun with the SUCRE[1] and the Development Bank created by the BRICS countries.

There are also repeated accusations of the Northern Triangle countries concerning the possible acquisition of Soviet aircraft by Nicaragua, the building of the Great Inter-ocean Canal with funds from China, and the repeated condemnations by Daniel Ortega of the economic sanctions of the US and the European Union against Russia. Costa Rica is the gateway to China for countries of the Central American Region, the government of Luis Guillermo Solís having taken a position in favour of ideological pluralism and social and political dialogue. The authoritarianism and militarization of countries such as Guatemala and Honduras does not sit well with the Costa Ricans.

Control of natural resources and of environmental goods and services and regional bio-diversity by transnational corporations is another goal of the Alliance, for which several instruments stand out such as the creation of Zones of Employment and Development (ZEDES), Public-Private Alliances, the execution of mining and energy projects and the control of airspace and transit routes for drugs by the DEA. The establishment of a free trade zone and the free movement of persons between Guatemala and Honduras is also a first step towards establishing a Customs Union in the region with the support of the US, which would facilitate trade with that country.

Groups defending human rights still do not have a unified position on the execution of the Plan of the Alliance in what still appears to be a minefield, nor have opposition political parties demanded guarantees for the use and administration of these funds once they are approved. What is apparently clear is that there are goals, invisible for the peoples of the region, that are part of a geopolitical agenda of the governments of these countries and the Obama administration.

Tegucigalpa, 25 de febrero de 2015

(Translated by Jordan Bishop for ALAI).

[1] SUCRE: Spanish acronym for Unitary System of Regional Compensation, a common accounting monetary unit created by ALBA countries.

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