Inter-American Dialogue | Central America

CENTRAL AMERICA

FEATURED

UNACCOMPANIED MINORS CRISIS:

More than 52,000 unaccompanied minors have crossed the border this year, twice as many as in 2013. The influx of minors from Central America and Mexico has become a pressing issue for the administration, as President Obama is seeking substantial funding to deal with the crisis. At the same time, Congress is debating the best approach to take, with some leaders pushing for more action from Central America and Mexico and others branding it a humanitarian crisis.

Read what experts have to say in the Dialogue’s Latin America Advisor here.

Michael Shifter testified on Wednesday, June 16th before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security. That afternoon, the Dialogue hosted a discussion on unaccompanied minors and US policy. Rubén Zamora, former Ambassador to the US, and Doris Meissner, founder of the Migration Policy Institute, will offer commentary.

The Dialogue’s Manuel Orozco provides a detailed analysis of the situation here.
Peter Hakim offers his opinion here.

Joaquín Villalobos comments on the situation here.

MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT: Migrants abroad have been a strong source of economic growth for nearly every country in the region. Public officials, however, have been largely unable to develop policies that effectively leverage the economic activities of migrants and harness their full economic potential. MORE

ABOUT

The Dialogue’s work on the Central America region examines developments in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, as well as Mexico, with a focus on democratic governance, security, immigration, drug policy, remittances, education reform, energy integration, press freedom, and trade capacity building. The Dialogue’s Central American Working Group is designed to produce fresh, balanced analyses of the region’s most pressing challenges along with practical proposals to address them, and to keep Washington informed. The group includes a diverse mix of some 30 policy analysts, political and labor leaders, economists, and NGO and business executives.

A new Dialogue initiative on security and migration in Central America and Mexico is developing a joint program with leading research centers in the region on two of the most important challenges their countries now face: (1) the threats posed by escalating crime and violence, and (2) the failure of governments to address the political, social, and security problems emerging from continued illegal migration flows to the United States.

STAFF

Michael Shifter, President
Peter Hakim, President Emeritus
Manuel Orozco, Senior Fellow
Joan Caivano, Deputy to the President/Director Special Projects
Caitlin Reilly, Program Assistant

For more information, please contact Caitlin Reilly at creilly@thedialogue.org.

ARTICLES & OP-EDS | PUBLICATIONS | EVENTS | PRESS

Año de elecciones en Latinoamérica, by Peter Hakim, Infolatam and China Policy Review, 20 July 2014. (English)

U.S. should have tried nation-building in Central America, not Iraq and Afghanistan, by Robert McCartney, The Washington Post 16 July 2014.

To keep kids from our borders, fix things farther south, by Peter Hakim, Reuters, 14 July 2014 and Infolatam, 27 August 2014.

La permanencia de la corrupción en Latinoamérica, by Peter Hakim, Infolatam and China Policy Review, 30 June 2014 (English / Chinese).

Una nueva agenda de política comercial para las Américas, by Peter Hakim, Infolatam and China Policy Review, 4 June 2014 (English)

The United States and Central America’s Northern Tier: The Ongoing Disconnect, by Hector Silva Ávalos, March 2014.

Natural Gas in Central America by Paul Shortell, Kathryn Baragwanath and Carlos Sucre in The Inter-American Dialogue’s Energy Policy Group 7 March, 2014.

Este 2014, ¡seamos el mejor país del mundo!, by Salvador Paíz, El Periódico, 9 January 2014.

Will a New Development Accord Succeed in Guatemala?, by Salvador Paiz, Jeffrey Puryear, and James M. Meyer, from the Dialogue's daily Latin America Advisor, 6 November 2013.

Why Are Tensions Rising Between Nicaragua & its Neighbors?, by Francisco Campbell, Christine Wade, and Fernando Cepeda Ulloa, from the Dialogue's daily Latin America Advisor, 24 September 2013.

Colombia-Nicaragua ICJ Case Tests Region's Crisis Resolution Mechanisms, by Michael Shifter and Cameron Combs, World Politics Review, 5 December 2012.

What Are the Implications of a Proposed Nicaragua Canal?, by Nicolás Ardito Barletta, Mario Arana, Joaquín Jácome Diez, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, from the Dialogue's daily Latin America Advisor, 22 August 2012.

Does El Salvador's Judicial Crisis Bode Ill for Democracy?, by Francisco Altschul, Mirte Postema, and Michael Shifter and Rachel Schwartz, from the Dialogue's daily Latin America Advisor, 31 July 2012.

Are Central America Education Reforms Making the Grade?, by José Luis Guzmán, Roberto Moreno Godoy, Tamara Ortega Goodspeed, and Alexandra Solano, from the Dialogue's daily Latin America Advisor, 19 July 2012.