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Travel To El Salvador

Posted On : Apr-01-2011 | seen (696) times | Article Word Count : 686 |

Many have questioned the choice of El Salvador as a destination on Obama’s diplomatic trip to Latin America. While Chile is a cooperative ally of the U.S., and Brazil’s powerhouse economic status warrants such a high-level visit, it is less clear as to why President Barack Obama is going to San Salvador. One possibility is that the Salvadoran government is something of a model for how the U.S. would like all Central American states to behave. It is open to continuing free trade and believes in militarization in the name of security.

The main policy issue that the U.S. is likely to highlight is the ongoing concern over the regional war on drugs. El Salvador’s President Mauricio Funes declared on January 24th, 2011 that the military of El Salvador would continue to be used “indefinitely” to fight the increasing violence of drug traffickers and lawless gangs throughout the country. This declaration is in line with Washington’s policy of militarization against the narcotics trade. San Salvador’s military surge is funded in part by the USD 200 million that the U.S. has pledged as part of its Central American Security Initiative. In 2011, this will include more than USD 8.6 million in military and police aid for El Salvador. Obama will likely re-affirm the U.S. commitment to supporting the military as a solution for drug trafficking during the upcoming trip. This continues the trend of a militarized U.S. drug policy in Latin America that began with Plan Colombia a decade ago, in recent years continued with the Mérida Initiative in Mexico, and is now part of the policy in Central America. Hopefully, Salvadoran foreign minister Hugo Martínez will highlight the importance of reducing inequality and poverty as an integral step in combating crime and violence.

Another topic likely to arise in Obama’s meetings with Salvadoran leadership is the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which El Salvador ratified in 2006. During its five year membership, the country has seen little of the promised benefit from its participation in the FTA and some civil society groups have brought a legal challenge against it, claiming that it violates the country’s constitution. The Constitutional Court has accepted some of the charges, and has asked that President Funes and the legislature demonstrate the constitutionality of the agreement. This has yet to occur, and so the status of the agreement is sure to arise in Funes’ talks with President Obama.

Knowing that there might be domestic Salvadoran political backlash over the CAFTA-DR and the unending drug cartel and gang violence, it is important for the Obama administration to legitimize Funes as much as possible. During the Salvadoran presidential elections in 2009, some U.S. politicians, such as U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), tried to de-legitimize Funes as a candidate before he had even taken office by baselessly associating his party, the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), with Iran and al-Qaeda. The Obama administration is trying to dispel this characterization by showing its support for the center-left government as an alternative to the more radical faction of the party. According to Michael E. Allison, Professor of Political Science at the University of Scranton, “the trip is designed to shore up Funes and other moderate forces in the country. It’s in the U.S.’ interest that Funes succeeds and either a similar center-left or center-right government follows him into power.”

Historically, the U.S. has tended to support the extremist right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party. But since this party has become unreliable and politically fragmented, the Obama administration sees the moderate branch of the FMLN that Funes represents as a preferable option to the more militant FMLN party cadres that are highly critical of U.S. policies regarding free trade and counter-narcotics. This leftist faction of the FMLN, supported by large segments of civil society, would likely turn instead toward regional cooperation with Venezuela and the other ally countries. Washington would, as expected, prefer to keep the country within its sphere of influence rather than lose its present status of being highly dependent on the U.S.

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<h1>Travel To El Salvador</h1> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_Froster.aspx'>Froster</a> Many have questioned the choice of El Salvador as a destination on Obama’s diplomatic trip to Latin America. While Chile is a cooperative ally of the U.S., and Brazil’s powerhouse economic status warrants such a high-level visit, it is less clear as to why President Barack Obama is going to San Salvador. One possibility is that the Salvadoran government is something of a model for how the U.S. would like all Central American states to behave. It is open to continuing free trade and believes in militarization in the name of security.

The main policy issue that the U.S. is likely to highlight is the ongoing concern over the regional war on drugs. El Salvador’s President Mauricio Funes declared on January 24th, 2011 that the military of El Salvador would continue to be used “indefinitely” to fight the increasing violence of drug traffickers and lawless gangs throughout the country. This declaration is in line with Washington’s policy of militarization against the narcotics trade. San Salvador’s military surge is funded in part by the USD 200 million that the U.S. has pledged as part of its Central American Security Initiative. In 2011, this will include more than USD 8.6 million in military and police aid for El Salvador. Obama will likely re-affirm the U.S. commitment to supporting the military as a solution for drug trafficking during the upcoming trip. This continues the trend of a militarized U.S. drug policy in Latin America that began with Plan Colombia a decade ago, in recent years continued with the Mérida Initiative in Mexico, and is now part of the policy in Central America. Hopefully, Salvadoran foreign minister Hugo Martínez will highlight the importance of reducing inequality and poverty as an integral step in combating crime and violence.

Another topic likely to arise in Obama’s meetings with Salvadoran leadership is the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which El Salvador ratified in 2006. During its five year membership, the country has seen little of the promised benefit from its participation in the FTA and some civil society groups have brought a legal challenge against it, claiming that it violates the country’s constitution. The Constitutional Court has accepted some of the charges, and has asked that President Funes and the legislature demonstrate the constitutionality of the agreement. This has yet to occur, and so the status of the agreement is sure to arise in Funes’ talks with President Obama.

Knowing that there might be domestic Salvadoran political backlash over the CAFTA-DR and the unending drug cartel and gang violence, it is important for the Obama administration to legitimize Funes as much as possible. During the Salvadoran presidential elections in 2009, some U.S. politicians, such as U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), tried to de-legitimize Funes as a candidate before he had even taken office by baselessly associating his party, the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), with Iran and al-Qaeda. The Obama administration is trying to dispel this characterization by showing its support for the center-left government as an alternative to the more radical faction of the party. According to Michael E. Allison, Professor of Political Science at the University of Scranton, “the trip is designed to shore up Funes and other moderate forces in the country. It’s in the U.S.’ interest that Funes succeeds and either a similar center-left or center-right government follows him into power.”

Historically, the U.S. has tended to support the extremist right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party. But since this party has become unreliable and politically fragmented, the Obama administration sees the moderate branch of the FMLN that Funes represents as a preferable option to the more militant FMLN party cadres that are highly critical of U.S. policies regarding free trade and counter-narcotics. This leftist faction of the FMLN, supported by large segments of civil society, would likely turn instead toward regional cooperation with Venezuela and the other ally countries. Washington would, as expected, prefer to keep the country within its sphere of influence rather than lose its present status of being highly dependent on the U.S.About the Author: Washington would, as expected, prefer to keep the country within its sphere of influence rather than lose its present status of being highly dependent on the <a rel="nofollow" href=http://www.ferienhausbelmonte.de>Ferienhaus toskana</a>. Article Source: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Travel-To-El-Salvador_57898.aspx'> http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Travel To El Salvador_57898.aspx</a>

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