US FOREIGN AID TO THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE 2014–2019: - Promoting Success by Learning from the Past

Cindy and David put their wide network of contacts at the disposal of the authors and el- evated the quality of the analysis throughout the preparation of the report. [...] The headline-grabbing aspects of that relationship over the last four decades—the United States’ efforts to oppose revolutions and support counterrev- olutions, the flow of drugs to the north and guns to the south, gang violence, and mass migration—obscure the profound and positive familial, cultural, and economic connec- tions between the United States and the Northern Triangle. [...] The United States enjoys unique levels of prestige and influence in the region, and the perception of many observers in the Northern Triangle (whether it is accurate or not) is that the United States has the neces- sary political and economic leverage and potential allies to go further and require the three governments to adopt effective measures to combat corruption and impunity, if the United St. [...] The Central American conflicts fueled a boom in migration from the region to the United States, the legacy of which is today’s close relationship between the United States and the Northern Triangle and social and economic dynamics that continue to have a deep impact on developments in the three countries. [...] In particular, the expansion of the Central American immigrant community in the United States from 350,000 in 1980 to over 3 mil- lion people by 2010 and abundant employment opportunities in the United States made emigration a logical choice for many citizens of the Northern Triangle, especially in the context of the violence and poverty wracking all three countries15.