The Biden administration is contemplating creating a task force of officials from the U.S. Justice and State Departments and other agencies to help local prosecutors fight corruption in Central America’s Northern Triangle countries.
U.S. special envoy for Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Ricardo Zuniga, said the U.S has authority from Congress to craft lists of Central American officials involved in corruption, revoke their travel visas and impose financial sanctions on them.
Zuniga said the task force under consideration would focus on corruption cases and helping prosecutors in those countries move forward. He added it was important for the United States to show that they are on the side of those who are victims of corruption.
He also said the United States was disappointed with the collapse of anti-corruption bodies in Guatemala and Honduras, which he called setbacks to efforts to fight impunity.
Zuniga spoke on Thursday, just days before Vice President Kamala Harris, is due to hold a virtual meeting on Monday with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei to discuss solutions to the increase in migration to the U.S. border with Mexico.
With apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexican border at their highest level in two decades, Biden is ramping up efforts to ease a humanitarian crisis that has been one of his first major tests.
U.S. officials are trying to ensure that a $4 billion aid package being put together for the region does not fall prey to graft.
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