- Title: Mexican lawmakers say Trump budget cuts will fall on migrants, drug war
- Date: 24th May 2017
- Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (MAY 24, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SENATOR, ENRIQUE BURGOS, SAYING: "What Central America and Mexico need is financial support and not handouts. The last president who did something like that was President (John F.) Kennedy, 50 years ago, with the alliance for development. What type of financing? (Financing) for development, for opportunities for agriculture and industry, if they (U.S.) want to change the drug trafficking problem to productivity problems."
- Embargoed: 7th June 2017 23:55
- Keywords: drug war migrants budget cuts Mexico President Donald Trump USA
- Location: MEXICO CITY, CIUDAD HIDALGO, TAPACHULA, CHIAPAS, IXTEPEC, OAXACA, MEXICO
- City: MEXICO CITY, CIUDAD HIDALGO, TAPACHULA, CHIAPAS, IXTEPEC, OAXACA, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Budget/Taxation/Revenue,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0046I78W8Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Mexican lawmakers told media on Wednesday (May 24) that drastic cuts to U.S. foreign aid to Mexico and Central America will impact migrants and the drug war in the region, after President Donald Trump announced measures to trim $3.6 trillion dollars from government spending.
The proposed spending cuts foresee 2018 Mexican aid of $87.66 million, down more than 45 percent from the 2016 outlay. Most U.S. money to assist the Mexican military, including in narcotics and law enforcement spending, would fall from $100 million in 2016 to $60 million dollars.
In Guatemala, U.S. aid would drop almost 40 percent from 2016, to $80.66 million dollars, while in Honduras and El Salvador it would fall nearly a third.
With many of the migrants seeking to cross Mexico's border with the U.S. hailing from Central America, Mexican lawmakers expressed concern that this will exacerbate the plight of immigrants in the region.
A major factor in Central American migrants heading north to the United States is to escape poverty and lack of opportunity back home.
Moving funds away from Central America is expected to further exacerbate the economic and development challenges facing the region.
The proposed budget comes just weeks after the U.S. announced a $750 million dollar initiative sought to curtail migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador through development projects as well as law-and-order funding to crack down on the region's dominant gangs. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
