Kamala Harris visits Latin America to tackle migration, corruption

WASHINGTON (AP)

Kamala Harris, on her first foreign trip as vice president, is looking to deepen diplomatic ties with Guatemala and Mexico, two Latin American nations key to the Biden administration’s efforts to stem the spike in migration at the United States (US) border.

Harris, who departed Washington on Sunday after a delay caused by a technical issue on Air Force Two, is seeking to secure commitments for greater cooperation on border security and economic investment, but corruption in the region — a far more intractable challenge — will complicate her efforts.

It’s already had a significant impact on her work in the region. Harris has yet to engage substantively with the leaders of Honduras and El Salvador, who are both embroiled in corruption scandals. And it’s an issue that experts in the region say will need to be addressed to make any lasting changes.

“Corruption is a cancer in the region,” said Jason Marczak, director of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. “Addressing corruption is fundamental to creating hope and creating the potential for opportunity.”

Marczak noted that corruption in the region affects human rights protections, employment opportunities, the cost of goods and much more. Jobs, he said, will come “with investment, and investment comes where there is certainty in the rule of law”. Without that, efforts to improve living conditions can only go so far.

MIGRATION

In the months since she was tasked by President Joe Biden with addressing the root causes of migration to the US-Mexico border, Harris has laid out an approach centred on creating better opportunities and living conditions in the region through humanitarian and economic aid.

Harris announced plans to send US$310 million to provide support for refugees and address food shortages, and recently secured commitments from a dozen companies and organisations to invest in the Northern Triangle countries to promote economic opportunity and job training.

Washington won some goodwill through its vaccine diplomacy this past week. Guatemala’s president, Alejandro Giammattei, and Mexico’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador both received calls from Harris on Thursday telling them the U.S. would be sending 500,000 doses and one million doses, respectively, of COVID-19 vaccine.