Central America Archive

President Joe Biden’s administration is ramping up its diplomatic efforts to address what it calls the “root causes” of Central America’s migration crisis. Early next month, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Guatemala—part of a two-country trip that also includes a stop in Mexico—in hopes of making progress on efforts to address the poverty, violence and corruption that force Central Americans to flee the region. But while the administration’s approach to Central America has some promising elements overall, it faces stiff headwinds in the region. Last week, Congress released a list of 16 current and former Central American […]

If we ever need evidence of how corruption and incompetence can roll out the red carpet for authoritarianism, the people of El Salvador and its president, Nayib Bukele, are offering a real-time case study. Bukele is steadily tightening his grip on all the levers of power, and the vast majority of Salvadorans are cheering him on. The latest leap toward potential tyranny occurred this weekend, when Bukele brought to heel the last of the three branches of government that remained outside his control. His move to replace the members of the Supreme Court raised cries of alarm from the international […]