President Donald Trump
By Caribbean News Now contributor
WASHINGTON, USA — President Donald Trump has directed the US State Department to end all direct assistance to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to stem the flow of illegal immigration and the migrant caravans flowing into Mexico, onward to the United States.
“No money goes there anymore,” Trump said, “We’re not paying them anymore because they haven’t done a thing for us.”
Trump’s threats to cut off aid in the past may have the opposite effect of its intended impact from previous attempts. Congress has to approve most of the proposed cuts.
“At [Secretary of State Mike Pompeo]’s instruction, we are carrying out the president’s direction and ending FY [fiscal year] 2017, and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle,” a State Department spokesperson told ABC. “We will be engaging Congress as part of this process.”
Senate foreign relations committee ranking member Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, said, “Foreign assistance is not charity; it advances our strategic interests and funds initiatives that protect American citizens.”
