Aid to Latin America increases 12% in State Department FY2010 request Share This /

The Obama administration’s State Department released its Fiscal Year 2010 budget request to Congress last week, offering clues about what U.S. economic and military aid to Latin America might look like in a year.

The first available document tells us how the Obama administration would allocate money to Latin America and the Caribbean across six key programs: International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INCLE), Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education Training (IMET), Economic Support Fund (ESF), Development Assistance (DA), and Global Health and Child Survival (CSH).

These programs are not the totality of U.S. aid to the region, but over the life of the “Just the Facts” project they have accounted for 64% of military/police aid and 67% of economic/social aid.

The budget summary document shows that for these six programs, total aid to the region could increase by over 12% from FY2009, with over $2.2 billion allocated for Latin America and the Caribbean for FY2010, compared to $1.9 billion for FY2009.

However, the most evident shift in total aid from these five programs is for Mexico and Colombia. Total aid for Colombia, according the administration's budget, would decrease 6% in 2010, while aid for Mexico would increase 15%. The increase in aid to Mexico is a result of the Merida Initiative, and increased U.S. efforts to address narcotrafficking just south of its border. For an in-depth look at the FY2010 budget request for Colombia, check out CIP’s Plan Colombia and Beyond blog.

Even when funds allocated for Mexico are removed from the FY2010 total request, aid to the region increases 11.5% from FY2009, a significant increase, especially since aid to Colombia would decrease in FY2010.

Below are highlights from the FY2010 budget:

• International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE)

The INCLE program combines both military/police and economic/social aid to
“support country and global programs critical to combating transnational crime and illicit threats, including efforts against terrorist networks in the illegal drug trade and illicit enterprises.” This program makes up the largest share of military/police aid to the region.

For the past several years, the Andean Counterdrug Initiative was considered a separate program to support interdiction and eradication efforts in the Andean countries, chiefly Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia. In this budget, however, the program has been folded back into INCLE funds.

The appropriations that should be highlighted in this program include the large (27.6% / $100 million) increase in INCLE funds to Mexico for FY2010 and the large (17.3% / $50 million) decrease in funds to Colombia. Since at least 2000, Colombia has been the top recipient of INCLE funds, however that changed in 2009 and Mexico is now receiving almost twice as much as Colombia.

Mexico’s large increase is a result of the Mérida Initiative. According to the budget request summary, funding for the Mérida Initiative through INCLE will “be used to develop the Government of Mexico's institutional capacity to detect and interdict illicit drugs, explosives and weapons, and trafficked/smuggled persons.”  This aid will come in the form of helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and surveillance systems for the federal police force, and helicopters for the Mexican Navy, in addition to training through seminars such as “ethics in government, criminal investigative techniques, and crime scene search and preservation of evidence methods.” 

The summary document, under the INCLE explanatory section, notes that Central America will receive $75 million as a part of the Mérida Initiative, yet the tables showing the amount of aid each country will receive do not add up to that amount.  We are not sure from where they get this number. However, the explanation says the funds will be used “to support the regional capability to protect citizen security, combat illegal trafficking, and build strong justice sector institutions.” This includes programs to increase law enforcement knowledge of criminals and their operations through vetted units, as well as training and equipment for police, advanced training on border and mobile inspections, anti-gang programs, and programs to strengthen the justice system.

For funding to Bolivia, the document states: “To help address increasing quantities of cocaine resulting from Government of Bolivia policies that support expansion of coca cultivation, funds will support expanded interdiction efforts, including training for police.” This combative “finger-pointing” wording definitely struck us as noteworthy.

The Obama administration’s request for INCLE aid to Latin America appears below, in thousands of U.S. dollars. The amounts in this table combine military and economic aid programs. At this early stage of the budget process, we do not yet have a breakdown between military and non-military priorities.

• International Military Education Training (IMET)

The IMET program promotes “regional stability and defense capabilities through professional military training and education.”  This program is the main non-drug military training program in the foreign aid budget. The Obama administration does increase funding for this program, from $12 million to $17 million. According to the summary document, the program for the Western Hemisphere in FY2010 will focus on “professionalizing defense forces, to include those of Colombia, El Salvador, and Mexico, to respond to regional security challenges.”  In thousands of dollars, the Obama administration request for FY2010 is:

• Foreign Military Financing (FMF).

According to the Obama administration, the FMF program “furthers U.S. interests around the world by ensuring that coalition partners and friendly foreign governments are equipped and trained to work toward common security goals and share burdens in joint missions.”  This is the main non-drug military and police aid program in the foreign aid budget.

Funding for the FMF program was significantly cut in the FY2009 budget, and the Obama administration would increase it by $1 million for FY2010. 

The FMF program is the only program in which Colombia would experience an increase in funding (by over $13 million) and Mexico would experience a significant decrease (by almost $19 million).  We are not sure why Mexico’s funding from FMF would decrease so drastically in FY2010, however, the explanatory text of the document notes that what remains of FMF funding for Mexico will be used to “further our military to military cooperation, which is critical to U.S. homeland defense and counternarcotics efforts.”

Below is the Obama administration request, in thousands of dollars:

• Economic Support Fund (ESF):

This is an economic aid program that sometimes provides cash transfers to other governments, but is increasingly used to fund development efforts similar to those carried out by other economic aid programs. The ESF request for the Western Hemisphere is intended to “bolster security, strengthen democratic institutions, promote prosperity and invest in people.” 

Colombia is the largest aid recipient from this fund, which focuses on helping the Colombian government “consolidate the gains made to date … in its fight against illegal armed groups and narcotics trafficking by strengthening its institutional capacity to provide security, economic and social development.” Much economic aid that used to go to Colombia through INCLE or the “Andean Counterdrug Initiative” now flows through ESF, thus giving USAID full authority over how it is spent.

The text describes funds for Venezuela as intended to “support efforts to preserve and expand democratic space, through programs that strengthen and promote civil society, citizen participation, independent media, human rights organizations, and democratic political parties” (emphasis added).

The $91 million for “State Western Hemisphere Regional” is intended, in part, to “support Presidential pledges made at the Fifth Summit of the Americas” which include “promoting social and economic investment, energy and climate change partnerships, and citizen safety in the hemisphere.”

Mexico also would experience a large, $12 million, decrease in ESF aid, according to the Obama administration request.

The request for ESF, in thousands of dollars:

• Development Assistance (DA)

The DA account funds programs “in countries that face a complex range of long-term development challenges.  DA-funded programs are carefully coordinated with programs funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation account and other international affairs agencies.”

While the explanatory text of the Obama administration request does not include details about how the aid would be used in Latin America, it is worth noting that this program would have almost 50% more funds allocated to it under the new request (increasing from approximately $360 million to more than $530 million). It appears that Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico would all receive significantly more DA funds than in the FY2009 budget, and many of the South American countries, other than Bolivia and Ecuador, would experience decreases in aid. Bolivia is the one South American country that would experience a significant, almost $12.5 million, increase in funds from the DA account.

Below, in thousands of dollars, is the DA request:

• Global Health and Child Survival (GHCS):

The GHCS account is a combination of the Child Survival and Health and Global HIV/AIDS Initiative accounts and “funds health-related foreign assistance managed by the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.” Therefore, the account is divided into two sections: USAID-managed and State-managed, which is reflected in the two tables below.

The USAID-managed account “reflects the President’s commitment for a comprehensive approach to improved health interventions that address critical Maternal and Child Health, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, and Family Planning and Reproductive Health needs worldwide,” while the State-managed account “is the largest source of funding the for President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

For the Western Hemisphere, the USAID-managed account would stay virtually the same as the FY2009 budget, with Haiti and Bolivia receiving an additional $2 million and the Dominican Republic and Peru receiving about $1.5 million less in 2010.

The State-managed account, however, would experience a significant decrease in FY 2010, mainly owing to a $60 million drop in funds to Haiti.

The FY 2010 request for GHCS, in thousands of dollars, is:

• Shared Security Partnership (SSP):

The budget request refers, throughout the summary document, to a new program, called the “Shared Security Partnership”.  According to the document, this program is a “multi-account, multi-year effort to forge strategic partnerships for confronting common global extremist threats. SSP utilizes an integrated approach aimed at reaching global and regional partnerships, while also providing bilateral support to further enable the capacity of partner nations to cooperate and coordinate on regional and global law enforcement and terrorism concerns.” 

It appears that the programs this account would draw from include: INCLE, NADR, Peacekeeping Operations, and FMF.

The INCLE component “provides funding for expanded training centers ... and enhancing the capacity of the International Law Enforcement Academies (ILEA).” For the Western Hemisphere, this specifically includes extending the capacity of the Lima, Peru regional center.

The FMF component for the Western Hemisphere “will support Caribbean regional security objectives.”