Comprehensive Analysis: Major Ways the U.S. Foreign Aid Bill for FY 2015 Could Affect U.S. Assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean Share This /

Congress continues to consider the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, which contains most of the annual U.S. budget for foreign aid. In response to an Obama administration request to Congress in April, both the House of Representatives and the Senate appropriations committees passed two versions of the bill giving a glimpse into what U.S. foreign aid might look like for next year. The bills also offer a look at where the Republican-majority House and Democratic-majority Senate differ on aspects of U.S. policy toward Latin America.

After winning committee approval in both the House and Senate, the bills did not get debated or passed in either chamber, and now there will be no action on them until after the November 4 legislative elections. If the Senate becomes Republican-majority as a result of these elections, we can expect the Committee’s new leadership to rewrite the bill substantially in January. For now, the U.S. government is already in FY 2015 and has passed a “continuing resolution” keeping aid flowing at 2014 levels.

Click here to view the full text of the House bill.

Click here to view the full text of the Senate bill.

Here are 12 of the most important ways the bills might affect U.S. aid to Latin America and the Caribbean:

1. Development in Central America: In the narrative report that accompanies the bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee expresses concern about the recent surge in unaccompanied, undocumented minors migrating to the United States from Central America. Emphasizing a need to address the root causes of the migration in the countries of origin, the Committee directs the State Department and USAID to create a “prevention and response strategy and spend plan” explaining how U.S. assistance would address:

• Key indicators of poverty;
• Lack of educational, vocational, and employment opportunities;
• High rates of criminal gang activity, other violent crime, and narcotics and human trafficking; and
• Family dissolution, child abuse, and neglect.

The Committee also calls for the strategy to include a plan for the safe return and repatriation of minors who do not qualify for asylum or similar status in the United States, and it requests at least $100 million for the implementation of the above strategy.

2. Corruption in Central America and the Caribbean: Although the Senate Appropriations Committee expresses support for the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) to address violence and corruption in Central America and the Caribbean, it remains concerned that “corrupt and abusive police and military forces, impunity, and a lack of political will to address these problems have limited the effectiveness of these programs.” For that reason, the committee requests, for the second year, that CARSI and CBSI assistance only go to governments that the Secretary of State determines demonstrate a “clear and convincing commitment to punishing corruption and reforming their security forces.” To date, though, no government has been excluded from CARSI or CBSI for failure to meet this standard.

3. More border security for Central America: The House Appropriations Committee also supports CARSI efforts to combat drug trafficking, organized crime, and gangs in Central America, and it proposes that $100 million of CARSI funds go to the State Department’s International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement program (INCLE) in Central America. The INCLE program supports police forces and militaries, as well as civilian justice systems and prosecutors, among other drug and law enforcement programs. This is the same level of INCLE funding as 2014, but $30 million more than the 2015 president’s request for CARSI.

The committee requests that of the additional amount, $20 million should go to support enhanced border security initiatives with Guatemala and Belize to help secure their borders with Mexico, and $10 million should go to combat human trafficking through the use of DNA and forensic technology.

4. More border security for Mexico: The House Appropriations Committee requests $148 million for INCLE programs in Mexico to combat organized crime and drug trafficking and help Mexico secure its borders. This maintains 2014 funding levels, but includes $68 million more than the 2015 president’s request with the aim of bolstering “efforts to secure Mexico’s borders with a focus on Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala and Belize.”

5. Human rights in Mexico: Since the onset of U.S. security assistance to Mexico under the Merida Initiative in 2008, the U.S. Congress has attached human rights requirements to assistance to Mexico, withholding 15 percent of aid to the Mexican military and police until the State Department reports to Congress that they are met.

In the FY 2015 Senate bill, the Appropriations Committee expresses continued concerns with impunity among Mexican military and police forces for human rights violations, and continues to condition 15 percent of assistance to the Mexican security forces unless the Secretary of State reports that:

• “The Government of Mexico is investigating and prosecuting violations of human rights in civilian courts;
• The Government of Mexico is enforcing prohibitions against torture and the use of testimony obtained through torture;
• The Mexican military and police are immediately transferring detainees to the custody of civilian judicial authorities, in accordance with Mexican law, and are cooperating with such authorities in such cases; and
• The Government of Mexico is searching for the victims of disappearances and prosecuting those responsible for such crimes.”

The House, however, strips the conditions from the bill and only requires that the State Department submit a report on the Mexican government’s progress on the above points. The House Appropriations Committee also notes recent changes made to the Military Code of Justice that, among other measures, ensure that human rights violations committed by soldiers against civilians would be prosecuted in civilian, not military, courts. The Committee requests that the report include an analysis on the impact of such changes.

6. Human rights in Honduras: The 2013 foreign aid bill attached human rights conditions to Honduran assistance that froze 35 percent of funding to Honduran security forces pending State Department certification.

The Senate version of the bill not only continues to condition this assistance, but increases the amount withheld to 50 percent, expressing concerns over high rates of violence and corruption involving criminal organizations, police, military forces and other groups. Aid would not be released until the Secretary of State reports that:

• “The Government of Honduras is implementing policies to protect freedoms of expression, association, and assembly, and due process of law, including in the Bajo Aguán Valley, where security forces have been involved in a violent land dispute;
• Honduran civilian judicial authorities are investigating and prosecuting army and police personnel who are credibly alleged to have violated human rights, including forced evictions, or to have aided or abetted armed groups involved in such acts, and judicial proceedings in such cases are making substantial progress.”

And new this year:

• “Honduran judges are selected in a transparent manner; and
• The Government of Honduras is taking steps to prevent acts of intimidation, including threats, false arrests and prosecutions, against social activists and human rights defenders and is removing police officers and prosecutors who engage in such acts.”

The Senate Appropriations Committee also notes that “assassinations of human rights defenders, journalists, and social activists are common and perpetrators are rarely brought to justice,” and it calls for the Honduran government to take steps to prevent such acts and remove any complicit police officers.

In contrast, the House version drops all conditions on assistance to the Honduran security forces and, similar to Colombia, only requires the Secretary of State to submit a report on the steps being taken by the Honduran government to address matters related to human rights.

7. Human rights and the role of the military in Guatemala: As in the past, U.S. aid is withheld from the Guatemalan Army—as it has been since the early 1990s, though some aid flows to it through the Defense Department budget. However, in FY 2014 what had been an outright ban became a set of conditions holding up 100 percent of Army assistance until the State Department certifies that conditions are met, which has yet to occur.

In the Senate version of the bill, assistance to the Army remains frozen until the State Department certifies that:

• “The Government of Guatemala is implementing a credible plan to build a professional, accountable police force and end the army’s involvement in internal law enforcement; and
• Civilian judicial authorities are investigating and prosecuting current and retired army personnel who are credibly alleged to have committed gross violations of human rights, and the Guatemalan army is fully cooperating with such cases, with the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights [IACHR], and with CICIG, including by providing timely access for investigators to witnesses, documents (including archival documents), forensic evidence, and other relevant information.”

And new this year:

•  “The Government of Guatemala is taking steps to prevent acts of intimidation, including threats, false arrests and prosecutions, against social activists and human rights defenders and is removing police officers and prosecutors who engage in such acts.”

​The language in the House version of the bill is slightly weaker: rather than requiring the State Department to certify that the above criteria have been met before providing assistance to the Guatemalan Army, the House Appropriations Committee requests that the State Department include a detailed description of the steps taken to address the above issues should it decide to provide assistance.

8. Reparations to displaced communities in Guatemala: In the report that accompanies the Senate bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee recognizes and supports the Guatemalan government’s efforts to reach an agreement that would provide reparations to the communities that had been forcibly displaced in the construction of Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam, a project that was funded by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in the early 1980s. The 2014 foreign aid bill required movement on this issue as one of several pre-conditions for any aid to Guatemala’s Army.

For the first time, the Senate Appropriations Committee requests that the U.S. directors of the World Bank and IDB vote against any loan, credit, grant, or guarantee for Guatemala (except to meet basic human needs), unless the Secretary of State certifies that the Guatemalan government is supporting the framework and financing for the implementation of the Chixoy Reparations plan.

9. Human rights in Colombia: In past years the U.S. government has attached human rights conditions to assistance to Colombia and has withheld 25 percent of aid to the country’s armed forces (not police), pending State Department certification.

The Senate version of the foreign aid law continues to withhold this aid unless the State Department certifies that:

• “Cases involving members of the Colombian military who have been credibly alleged to have violated human rights are subject only to civilian jurisdiction, judicial proceedings in such cases are making substantial progress, and threats against witnesses are being investigated;
• The Government of Colombia is upholding its international obligations by investigating, prosecuting, and punishing persons responsible for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other gross violations of human rights, and is not offering amnesty to such persons; and
• The Government of Colombia is making substantial progress in dismantling illegal armed groups, in prosecuting attacks against human rights defenders, journalists, and trade unionists, and in protecting the rights and territory of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities including protecting them from forced displacement, killings, and other violations.”

The House version does not attach conditions to military assistance and only requires the Secretary of State to submit a report detailing Colombia’s efforts to address human rights abuses within the armed forces.

10. Restructuring aid for peace in Colombia: Both the Senate and House versions of the foreign aid appropriations bill note that if the Colombian government and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia) sign a formal peace agreement, the State Department and USAID should redirect funds to support the implementation of the agreement. The Senate version details that the funds should particularly go to support the “demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, demining, transitional justice, victims reparations, the recuperation of communities most affected by violence, and the recovery and productive use of land in former conflict zones.” The House committee report, however, is more restrained, calling on the State Department and USAID to “consult with the Committees on Appropriations on any proposed use of funds under this heading to support the implementation of such [peace] agreement.”

11. Supporting Cuba’s private sector: As in past years, both the Senate and House versions of the bill include assistance ($10 million and $20 million respectively) for programs that promote democracy and strengthen civil society in Cuba. New this year is the Senate proposal to include an additional $5 million for USAID programs to provide technical and other assistance to support the development of private Cuban businesses. This marks a change from the FY 2014 bill, which prohibited the funding of new USAID programs in Cuba; it also marks the first time that “democracy promotion” programs have targeted Cuba’s nascent private sector.

12. Protection of journalists and activists in Latin America: As in 2014, both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees note that journalists and social and labor rights activists in Central and South America, particularly Ecuador, Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, have been threatened and assassinated, and recommend increased support for protection programs.