U.S. Aid to Latin America since 1996: 3 Charts
(The table used to make these charts, which lists every country in the region, is here.)
Here is all $17.3 billion in military and police aid that the United States has given to Latin America between 1996 and the 2014 request. The trend since 2010 has been downward.
2 spikes on this graph:
- 2000 - Plan Colombia initial appropriation.
- 2008-2010 - Mérida Initiative aid to Mexico.
And here is all $23.6 billion in economic and civilian institution-building aid that the United States has given to Latin America between 1996 and the 2014 request. The trend since 2012 has been downward.
2 spikes on this graph:
- 1999-2000 - Hurricane Mitch relief for Central America, and Plan Colombia initial appropriation.
- 2008-2010 - Mérida Initiative aid to Mexico, and Haiti earthquake relief.
Finally, putting those two charts together, here is all $40.9 billion in total aid that the United States has given to Latin America, both military and non-military, between 1996 and the 2014 request. The trend since 2010 has been downward.
2 spikes on this graph:
- 1999-2000 - Hurricane Mitch relief for Central America, and Plan Colombia initial appropriation.
- 2008-2010 - Mérida Initiative aid to Mexico, and Haiti earthquake relief.
These charts use new data that were included in the Obama administration's 2014 foreign aid request to Congress, which was released on Tuesday. However, some important aid accounts have not yet been reported -- especially those in the Defense budget -- so we have had to estimate some 2012-2014 amounts by repeating the last available year.