NGOs and Academia

The countries of Central America — especially “the Northern Triangle” of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras — are among the most criminally violent nations in the world. As part of the U.S. Government’s (USG) Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has designed and implemented a set of programs to improve citizen security in Central America by strengthening community capacity to combat crime and by creating educational and employment opportunities for at-risk youth.1 USAID’s crime prevention work has been implemented through its field Missions in five countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

• A failure to institute reforms has led Bahrain’s main opposition groups to boycott upcoming elections, undercutting the legitimacy of a parliament that, in any case, has little power. • The Bahraini government has unleashed another crackdown on activists, shutting down the space for opposition in the lead up to the election. • The ongoing repression of peaceful opposition increases the potential for violent groups to exploit widespread disillusionment and take the lead in opposing the government. • The government’s use of sectarian rhetoric to discredit the Shia opposition has also created fertile ground for the growth of Sunni extremism. • The U.S. should speak out against the imprisonment of peaceful activists, which adds to long-term security risks, and should be flagged in the important bilateral dialogue by defense officials as well as by diplomats.

This Q&A explains the law’s complicated requirements, which mirror the labyrinthine nature of the FMF program itself. The complexity also reflects the fact that the law represents a compromise among the demands of competing stakeholders in the administration and Congress. These include those who do not want the military aid relationship to be linked to Egypt’s internal political situation, on the one hand, and democracy promoters who want to condition this aid on democratic progress in Egypt, on the other. The article describes what aid has been released, what has not moved forward—mostly, orders for some new defense items—and possible next steps by Congress. (A previous article discussed the Obama administration’s suspension, announced in October 2013, the delivery of four big-ticket weapons systems—Apache attack helicopters, F-16 fighter jets, M1A1 Abrams battle tank kits, and Harpoon missiles—pending “credible progress” toward democracy in Egypt. The suspension was an executive branch decision, and as such is separate from the requirements of the 2014 law.)

In 2012 and 2013, the Panamá de Arauca region faced kidnappings, extortion, and attacks on vehicles and employees in the public and private sectors. The criminal alliances worked to turn this area into a strategic corridor in their plan to weaken the Colombian government.