Breaking Barriers Beyond Borders

DECA, Equipo Pueblo, AC's CSO Campaign on Mexico’s South-South Cooperation Program

In order to further promote awareness and transparency on aid management, the Reality of Aid-Asia Pacific (RoA-AP) and CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness - Asia (CPDE Asia), through the CSO Aid Observatorio, assists in the CSO Campaigns or advocacy campaigns of communities or grassroots and people’s organizations for the assertion of their democratic rights and for seeking transparency and accountability from government and other providers.


The  Desarollo, Educación y Cultura, Autogestionarios, Equipo Pueblo, AC (DECA, Equipo Pueblo, AC) , launched a CSO Campaign on the project, La Cooperación Sur–Sur de México, para el diseño de una estrategia efectiva de apoyo al desarrollo, dirigido a Centroamérica or Balance of South-South Mexico Cooperation for the Reactivation of the Integral Development Plan Directed to Central America. The campaign aims to expose the impacts of the development projects pursued by the US and Mexican governments to address the issue of migration in Central America.


The Northern Triangle Dilemma

The "Northern Triangle" of Central America is comprised of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

As of 2021, there are  281 million international migrants, which account for 3.6% of the global population .  Eighty-two million are South-South migrants , or individuals who migrate between and among developing countries.

Despite having a comparable low income, global South migrants choose to migrate to another less developed nation due to its proximity and the migrants' desire to seek better living conditions.

In Central America, the number of migrants increased by 137 percent from the last three decades,   from 6.82 million in 1990 to an estimated 16.8 million in 2020  .


Remnants of past conflicts

The increase in Central American migration may be traced back to the 1980s when regional civil wars involving the United States triggered displacement and economic instability. Despite the end of these wars, their repercussions continue to spur migration up to this date.

Guatemala

Even though the nation's economy has recorded positive Gross Domestic Product figures over the past decade, this has not translated into job creation. In 2019, the underemployment rate reached nearly 10 percent, a considerable increase from the 10-year average of 2.5 percent. In addition,  around 70% of Guatemala's Economically Active Population (EAP) is employed in the informal sector .

Honduras

The main problem revolves around the country’s presidential transition. The previous administration depleted public resources, which resulted in the government failing to pay public officials, despite existing contracts. Even though the newly elected president Xiomara Castro has only been in office for three months, some sectors want immediate results, which has led to dissatisfaction with the current administration.

El Salvador

The government’s war against gangs like the Maras Salvatrucha and others has unleashed extensive persecution against men without due processes, such as lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 years old in 2022.  Hence, a more significant number of men flee the country, more than women, although they also migrate.


The Mexican Migration Muddle

While Mexico serves as a destination for migration from the Northern Triangle countries, it also faces difficulties in preventing Mexicans from migrating.

The number of remittances received by Mexico from its international migrants climbed from USD 26.2 billion in 2015 to USD 42.9 billion in 2020, depicting a five-year rise. This indicates that more Mexicans migrate to other nations, primarily the United States, to support their relatives left behind in Mexico.

However, as the number of Mexican migrants increase, so is the number of those detained by U.S. authorities.


Sowing life opportunities for Central America

The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean (UN ECLAC) pursued the Plan de Desarrollo Integral (PDI) or Comprehensive Development Plan for the northeastern countries (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) and south-southeast Mexico to address the rapid growth in Central American migration due to the reasons above.

It is a set of strategies, public policies, and projects that consider the structurally worsened migration of masses from the south to the north instead of treating the issue as a temporary phenomenon. The PDI involves the governments of Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, as well as United Nations agencies.

"The objective is to make migration an option for the Central American people of the so-called Northern Triangle and the South-Southeastern Mexican states rather than a necessity imposed by shortages." - Alicia Bárcena (Executive Secretary, UN ECLAC)

The plan consists of:

  • 15 thematic programmes
  • 14 projects ready to be implemented
  • MXN 45 billion investment over five years
  • 70 million Central American beneficiaries

Under the PDI and with assistance from the US government, the Mexican government implemented two social development programs, Sembrano Vida and Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro, to address employment issues in their neighboring countries.

Sembrano Vida

It is a program designed to reduce the vulnerability of the rural population by stimulating the development of agroforestry production systems through the provision of financial, in-kind, and technical assistance.

Depending on their country, farmers will be compensated every month to cultivate timber and specific crops on tiny plots of previously uncultivated land.  Mexican farmers are paid MXN 5,000 (approximately USD 242) each month. 

The project contributes to the creation of jobs, the promotion of food self-sufficiency, the enhancement of resident incomes, and the recovery of one million hectares of forest cover in the country.

Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro

The program seeks to give on-the-job training opportunities for 18 to 29-year-olds who are neither working nor in school.

Among the program's aims are the promotion of the social and productive inclusion of young people, the reduction of youth employment, and the engagement of the corporate sector in social responsibility initiatives for the productive development of young people.


Negligence in upholding principles

Upon closer look, the US-supported programs in Central American countries do not fully comply with the development effectiveness principles.

Although the two projects were promising in providing Central Americans with employment and scholarship opportunities, they were not successfully implemented as they were difficult to run. There were few possibilities to deliver the materials, and there was a disinformation campaign targeting the supposedly beneficiary population.

According to the research interviewees, there appears to be a complete lack of information about the initiatives, making it difficult to ascertain the programs' impact on the beneficiary communities.

For instance, employers for the Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro were unclear about the type of labor they require from the youth beneficiaries; hence, the impact and scope of the program for the creation of new jobs are unknown. This lack of information is evident when interviewing Guatemalan civil society organizations.

Consequently, residents of the Northern Triangle and south-southeast Mexico continue to migrate. According to reports, most of the 234,088 apprehended irregular migrants are undocumented migrants from Central America. It is also revealed that there is an increase in the number of migrants under the age of 18, of which 23.47% are unaccompanied by adults.

The Mexican government has focused on implementing immigration containment policies and measures that protect the interests of the United States of America. It has become a barrier in containing migration from southern Mexico and Northern Triangle countries.


Pointing out US and Mexico’s priorities

Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the current president of Mexico, criticized the non-fulfillment and postponement of the USD 4 billion assistance for the Northern Triangle countries, comparing it to the billions of dollars immediately granted by the US government to Ukraine to face the Russian invasion.

Since 2014,  the United States has provided over 10 billion dollars in security aid for training and equipment to assist Ukraine  in maintaining its territorial integrity, securing its borders, and enhancing its interoperability with NATO. In April, the United States established the  Uniting for Ukraine initiative , which gives Ukranian citizens escaping Russia's invasion a place of refuge. Participants are required to have a sponsor in the United States willing to provide them with financial support for the duration of their stay.

While this may have been a positive step for Ukraine, it has prompted complainst from various migrant groups since it indicates that Ukrainians are exempt from  Title 42 , which denies thousands of migrants from Mexico and Central America entry to the United States due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Furthermore, the attitude and commitments of the Mexican government towards each country were differentiated. It was observed that there is a greater commitment in some countries over the others, as depicted by the its disbursement of additional funds.

There are claims that the initial phase of the project enhanced the quality of life of the participants from El Salvador, of whom 18 percent are women, and 81 percent are men. However, such a claim was not supported, rendering an accurate evaluation difficult.

In fact, among the Sembrando Vida participants who were planning to migrate before joining the program,  the amount only decreased by 0.6% after joining the program .


Building better civil society support

In addition to the US and Mexican governments' obligation to be transparent about the outcomes of their initiatives, one approach to improve information is to involve relevant stakeholders in evaluating these programs. With this, DECA, Equipo Pueblo, AC proposes the subsequent actions:

  1. Ensure that these initiatives serve the most disadvantaged people, such as the Indigenous Peoples, women and youth. This involves delivering women-oriented programs to give equal access to opportunities.
  2. Sembrando Vida must contribute to a productive countryside to benefit the rural residents.
  3. Involve community organizations in disseminating information to both rural and urban areas.
  4. Mexican community-based groups and civil society organizations shall exchange official government information on development programs.
  5. Upholding the development effectiveness principles is fundamental in implementing a rights-based and people-centered development under Mexico's South-South Cooperation with Central America.
  6. Central American cooperation projects must address the root causes of poverty and inequality in order to address the issue of migration in their countries.
  7. Bureaucracy has no place in social programs aimed at helping marginalized communities. Governments must comply with social programs designed to realize people's rights.

These messages are promulgated through DECA, Equipo Pueblo, AC's website and social media. The organization produced posters and articles that are shared online to raise awareness and their calls.

The "Northern Triangle" of Central America is comprised of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.