Trump’s plan to cut off aid would spend US policy in Central America | World News, The Indian Express

Trump’s plan to cut off aid would spend US policy in Central America | World News, The Indian Express

By New York Times |Mexico City |Published: March 31, 2019 1:05:06 pm

Trump’s plan to cut off aid would spend US policy in Central America

Advocates argue that stopping aid will only aggravate the root causes that drive migrants to leave the three countries, where a long history of corrupt governments and rigid inequities perpetuate deep poverty.

In this March 28, 2019, photo, President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. Trump’s surprise decision to stop defending the Affordable Care Act in court has opened a new debate among Republicans about how to approach health care heading into the 2020 elections, with some fearing the issue remains a vulnerability for the party. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Written by Elisabeth Malkin

President Donald Trump’s plan to cut off aid to three Central American countries for failing to stop the flow of migrants toward the United States breaks with years of conventional wisdom in Washington that the best way to halt migration is to attack its root causes.

The decision also runs counter to the approach advocated by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, among others. López Obrador has been lobbying Washington to join his government in investing billions of dollars in Central America and southern Mexico, arguing that economic development and reducing violence are the most effective ways to encourage Central Americans to remain home.