• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Latin America

US Gives $125 Million to Honduras to Stem Emigration

  • Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks during a press conference in Tegucigalpa, on January 31, 2017.

    Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez speaks during a press conference in Tegucigalpa, on January 31, 2017. | Photo: AFP

Published 1 February 2017
Opinion

The aid transfer was signed by U.S. Ambassador James Nealon and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

The United States on Tuesday gave Honduras the first US$125 million from a regional scheme aimed at curbing emigration from Central America to its borders, according to officials.

The aid transfer was signed by U.S. Ambassador James Nealon and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, with the latter saying: "Our goal is to attack the root of the problem of irregular migration" to the United States.

The money comes from a $750 million Alliance for Prosperity Plan authorized by former U.S. President Barack Obama.

The money is meant to improve living conditions, economic prospects and security in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

The three countries are together known as the Northern Triangle of Central America: an area wracked by gang violence and poverty, and which is the biggest source of illegal migrants to the US.

Every year, between 80,000 and 100,000 Hondurans trek north in an attempt to get into the United States, according to estimates by humanitarian groups.

About a million of their compatriots live in the U.S., most of them without legal residency papers.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.