From El Salvador to Honduras, why authoritarians gain from USAID cuts
Source: Christian Science Monitor
On the face of it, the USAID money that Kara Wilson García was promised last year for Project RED, her child care-focused nongovernmental organization in El Salvador, had little to do with democracy. She spends most of her time zipping between family homes and fundraising events working to strengthen the country’s child protection system.
But she was aiming to specifically serve the children of parents who are among the 87,000 arrested under President Nayib Bukele’s “state of exception.” The crackdown, which has seen homicides plummet since launching in 2022, has simultaneously left thousands of children and adolescents forcibly abandoned by imprisoned caregivers.
The $50,000 U.S. commitment last year to Ms. Wilson’s pilot project evaporated after the Jan. 20 announcement of a freeze on the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Cont'd.
LINK:
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2025/0523/el-salvador-bukele-usaid-foreign-agents-registry