WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris plans to announce Tuesday nearly $2 billion in private investment directed to three Central American countries as part of the Biden administration's strategy to reduce migration, more than doubling previously announced commitments.
The new investments from private industry bring the total pledged to about $3.2 billion since Harris began soliciting businesses last year and comes as the administration has faced increased challenges in dealing with the governments of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala and as migrants from those countries continue to head north.
Harris is trying to show progress in her highest-profile foreign assignment — stemming migration from northern Central America by addressing its root causes — during this week's Summit of the Americas conference in Los Angeles. But the summit has been upended by a boycott, led by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, over the decision to exclude the leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
