During her recent visit to Guatemala, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris warned migrants “do not come”—a message destined to be futile. Many drivers of migration are out of U.S. hands: climate change, food insecurity, crime, and corruption. And although Harris and U.S. President Joe Biden announced they will concentrate their efforts on addressing these root causes, prior efforts to do so—especially those targeting corruption—have been thwarted by governments in the region, which view such efforts as an existential threat.
During the same visit, Harris also announced a new U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) anti-corruption task force for the Northern Triangle, which consists of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. But over the last several years, their leaders have been busy dismantling any institutions that may provide transparency or checks on presidential power, including all three countries’ anti-corruption commissions: the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras, and, earlier this month, the International Commission against Impunity in El Salvador (CICIES). The day after Harris’s announcement, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced he would make Bitcoin a legal tender, raising alarms from the United States and International Monetary Fund (IMF) about possible facilitation of money laundering and tax evasion.
