US targets Central America officials for possible sanctions over corruption: envoy
DC targets C.America officials for possible sanctions: envoy
The Biden administration plans to release by the end of June a list of corrupt Central American officials who may be subject to sanctions, a US special envoy told Reuters, as Washington seeks to cut back on a root cause of increased migration to the US-Mexican border.
US officials see corruption as one of the main drivers for the flow of migrants - along with poverty, gang violence and the fallout from hurricanes in 2020 - and want to make sure a $4 billion aid package being put together for the region does not fall prey to graft. "That's the mandate from Congress. We have a responsibility and we're going to meet it," Zuniga said in an interview on Wednesday.
"That tracks with our commitment to defend those who are combating impunity."
Zuniga was referring to a law sponsored by then-US Representative Eliot Engel and enacted by Congress in December 2020 that requires the State Department to assemble within 180 days a so-called Engel List of corrupt actors in the Northern Triangle.
The administration, he said, would comply with that congressional requirement. Those targeted could then be subject to bans on travel to the US, seizing of US property and prohibitions on Americans doing business with them.
Central American officials may be more likely to have assets in the US, given the geographic proximity and historical relationships, than those from countries that have fewer US financial links.
Zuniga declined to name those who might face sanctions.
A general view of the US Capitol in Washington DC, the US, on May 5, 2021 Photo: VCG
Ricardo Zuniga, President Joe Biden's point man for Central America's Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, also said the administration was considering further sanctions against officials in the region for alleged graft under the Global Magnitsky Act.US officials see corruption as one of the main drivers for the flow of migrants - along with poverty, gang violence and the fallout from hurricanes in 2020 - and want to make sure a $4 billion aid package being put together for the region does not fall prey to graft. "That's the mandate from Congress. We have a responsibility and we're going to meet it," Zuniga said in an interview on Wednesday.
"That tracks with our commitment to defend those who are combating impunity."
Zuniga was referring to a law sponsored by then-US Representative Eliot Engel and enacted by Congress in December 2020 that requires the State Department to assemble within 180 days a so-called Engel List of corrupt actors in the Northern Triangle.
The administration, he said, would comply with that congressional requirement. Those targeted could then be subject to bans on travel to the US, seizing of US property and prohibitions on Americans doing business with them.
Central American officials may be more likely to have assets in the US, given the geographic proximity and historical relationships, than those from countries that have fewer US financial links.
Zuniga declined to name those who might face sanctions.
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