One viewpoint:April 2nd, 2019
I Must Dissent
by Erick EricksonIn 2017, speaking to a group of leaders from Central America, Vice President Pence declared, “To further stem the flow of illegal immigration and illegal drugs into the United States, President Trump knows, as do all of you, that we must confront these problems at their source. We must meet them – and we must solve them – in Central and South America.†What Vice President Pence said then was correct. What President Trump is doing now — cutting aid — is wrong. I must respectfully dissent.
Fifteen years ago, Colombia was on the verge of collapse. The nation was overrun with drug traffickers, cartels, and local gangs. Crime and violence were rampant, people were fleeing the nation, and the government of Colombia teetered on the edge. The United States deployed its foreign aid budget and military resources to help the Colombian government stabilize, fight its domestic drug war, and beat the cartels. The nation went from the brink to being a stable leader in South America and a strategic ally of the United States. In the past decade, trade with Colombia has tripled to $14 billion, benefiting American businesses.
Since 2016, American assistance to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador has declined 20% and, concurrent with that decline in American assistance, those countries have seen an increase in domestic crime, corruption, and flight of refugees headed towards the United States.
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https://theresurgent.com/2019/04/02/i-must-dissent/