Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez on Monday said that cuts in US support for Central America would hinder efforts to stem illegal immigration as he welcomed China’s growing diplomatic presence in the region as an “opportunity.”
In an interview, Hernandez expressed regret that US commitments to step up investment in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have been scaled back since US President Donald Trump took office.
Since Trump became president, Hernandez said the US has shown great willingness to work on combating street gangs known as maras that have menaced Central America, but it was less ready to support the region financially.
Under a scheme to strengthen Central America launched in 2014 known as the Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle, the US pledged to put forward US$1 for every US$4 invested by Honduras, Hernandez said.
However, that commitment has not materialized, he added.
“That will obviously have repercussions,” he said. “Because the whole idea of the Alliance for Prosperity ... was to attack the migration problem at the root.”
Since 2016, combined US foreign aid for Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador declined by more than one-third to US$195 million, official US data showed.
Adding to the challenges facing the region, the Trump administration earlier this year announced that it would end temporary immigration protection for tens of thousands of Hondurans and Salvadorans living in the US.
Meanwhile, China is strengthening ties with Central America.
Last month, Taiwan broke diplomatic ties with El Salvador after learning of its decision to switch allegience to China, citing economic reasons and following on the heels of Panama last year.
Honduras still has diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Hernandez said Beijing’s growing diplomatic presence posed a “quandary” for Central America, but also “an opportunity for all,” provided there are “clear rules.”
Other nations would likely follow the lead of El Salvador and Panama soon, he added.
“We see that things are changing in Central America. I think the United States has been a bit late to see it,” he said.
Asked whether Honduras would switch to China, the president gave a careful answer: “We’re still with Taiwan. Each country follows the principle of self-determination, that it can make its own decisions.”
“For the time being, we’re betting on a commercial relationship with Taiwan, a window to enter the Asian market,” he added.
A crucial test of whether Washington was prepared to reaffirm its commitment to the region would be a meeting planned for the middle of next month with officials from the US, Central American nations and Mexico, Hernandez said.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
RSS