Pence: U.S. is with Northern Triangle

Michelle Marchante/News Director

Government officials from the United States, Mexico and Central America discussed drug trafficking, gang violence, infrastructure and immigration at the Modesto Maidique campus on Thursday, June 15.

The Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America was co-hosted by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray, Interior Secretary Osorio Chong and Secretary of Finance José Antonio Meade Kuribeña.

Besides Tillerson and Kelly, Vice President Mike Pence, President Jimmy Morales of Guatemala, President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras, Vice President Oscar Ortiz of El Salvador and Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray, also attended the event.

Video by Nicole Malanga/PantherNOW

Central America’s prosperity and security is important to the United States and Mexico, Tillerson said during his opening speech, and is connected to President Donald Trump’s agenda of national security, border security and advancing the U.S. economic interests.

“What happens in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala directly affects the security and economic interests of the United States and other countries in the region,” Tillerson said. “A more prosperous, safer Central America will do much to halt illegal and dangerous migration, defeat transnational drug cartels and gangs, and end corruption in their economies.”

Throughout the conference, each country highlighted their support for the Alliance of Prosperity, which was launched back in 2014, to promote economical prosperity and increase security.

Vice President Oscar Ortiz of El Salvador, President Jimmy Morales of Guatemala, President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras, Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson answer questions at the joint press conference held in the GC Ballrooms during the Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of State’s Flickr.

The presidents also discussed their 2020 plans which involve creating and promoting a strong economy through more government transparency, incentives for the private sector, facilitating trade, and improving the sectors of energy, infrastructure and education. These plans also include lowering the crime rate of each country to make it safer for its citizens and tourists.

“This is a shared vision,” Ortiz said in Spanish during the joint press conference. “Central America will gain from this but also Mexico and the U.S….the best antidote, the consensus, to undocumented migration, the best mechanism is to open more opportunities such as job employment, investing more in education, the young, the youth, and the families.”

The other presidents in attendance echoed Ortiz’s thoughts of improvement and unity, as did Pence during his keynote address.

Vice President Mike Pence delivers his keynote address at the Conference on Prosperity and Security in Central America in the GC Ballrooms. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department’s of State Flickr.

“On behalf of the President, allow me to assure you, the United States of America stands with the nations and people of the Northern Triangle,” Pence said. “We stand with you in your commitment to root out crime and corruption, we stand with you in your commitment to stop the scourge of drug trafficking once and for all and the United States of America stands with you as you build a more secure and prosperous future for the benefit of your people and the benefit of the Western Hemisphere.”

Congress included $655 million for the 2017 Fiscal Year for Central America, but Trump, Pence said, has requested an additional $460 million for the 2018 Fiscal Year budget as a sign of his commitment to help Central America’s prosperity and security.

However, some students chose to protest on the GC lawns during the conference, such as Antonia Gonzalez, a sophomore in the pre-nursing track, who is doubtful of the Trump administration’s sincerity.

Video by Nicole Malanga/PantherNOW

“I know Mike Pence hasn’t said much but with statements made by Donald Trump I find it ironic that they can be talking about economic growth from Central America when you don’t even want to let immigrants into the country,” Gonzalez said.

Even though Gonzalez doesn’t believe Pence was a good representative for the conference, she hopes the dialogue does lead to some good ideas, such as finding ways to decrease the violence in Central America.

Allison Sardinas, a second year MA candidate in the English literature graduate program and one of the protest’s organizers, also doesn’t think Pence was the right choice and feels that FIU is “silencing” the students by hosting the conference.

Ryan Almodovar, a senior majoring in biology, holds a sign that reads “Immigrants are welcome here,” as he protests on the GC lawns. Photo by Nicole Malanga/PantherNOW

Organized by the People’s Progressive Caucus of Miami, the Florida Immigrant Coalition and the Students for a Democratic Society, which Sardinas is a member of, the protest, she said, was to show how upset they were that FIU was giving the Trump cabinet a “platform to discuss whatever issues they want to discuss,” but had yet to respond to their request to discuss student immigrant concerns.

“We’re looking for a more proportionate response that is more in line with protecting the minority-majority student population here instead of actively disenfranchising it,” Sardinas said.

Alec Lalani, a global affairs graduate student, however, is happy that FIU hosted the conference.

FIU is one of the “biggest, most diverse” universities in the country and the diverse group of protesters is a symbol of it, he said, but having our government converse with our Latin American neighbors is a sign of positive globalization.

Hosting these types of events, he said, is also great for FIU’s reputation and he hopes to see more of them in the future.

“I think FIU being at the stage they are at now, in order for us to be a bigger university, we need to host more events like this in the future,” Lalani said.

The second day of the conference was held at the United States Southern Command headquarters in Doral and focused on security.