Central America struggles to unite for Obama trip
Central America struggles to unite for Obama trip
Posted: 05/03/2013 12:09:25 PM MDT
By LUIS ALONSO LUGO and ALBERTO ARCE Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica—...
Obama earlier this week said his trip will focus on the economy and security. He will meet Friday evening with the eight-nation Central American Integration System, known by its Spanish initials SICA, which was formed to discuss regional issues.
Yet the president will also encounter the national rivalries that have often blocked cooperation.
Guatemala and Belize maintain a border dispute. Honduras and El Salvador are fighting over the use of the waters and shores of the Gulf of Fonseca, and a conflict between Nicaragua and Costa Rica has been escalating over the San Juan River border. On top of that, Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua often feel excluded because Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras get the bulk of U.S. security aid, said Eric Olson, associate director of the Latin American program at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington.
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Still, the Central American presidents have come manned to talk about security, an issue they see as directly related to drug consumption in the United States. Some Central American countries have the highest murder rates in the world, with Honduras often called the world's most dangerous country. Leaders here say they want the U.S. to take more responsibility in the fight against drug cartels.
"We need the decided support of the U.S. to attack our common enemy, drug trafficking," Honduran President Porfirio Lobo said Thursday. "Unfortunately, Honduras and the countries of the region bear the dead of a war that we didn't start and that we repudiate. It's time to renew our mutual political cooperation."
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http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_23166002/central-america-struggles-unite-obama-trip