WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET ON MEETING WITH CENTRAL AMERICA INTEGRATION SYSTEM MEMBERS

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE CENTRAL AMERICA
April 10, 2015
FACT SHEET: U.S. Cooperation with Central America; Meeting with Members of the Central America Integration System (SICA)

At the 2015 Summit of the Americas in Panama, President Obama met with the leaders of Central America Integration System (SICA) member states and the SICA Secretary General on April 10 to underscore the strong U.S. commitment to, and partnership with, Central America.  The U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America promotes the goal of an economically integrated region that provides economic opportunities to its people, enjoys more accountable, transparent, and effective public institutions, and ensures a safe environment for its citizens.

President Obama requested $1 billion from the U.S. Congress for Fiscal Year 2016 in support of the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America in all seven Central American nations.  While the United States will prioritize assistance to the Northern Triangle – El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – our strategy is region-wide.  Central America’s prosperity and security, its opportunities and challenges, are inextricably linked and have a direct impact on the rest of the hemisphere.

Eleven years have passed since the August 2004 signing of the Dominican Republic-Central America - United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), when our countries committed to promote economic growth, expand trade and investment opportunities, and strengthen both regional integration and competitiveness of the parties, yielding positive results for the seven partners of this trading bloc.

Higher and sustained growth is required to create opportunity and reduce poverty.   Despite the economic challenges faced by the world economy in recent years, the intra-regional trade among Central American countries and the Dominican Republic increased from US$6.3 billion in 2010 to more than US$8 billion by 2014.  U.S goods exports to Central America and the Dominican Republic in 2014 were $31.3 billion, up 99 percent from 2004; U.S. good imports from Central America and the Dominican Republic totaled $28.4 billion in 2014, up 60 percent over that same period.  These increased trade flows are promising, and stronger economic growth is possible with greater economic integration.

At the meeting with SICA Heads of State, President Obama encouraged his counterparts to pursue regional integration, promote trade facilitation, and approach security as a region.  He also noted that sustainable economic growth is more likely when a country enjoys transparent, accountable democratic institutions and a strong commitment to citizen security.

Promoting Regional Economic Integration and Growth

Central America’s place at the geographic crossroads of this hemisphere is a tremendous economic asset.  In order to make the most of this advantage, Central American nations should continue to work together to integrate and grow their economies by reducing tariffs, investing in infrastructure and border facilities, streamlining customs procedures, and partnering with each other on issues such as energy.   The region is the focal point of the Connecting the Americas 2022 initiative, which will help attract investment in clean energy and reduce energy costs by interconnecting the region’s electricity markets.  The United States has just launched a $20 million facility to drive private sector investment into clean energy projects in the Caribbean and Central America. The Facility will provide early-stage funding to catalyze larger private sector investment in clean energy projects.  The United States will also partner with Central American and Caribbean countries in a task force to evaluate our progress on energy cooperation and identify concrete steps to advance energy sector reform, regional integration, and clean energy development.

Countries should accelerate actions such as improved access to and quality of education, vocational training opportunities, and small business development models to encourage entrepreneurship and ensure growth that is broad-based and equitable.   By improving public financial management, governments also will be better equipped to make key public investments, provide critical public services, improve fiscal transparency and over time decrease the need for international donor support.  Deeper regional integration can also help build resilience against destabilizing events such as natural disasters, for example through pooled efforts to insure against risk.

Cooperating on Violence Prevention and Combating Crime

U.S. engagement on security complements the efforts of host nations and like-minded donors to reduce levels of crime and violence, strengthen rule of law institutions, and help address the root causes of insecurity that impede broader economic development and social inclusion.  Our programs in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala amplify local government efforts to promote crime prevention and police capacity-building in the most adversely affected communities.   We are similarly united in our efforts to combat transnational organized, crime, including by providing support to improve land border and maritime interdiction throughout the region, and cooperating with partner nations to investigate and prosecute those who conduct human smuggling operations exploiting the desperation of parents and children making the dangerous journey north.   In Panama, the Regional Border Management Academy conducts training of border officials, while in Costa Rica, our assistance to prisons, border police training, and support for nationwide use of data-driven policing is positioning them as a regional model.

In November 2014, the U.S. Department of State announced its in-country refugee processing program in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.  The program is part of the Obama Administration’s response to last summer’s influx of unaccompanied children and families fleeing to the United States from Central America and will work to provide a safe, legal, and orderly alternative to the dangerous journey that some children are currently undertaking to the United States.  The new program allows parents from those nations, who are lawfully present in the United States, to submit an application to have their children join them in the United States if they qualify for refugee status or humanitarian parole.

Sustaining Economic and Security Gains through Accountable Governance

The enabling environment for sustained growth, stability and prosperity for the region will require good governance, including support for democratic values, strengthening of criminal justice and other legal institutions to combat impunity and promote the rule of law, and advancing rights and protections for civil society and the media.  The private sector, small business owners, and international investors want confidence in the security of their investment and assurances that business dealings are fair and legal.  Institutions must establish a pattern of transparency, accountability, effectiveness, and independence.

DOL HAS LABOR CONCERNS REGARDING DOMINICAN SUGAR SECTOR

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 
US Labor Department issues report on labor concerns in Dominican sugar sector, announces $10 million project in agriculture

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today released a report regarding labor concerns in the Dominican sugar sector in response to a public submission filed under the Labor Chapter of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The department also announced a $10 million project to reduce child labor and to improve labor rights and working conditions in the Dominican agriculture sector.
Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez stated, "Today we are releasing a report that highlights labor concerns in the Dominican sugar sector and shortcomings in the Dominican government's ability to identify and address them. The report recommends a way forward and notes that we stand ready to help. Working together with the Dominican government, we look forward to making a real difference in these workers' lives."

The report is a response to a submission by Father Christopher Hartley, which alleged that the government of the Dominican Republic failed "to enforce labor laws, as required under Chapter 16 of the CAFTA-DR, as these relate to the Dominican sugar industry."

The department conducted a detailed review of all information obtained from the government of the Dominican Republic, the submitter, workers, industry and other stakeholders. The report finds evidence of apparent and potential violations of labor law in the Dominican sugar sector, concerning: (1) acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health, such as payments below the minimum wage, 12-hour work days, seven-day work weeks, lack of potable water, and the absence of safety equipment; (2) a minimum age for the employment of children and the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor; and (3) a prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory labor.

The report also discusses the department's concerns with respect to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Additionally, it highlights significant procedural and methodological shortcomings in the labor inspection process that undermine the government's capacity to identify labor violations. The report offers 11 recommendations to the government of the Dominican Republic to address the report's findings and improve enforcement of Dominican labor laws in the sugar sector. The Department of Labor will review the status of implementation of the recommendations six months and then 12 months after publication.

The Department of Labor is committed to engaging with the government of the Dominican Republic to address the concerns identified in the report and to assisting the government with implementing the report's recommendations. This commitment is evidenced by the $10 million, four-year project that the Department of Labor announced today to reduce child labor and improve labor rights and working conditions n the Dominican agriculture sector. This project builds on many years of Department of Labor's technical assistance to the Dominican Republic, including $16 million in funding since 1998 to eliminate child labor.

U.S.-NICARAGUA RELATIONS

Map Credit:  U.S. State Department
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
The United States established diplomatic relations with Nicaragua in 1849 following its independence from Spain and the later dissolution of a federation of Central American states. Post-independence, the country saw a mix of armed conflict, U.S. military intervention and occupation, rebellion, assassination, and dictatorships. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed or interrupted a number of times. Nicaragua's 1990 presidential elections marked an improvement in bilateral relations and were followed by elections in 1996, 2001, 2006.

The 2011 presidential and legislative elections were marred by significant irregularities and were denounced by domestic and international observers as severely flawed. The U.S. Government has clearly stated that the 2011 elections marked a setback to democracy in Nicaragua and undermined the ability of Nicaraguans to hold their government accountable. The United States has called on the Nicaraguan Government to uphold democratic processes and protect universal human rights, and has said that it will continue to support civil society and promote human rights in Nicaragua.

U.S. Assistance to Nicaragua
U.S. assistance aims to help strengthen Nicaragua’s democracy through training for emerging democratic leaders, increase civil society engagement, support an independent media, and improve local governance. U.S. assistance also seeks to promote economic growth and poverty reduction through market-led food security programs in the highly-impoverished north-central region. In under-governed areas of the Caribbean coastal region where drug trafficking and related criminal activity is rising, military-to-military engagement and prevention programs focusing on education and skills development support citizen security. In response to the Nicaraguan government’s continuing failure to account fully for substantial resources made available to it by Venezuela, the State Department did not seek a waiver for Nicaragua in Fiscal Year 2012 of Congressionally mandated restrictions on assistance to the central governments of countries who do not maintain international standards of fiscal transparency. This will curtail FY 2012 security assistance and affects some counternarcotics and development programs that otherwise would have benefitted the central government.

Bilateral Economic Relations
The United States and Nicaragua are parties to the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which aims to facilitate trade and investment and further regional integration by eliminating tariffs, opening markets, reducing barriers to services, and promoting transparency. CAFTA-DR contains a chapter on investment similar to a bilateral investment treaty with the United States. There are over 125 companies operating in Nicaragua with some relation to a U.S. company, either as wholly or partly-owned subsidiaries, franchisees, or exclusive distributors of U.S. products. The largest are in energy, financial services, textiles/apparel, manufacturing, and fisheries. U.S. exports to Nicaragua include agricultural products, donated relief articles, and machinery. U.S. imports from Nicaragua include apparel, agricultural products, and automobile wire harnesses. The United States works closely with the Nicaraguan government to seek resolution of several hundred claims against it by United States citizens to properties expropriated from them during the 1980s.

Nicaragua's Membership in International Organizations
Nicaragua and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, Organization of American States, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization.

U.S.-HONDURAS RELATIONS

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
U.S. Relations With Honduras
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
Fact Sheet
June 19, 2012
Honduras has traditionally been an ally of the United States. Following Honduras' June 2009 coup and U.S. recognition of the November 2009 presidential election, U.S. policy has sought to consolidate democracy, protect human rights, and promote the rule of law. U.S. Government programs are aimed at promoting a healthy and more open economy capable of sustainable growth, improving the climate for business and investment and protecting U.S. citizen and corporate rights, and promoting the well-being of the Honduran people. The United States also works with Honduras to meet transnational challenges--including the fight against terrorism, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, illegal migration, and trafficking in persons--and encourages and supports Honduran efforts to protect the environment. The goals of strengthening democracy and promoting viable economic growth are especially important given the geographical proximity of Honduras to the United States. An estimated 1 million Hondurans reside in the United States, 600,000 of whom are believed to be undocumented; consequently, immigration issues are an important item on the bilateral agenda. An average of 80,000 to 110,000 U.S. citizens visit Honduras annually, and about 15,000 Americans reside there.

U.S. Assistance to Honduras
Honduras, one of Latin America's poorest nations, strives to improve its economic and democratic development with U.S. assistance. The United States has historically been the largest bilateral donor to Honduras. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs include education, health, economic policy, microenterprise, environmental conservation, food security, municipal development, and justice sector reform.

The United States maintains a small presence at a Honduran military base. U.S. forces conduct and provide logistics support for a variety of bilateral and multilateral exercises--medical, engineering, peacekeeping, counternarcotics, and disaster relief--for the benefit of the Honduran people and their Central American neighbors. Through the Central America Regional Security Initiative, the United States supports the Government of Honduras by assisting law enforcement entities in disrupting criminal networks; building investigative, prosecutorial, and judicial capacity; and implementing violence prevention programs for vulnerable communities.

In June 2005, Honduras became the first country in the hemisphere to sign a Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Compact with the U.S. Government. Under the Compact, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation invested $205 million over 5 years to help Honduras improve its road infrastructure, diversify its agriculture, and transport its products to market.

Bilateral Economic Relations
The U.S. is the chief trading partner for Honduras, supplying 34% of Honduran imports and purchasing 41% of Honduran exports in 2010. Bilateral trade between the two nations totaled $8.3 billion in 2010. U.S. exports to Honduras in 2010 totaled $4.6 billion. More than 200 U.S. companies operate in Honduras.

The U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) entered into force in 2006. It eliminates most tariffs and other barriers for U.S. goods destined for the Central American market, provides protection for U.S. investments and intellectual property, and creates more transparent rules and procedures for conducting business. CAFTA also aims to eliminate intra-Central American tariffs and facilitate increased regional trade, benefiting U.S. companies manufacturing in Honduras. With CAFTA implemented, about 80% of U.S. goods now enter the region duty-free, with tariffs on the remaining 20% to be phased out by 2016.

Leading U.S. exports in 2009 included: textile yarn and fabric, petroleum and petroleum products, cereals and cereal preparations, low-value shipments, and apparel. Nearly all textile and apparel goods that meet CAFTA’s rules of origin became duty-free and quota-free immediately, thus promoting new opportunities for U.S. fiber, yarn, fabric, and apparel manufacturers. Honduras is the seventh-largest exporter of apparel and textile products by volume to the U.S. market behind countries such as Mexico and China; Honduras is first among Central American and Caribbean countries.

The stock of U.S. foreign direct investment in Honduras rose 7.2% between 2008 and 2009, from $787 million to $844 million. This was concentrated largely in the manufacturing, finance, insurance, and banking sectors of the country.

Honduras' Membership in International Organizations
Honduras generally supports U.S. initiatives in international fora. Honduras and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United Nations, Organization of American States, World Trade Organization, and International Monetary Fund.