Meeting of U.S., Central American
officials is called off this week
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[September 10, 2018]
By Nelson Renteria and Gustavo Palencia
SAN SALVADOR/TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - A
U.S.-hosted meeting with Mexico and Central American countries scheduled
for this week in Washington has been called off, officials said on
Sunday, as President Donald Trump's policies test relations with the
region.
The United States said the conference of the Alliance for Prosperity, a
U.S.-led economic and security group, was postponed because of
"scheduling conflicts" and with agreement by the participating
countries. But El Salvador said it was Washington's decision to suspend
the meeting and that it did not know the reason.
"We are currently exploring alternate dates," said an official for the
U.S. State Department who declined to be named. "We are committed to our
partnership with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address
security, prosperity and governance challenges in the region."
Launched in 2014, the Alliance for Prosperity was a U.S. bid to curb
migration from the "Northern Triangle" of El Salvador, Guatemala and
Honduras by strengthening economic growth and funding security programs.
But U.S. and Central American officials have clashed in recent months.
Many Central American families were affected by the U.S. government's
policy earlier this year of separating migrant children and parents
trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border, and governments in the region
have demanded information from the United States as they seek to reunite
families.
On Friday, the United States said it recalled its top diplomats in El
Salvador, along with the Dominican Republic and Panama, over those
countries' decisions to ditch diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of
China.
The State Department official, responding to a Reuters request for
comment on the cancellation of the conference scheduled for Wednesday
and Thursday, made no mention of any tensions."Due to scheduling
conflicts, the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and
the governments of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras decided
on September 7 to postpone the conference," the official said.
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The El Salvadoran government said in a statement late on Saturday
that it regretted what it said was a U.S. cancellation of the
meeting. "El Salvador is ready to participate and waiting for this
conference to be rescheduled," officials said.
José Isaías Barahona, Honduras' deputy foreign minister, said the
meeting was canceled because of scheduling conflicts.
"Surely when schedules line up, El Salvador, along with Honduras and
Guatemala, will attend the meetings of the Alliance for Prosperity,"
he said in an interview.
Marta Larra, a spokeswoman for the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry, said
she had been informed the meeting was postponed because the dates
did not work well for the Central American countries.
Citing U.S. officials, the Washington Post reported on Saturday that
the meeting was canceled after El Salvador and Guatemala said they
would not send envoys. But El Salvador said it had been planning to
attend.
(Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador, Gustavo Palencia in
Tegucigalpa, Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Additional reporting by
Jorge Pineda in Santo Domingo, Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City;
Writing by Julia Love and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Lisa Shumaker
and Peter Cooney)
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