No Safe Space: Neoliberalism and the Production of Violence in the Lives of Central American Migrants

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Alvarez
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Central America ◽  
Social Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Central American ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
Central Americans

AbstractThis paper explores the ways in which neoliberal policies enacted by elites across the Northern Triangle have led to increased violence in Central America, a lived experience that continues as individuals migrate to Mexico and the United States. In this work, I examine how neoliberal polices in the region have created limited economic opportunities and means of subsistence for the poor in Central America, as well as the rise of extra-legal actors and criminal enterprises. Together these conditions leave Central Americans with no choice but to migrate north. This paper then explores the violence migrants experience as they move through Mexico. In this stage of the journey, migrant bodies are objectified and then commodified as cheap labor for the global market as well as local economies of violence. Lastly, I discuss the multiple zones of violence that migrants experience at Mexico's border with the United States. This project relies on in-depth, semi-structured interviews (n = 99) with Central American migrants over the course of 4 years (2014–18). Ultimately, I find that for Central American migrants, violence can be a seemingly inescapable reality as neoliberal forces maintain and normalize violence in order to preserve an established social order at the expense of these migrants.

Central American integration through infrastructure development: A case study of Costa Rican hydropower

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denielle M. Perry ◽  
Kate A. Berry
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Central American ◽  
Infrastructure Development

At the turn of the 21st century, protectionist policies in Latin America were largely abandoned for an agenda that promoted free trade and regional integration. Central America especially experienced an increase in international, interstate, and intraregional economic integration through trade liberalization. In 2004, such integration was on the agenda of every Central American administration, the U.S. Congress, and Mexico. The Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) and the Central America Integrated Electricity System (SIEPAC), in particular, aimed to facilitate the success of free trade by increasing energy production and transmission on a unifi ed regional power grid (Mesoamerica, 2011). Meanwhile, for the United States, a free trade agreement (FTA) with Central America would bring it a step closer to realizing a hemispheric trade bloc while securing market access for its products. Isthmus states considered the potential for a Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States, their largest trading partner, as an opportunity to enter the global market on a united front. A decade and a half on, CAFTA, PPP, and SIEPAC are interwoven, complimentary initiatives that exemplify a shift towards increased free trade and development throughout the region. As such, to understand one, the other must be examined.

The United States and the Rise of General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez

1971 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Grieb
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
Central America ◽  
American Politics ◽  
State Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Central American ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
The Military

The militarycoup d'étatwhich installed General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez as President of El Salvador during December 1931 created a crisis involving the 1923 Washington Treaties. By the terms of these accords, the Central American nadons had pledged to withhold recognition from governments seizing power through force in any of the isthmian republics. Although not a signatory of the treaty, the United States based its recognition policy on this principle. Through this means the State Department had attempted to impose some stability in Central America, by discouraging revolts. With the co-operation of the isthmian governments, United States diplomats endeavored to bring pressure to bear on the leaders of any uprising, to deny them the fruits of their victory, and thus reduce the constant series ofcoupsandcounter-coupsthat normally characterized Central American politics.

A Brief History of Central America

2021 ◽  
pp. 173-180
Author(s):  
Rachel Gibson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central Americans ◽  
Family Stories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Current Events ◽  
History Of

The history of Central America directly impacts current events, and exploring the social, political, and economic reasons why Guatemalans and other Central Americans emigrate to the United States deepens our connections to family stories and legacies. This chapter offers a brief overview of the region....

Buffering North America

2019 ◽  
pp. 123-159
Author(s):  
David Scott FitzGerald
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Central America ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
The United States ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Central Americans ◽  
Mexican Government ◽  
Southern Border ◽  
The U.S

Washington and Ottawa have tried to keep out most of the Central Americans fleeing to North America beginning in the civil wars of the 1980s. Central America and Mexico buffer the United States, which in turn buffers Canada. The U.S. government has propped up client states in Central America; paid for refugee camps; and provided training, equipment, and financing for migration controls further south. Mexico has weak rights of territorial personhood, so rather than strictly controlling entry across its southern border, its entire territory has become a “vertical frontier” with the United States. Aggressive U.S. enforcement at the Mexican border traps transit migrants in Mexico and creates an incentive for the Mexican government to deport them. But harsh U.S. enforcement on its border and the fact that it targets Mexicans as well as third-country nationals impedes the bilateral cooperation that would make Mexico a more effective buffer.

The United States and the Central American Federation

1967 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Grieb
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
American Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Central Americans ◽  
American Federation ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
American Union

The administration of Warren G. Harding found itself facing the issue of Central American Union when it assumed office in March, 1921. Central Americans had debated combination since independence, and the question came to the fore periodically, resulting in numerous attempts to reunite the isthmus. But the previous proposals had all faltered when governments favoring confederation were overthrown. The issue was periodically revived whenever renewed coups returned pro-union regimes to power in several of the countries. In this way the debate continued throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, ebbing and flowing with the frequent revolutions, coups, and counter coups that constituted Central American politics.

Securing Central America Against Communism: The United States and the Modernization of Surveillance in the Cold War

1999 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Holden
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Central America ◽  
Formation Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Sponsored Programs ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Cold War

The US.-sponsored programs of military and police collaboration with the Central American governments during the Cold War also contributed to the surveillance capacity of those states during the period when the Central American state formation process was being completed. Guatemala is used as a case study. Washington’s contribution was framed by the conventional discourse of “security against communism” but also by an underlying technocratic ethos in which “modernization” and “security” were higher priorities than democratization.

scholarly journals U.S. Migration Policy Radicalization (2017-2019): Case of Mexico and Central America

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-118
Author(s):  
Arkadiy Alekseevich Eremin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Social Basis ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Mexico Border ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Political Economic

This article is an attempt to critically analyze the policy of the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump regarding the southern border of the USA with Mexico. The paper analyzes the approach of Washington under the administration of D. Trump to the problem of the joint border between USA and Mexico, as well as conducts a comprehensive assessment of the main programs underlying the most pressing changes in D. Trumps policy in this area. In particular, the paper focuses on the structure of migration flows between 2017 and 2019, as well as on the reasons behind those changes. The author looks at the root causes of the unprecedented increase in the flow of potential migrants and refugees, and correlates them with the ongoing political, economic and humanitarian crises in the Central American sub-region. An important focus is given to the increasing role of Mexico in the settlement of this issue, as well as to the potential impact of such cooperation between the authorities of the United States and Mexico on the situation in Central America and Latin America in general. The significance of this paper is determined by the objective necessity of academic evaluation of the Donald Trumps administration impact on the United States governmental and foreign policy course. The author argues that the approach of the 45th president of the United States regarding traditionally sensitive issues like US - Mexico border control and migration has been mostly based on coercive tactics with obvious disregard towards social basis and root-causes of the issue at hand. One of the most distinguished traits of this approach is the practice of outsourcing managing the problem of refugees from Central America to the border-country, which in this specific case is Mexico.

Central America-US Relations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan D. McCormick
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Democratic Capitalism ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War

Since gaining independence in 1823, the states comprising Central America have had a front seat to the rise of the United States as a global superpower. Indeed, more so than anywhere else, the United States has sought to use its power to shape Central America into a system that heeds US interests and abides by principles of liberal democratic capitalism. Relations have been characterized by US power wielded freely by officials and non-state actors alike to override the aspirations of Central American actors in favor of US political and economic objectives: from the days of US filibusterers invading Nicaragua in search of territory; to the occupations of the Dollar Diplomacy era, designed to maintain financial and economic stability; to the covert interventions of the Cold War era. For their part, the Central American states have, at various times, sought to challenge the brunt of US hegemony, most effectively when coordinating their foreign policies to balance against US power. These efforts—even when not rejected by the United States—have generally been short-lived, hampered by economic dependency and political rivalries. The result is a history of US-Central American relations that wavers between confrontation and cooperation, but is remarkable for the consistency of its main element: US dominance.

Central America’s vaccine efforts face mixed prospects

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
World Health ◽  
Business Travel ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Roll Out

Significance Elsewhere in the region, only Panama has so far received a first vaccine shipment, suggesting roll-outs initially will be patchy. Central American governments are sourcing their vaccines either through direct purchases from manufacturers or through programmes run by the World Health Organization (WHO). Impacts A black market is likely to emerge both for vaccines and vaccination certificates. Poorer countries will receive more vaccine support once roll-outs have advanced in wealthier countries globally, but this may take time. Vaccine roll-out in the United States will benefit Central America in terms of tourism, business travel and investment recovery.

Mothers’ socialisation goals and evaluations of desirable and undesirable everyday situations in two diverse cultural groups

2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Leyendecker ◽  
Michael E. Lamb ◽  
Robin L. Harwood ◽  
Axel Schölmerich
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Cultural Constructs ◽  
Group Variation ◽  
Infant Behaviour

Long-term socialisation goals and evaluations of infant behaviour in a variety of everyday contexts were studied among 45 mothers who had immigrated from Central America to the United States, and 41 mothers from European American backgrounds. In accord with expectations based on broad cultural constructs, mothers from Central America emphasised long-term socialisation goals related to Proper Demeanour. In addition, when describing and evaluating everyday situations, they were likely to attribute the desirability or undesirability of these situations to the child's own appropriate and cooperative behaviour, and were likely to highlight mutual enjoyment when describing preferred play situations. In contrast, Euro-American mothers emphasised long-term socialisation goals related to Self-Maximisation, and when describing undesirable everyday situations, stressed the role of external factors not under the child's control, presumably to preserve the child's self-esteem. However, it was also found that the Central American mothers endorse selected aspects of individualism related to promoting their children's economic and personal potential in the United States. These findings point not only to the multidimensional nature of individualism, but also to the heterogeneity of beliefs among Latino populations. The importance of studying within-group variation with regard to the individualism/sociocentrism construct is highlighted.

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