Central America - Ineffective Policies of Intervention and an Opportunity to Let God Sort it Out!

Abstract

Abstract : This paper is submitted by the National Security Advisor to the President for consideration of substantial national security policy reforms relative to the United States' Central American neighbors. Past (and some would even suggest present) U.S. policies towards Central America have been inconsistent, and more accurately, ineffective. While many of the policies exercised by the Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Carter, and Reagan administrations gave hope to many people in Central America, for the most part those policies worsened the crises in the region and provided the opposite of their intended effect. Most past policies were aimed at attacking the symptoms of the crises, not the crises themselves. Despite 80 years of sporadic intervention in this region, many billions of dollars spent in military assistance and economic aid, and even worse, after many hundreds of thousands have been killed, the United States has still not achieved stability in the region. Further, the United States has not democratized the area, and it certainly has not altered the cultural, economic, or land reform root causes of the problems. To say that the United States understands neither the problems nor the people is an enormous understatement! Until the United States understands both much better, and until the nation's vital interests are truly affected by its Central American neighbors, it is the author's conclusion that the United States is best served by policies of mutual cooperation in the region, and that the onus for reform must be returned to the Central American nations themselves. The author contends that we have interests in the Central American region, and he sets forth eight recommendations for developing a greater dialog with the Central American nations.