El Salvador–United States relations

El Salvador – United States relations

El Salvador
United States

El Salvador – United States relations are bilateral relations between El Salvador and the United States.

According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 55% of Salvadorans approve of U.S. leadership, with 19% disapproving and 26% uncertain, the fourth-highest rating for any surveyed country in the Americas.[1]

History

The history of U.S.-El Salvador relations encompasses some controversial moves and operations by the United States, e.g. the U.S.-involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War [2] and interference in Salvadoran elections, such as during the 2004 presidential election.[3]

On 10 June 2014, UNICEF reported a significant increase in the numbers of unaccompanied Salvadoran children seeking to enter the United States without their parents:

According to US Government statistics, over 47,000 unaccompanied children have been detained on the southwestern US border over the past eight months, almost double the number of children detained between October 2012 and September 2013. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that at least 10,000 additional children will attempt to enter the US without their parents before the end of September.[4]

On 11 January 2018, The Washington Post reported that, in a discussion protecting immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti, and African countries, Donald Trump said "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here".[5] After the report was released, Trump denied on Twitter that he used the term, "shithole countries", but said that he used tough language in regards to the countries.[6] Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the United Nations condemned Trump's comment, describing it as "racist".[7] President Salvador Sanchez Ceren said that he "vigorously rejected" the comments that were attributed to Trump.[8]

Present

U.S.-Salvadoran relations remain close and strong. U.S. policy towards the country promotes the strengthening of El Salvador's democratic institutions, rule of law, judicial reform, and civilian police; national reconciliation and reconstruction; and economic opportunity and growth. El Salvador has been a committed member of the coalition of nations fighting against terrorism and has sent 10 rotations of troops to Iraq to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

U.S. ties to El Salvador are dynamic and growing. More than 19,000 American citizens live and work full-time in El Salvador. Most are private businesspersons and their families, but a small number of American citizen retirees have been drawn to El Salvador by favorable tax conditions. However, following the Salvadoran government's controversial decision to cut ties with Taiwan in favor of the People's Republic of China in August 2018, some Republican senators like Marco Rubio had demanded that economical aid to the country be cut and their expulsion from Alianza Para Prosperidad (a U.S-supported program to help El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala with education and healthcare to reduce illegal immigration to the United States). The Embassy's consular section provides a full range of citizenship services to this community. The American Chamber of Commerce in El Salvador is located at World Trade Center, Torre 2, local No. 308, 89 Av. Nte. Col. Escalón, phone: 2263-9494.

Principal U.S. officials include:

  • Ambassador--Jean Elizabeth Manes[9]
  • Deputy Chief of Mission—Michael Barkin
  • USAID Mission Chief—Kirk Dahlgren
  • Political Counselor—David Boyle
  • Economic Counselor—John Barrett
  • Commercial Officer—Ireas Cook
  • Public Affairs Officer—Mari Tolliver

The U.S. Embassy in El Salvador is located in Antiguo Cuscatlán.

See also

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Global Leadership Project Report - 2012 Gallup
  2. ↑ George Miller. "El Salvador: Policy of Deceit", The New York Times, October 21, 1988.
  3. ↑ Dana Rohrabacher Speaks out on El Salvador Election, Clashes With Obama Administration
  4. ↑ UNICEF (2014-06-10). "Aumento impresionante del número de niños no acompañados que tratan de entrar en los Estados Unidos - El Salvador". ReliefWeb (in Spanish). Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  5. ↑ Dawsey, Josh (11 January 2018). "Trump derides protections for immigrants from 'shithole' countries". Washington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  6. ↑ Fram, Alan; Lemire, Jonathan (12 January 2018). "Trump denies he referred to Africa as a 'shithole'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  7. ↑ Hjelmgaard, Kim (12 January 2018). "U.N., African countries blast Trump's 'racist' words in angry global backlash". USA TODAY. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "El Salvador foreign minister protests over Trump comments". Reuters. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  9. ↑ Jean Elizabeth Manes Ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of El Salvador U.S. Embassy El Salvador, accessed May 5, 2016

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State website http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/index.htm (U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets).

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