President Trump's promise to lower US spending on foreign affairs was reflected on Monday in a drastic cut in the budget proposal for fiscal year 2019
The funds to "promote democracy, human rights and freedom" in Venezuela would be in the order of 9 million dollars.
WASHINGTON - Funds from the US State Department to promote "democracy, human rights and freedom" in Cuba could receive a significant cut in 2019 according to the budget proposal of the Donald Trump government for that fiscal year.
President Trump's promise to lower spending on foreign affairs was reflected on Monday in a drastic cut in the budget proposal for 2019, has forced the US to redesign the list of priorities in Latin America.
The budget reduction of the Foreign portfolio, reports EFE, is around 32%, which will mean a reduction of 17,831 million dollars for 2019 compared to the 55,632 million for 2017.
If Congress approves the proposal, the cut would have a special resonance in the Agency for International Development (USAID), responsible for numerous aid programs in both South America and Central America, which would receive US $ 1,633 million. 2017 to only 1,377 million in 2019.
Both Cuba (10 million dollars) and Venezuela (9 million) will receive part of the budget funds, with the objective of "promoting democracy, human rights and freedom" in both countries, which is a novelty in the case Venezuelan, but a cut of 50% in the Cuban.
The intention of the Department of State is to allocate 1,114 million dollars to permanent aid actions and completely eliminate the 5 million item to deal with contingency operations abroad, which is the provision of funds to face specific humanitarian crises.
However, despite the generalized cut in the budget of the State Department, it is worth noting a significant increase in "funds for development and economic support", which after receiving 4,673 million dollars in 2017, will receive 5,063 million in 2019, according to the document released today by that federal agency.
Of this item, 515.9 million dollars will be destined to face "the impact of international criminal organizations" in Latin America, compared to 361 million in 2017, and will serve, among other things, to develop programs that generate "legal benefits" "and protect human rights. In the case of Colombia, the coffee country will receive 100 million dollars to finance stable programs that help "implement a sustainable peace" and that will focus on "the most affected areas" by decades of conflict between insurgent groups and the local government . This amount represents a significant reduction with respect to the item destined for Colombia in the 2017 budget, when the amount was 180 million dollars. On the other hand, also Mexico (20.3 million dollars) and Peru (20 million) will receive in 2019 assistance to combat drug trafficking in the region, which is a new expense compared to the previous budget, when neither of the two countries received help some.
Also, the United States will allocate a total of 390 million dollars to the "fund for the control of narcotics", which is 143 million less than in 2017, of which 125 million will have Colombia as beneficiary. In relation to the money allocated to health programs in the region, it should be noted that the current budget contemplates a dramatic 50% reduction, going from 64 million dollars in 2017 to the proposal of 32 million for 2019. This cut coincides with the reduction of the US contribution to the World Health Organization (WHO), which would also see its funds cut by close to 50
