Trump Threatens “Enemies” with Funding Cut, but CARSI and Other Projects Safe for Now
Donald Trump
On Tuesday night, eleven months after he was elected as the president of the United States of America, Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address in Washington D.C. Following disparaging remarks about small and developing nations and countries such as Haiti, El Salvador and others in Africa as ‘shithole countries,’ the U.S. President likened countries, such as Belize, as enemies of the U.S. because they voted at the UN against a US resolution to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Although Trump says that he is asking Congress to cut financial aid to those countries, today his Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Belize, Adrienne Galanek, says assistance will still come to the Central American region. For context, we air the excerpt from President Trump’s speech.
Donald Trump, U.S. President
“Last month, I also took an action endorsed unanimously by the Senate just months before: I recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Shortly afterwards, dozens of countries voted in the United Nations General Assembly against America’s sovereign right to make this decision. In 2016, American taxpayers generously send those same countries more than twenty billions of dollars in aid. That is why, tonight, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to help ensure American foreign-assistance dollars always serve American interests, and only go to America’s friends of America, not enemies of America.”
Adrienne Galanek
Adrienne Galanek, Chargé d’Affaires, U.S. Embassy in Belize
“I think that the vote in the UN is only one of several aspects of a relationship that our two countries share and so we are committed to the Central American strategy across the region. And I think you will see from the recent FY-18 budget request that Central America—and of course Belize is part of the region—figures closely in those budget requests.”
Reporter
“However the president has asked the Congress not to approve requests for those who have exhibited what he interprets as adversarial behavior. Will Belize suffer as a consequence of this America-first type of policy?”
Adrienne Galanek
“I believe that Belize is a strong partner with the United States. Our partnership, as you rightly pointed out, is over forty million dollars just in Central American Regional Security Funds alone. We have strong partnerships not only in that sector, but then across with media, with civil society and so I think those ties absolutely continue with Belize. I can’t predict the future, I can’t predict what decisions Congress will make, but our relationship and friendship with Belize remains strong.”
