REGIONAL SECURITY COOPERATION: AN EXAMINATION OF THE CENTRAL AMERICAN REGIONAL SECURITY INITIATIVE (CARSI) AND THE CARIBBEAN BASIN SECURITY INITIATIVE (CBSI) HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JUNE 19, 2013 Serial No. 113–74 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 81–568PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 13:44 Nov 06, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\_WH\061913\81568 HFA PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania AMI BERA, California STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California RON DESANTIS, Florida GRACE MENG, New York TREY RADEL, Florida LOIS FRANKEL, Florida DOUG COLLINS, Georgia TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas TED S. YOHO, Florida LUKE MESSER, Indiana AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE MATT SALMON, Arizona, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina Samoa RON DESANTIS, Florida THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida TREY RADEL, Florida ALAN GRAYSON, Florida (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 13:44 Nov 06, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_WH\061913\81568 HFA PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES The Honorable William R. Brownfield, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Inter- national Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State 10 Ms. Liliana Ayalde, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemi- sphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State .......................................................... 19 Mr. Mark Lopes, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency for International Development ..................... 30 Mr. Eric L. Olson, associate director, Latin America Program, Woodrow Wil- son International Center for Scholars ................................................................ 47 Mr. Michael Shifter, president, Inter-American Dialogue ................................... 56 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable Matt Salmon, a Representative in Congress from the State of Arizona, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere: Pre- pared statement ................................................................................................... 4 The Honorable William R. Brownfield: Prepared statement ............................... 12 Ms. Liliana Ayalde: Prepared statement ............................................................... 21 Mr. Mark Lopes: Prepared statement .................................................................... 32 Mr. Eric L. Olson: Prepared statement ................................................................. 50 Mr. Michael Shifter: Prepared statement .............................................................. 58 APPENDIX Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 70 Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 71 The Honorable Albio Sires, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey: Prepared statement .................................................................... 72 The Honorable Gregory W. Meeks, a Representative in Congress from the State of New York: Prepared statement ............................................................ 73 Written responses from the Honorable William R. Brownfield, Ms. Liliana Ayalde, and Mr. Mark Lopes to questions submitted for the record by the Honorable Matt Salmon ................................................................................ 75 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 13:44 Nov 06, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_WH\061913\81568 HFA PsN: SHIRL VerDate 0ct 09 2002 13:44 Nov 06, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\_WH\061913\81568 HFA PsN: SHIRL REGIONAL SECURITY COOPERATION: AN EXAMINATION OF THE CENTRAL AMERICAN REGIONAL SECURITY INITIATIVE (CARSI) AND THE CARIBBEAN BASIN SECURITY INITIATIVE (CBSI) WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2013 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:52 p.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Matt Salmon (chair- man of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. SALMON. I would like to call this committee meeting to order. I would like to start by recognizing myself for a brief opening state- ment. I know we have kept everybody waiting for a long, long time. So I apologize. Work here at the House from time to time is that they call votes on the floor. And that is audacious, isn’t it, that they would expect that we would have to vote? But anyway, I be- lieve some of the other committee members were planning on being here and will be here soon. I would like to welcome everybody here today to the second of our two-part series of hearings on regional security. As you may re- call, a few weeks ago, we focused on the Merida Initiative and the direction in which our security cooperation with the world’s highest homicide rates, replacing Ciudad Juarez last year as the world’s most violent city. Poverty, crime, public corruption and a legacy of violence in the region have created a perfect storm that critically hampers economic growth and opportunity, luring youth into a seemingly endless cycle of crime and drug trafficking. This week we are going to delve into the security situation in Central America and the Caribbean Basin and examine programs we have undertaken in the region to deal with combating drug traf- ficking organizations to help the nations of both regions combat vi- olence and criminality. The security situation in most countries of Central America and the Caribbean remains critical. Gangs and or- ganized criminals continue to operate with impunity. Prisons are substandard, overcrowded. Corruption remains endemic. And the justice and law enforcement sector simply lack capacity. Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, known as the northern triangle, suffer from excessive violence. San Pedro Sula in Hon- duras has the world’s highest homicide rates. And interdiction (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 13:44 Nov 06, 2013 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_WH\061913\81568 HFA PsN: SHIRL 2 alone has proven insufficient in dealing with serious problems that plague the region. Through CARSI and CBSI, the United States has led the effort in assisting the region to address the underlying causes of what seems like a regional point of no return. State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, INL, and USAID have put together a set of programs designed to help the region’s law enforcement agencies contend with the creep- ing presence of the Zetas and Sinaloa cartels, while enabling mu- nicipal and Federal police forces to acquire the appropriate tools necessary to minimize corruption and human rights violations. In addition, U.S. personnel have worked diligently with regional part- ners in an effort to bring effective and sustainable justice sector re- forms to the region, while USAID has worked with local and re- gional nongovernmental organizations to enable communities to partner with the private sector, to take the citizen security and prevention bull by the horns, so to speak. I don’t doubt that our efforts are earnest, but I am looking for- ward to hearing from both panelists today whether those efforts have yielded measurable success and if the political will exists within Central American and Caribbean governments to press with real results. The horrifying statistics from the region underscore that our efforts are needed, but we are only making a dent in the problem at this point. We need dedicated and strong willed part- ners if we are to make progress. And progress cannot be made without a series of unwavering commitments to transparency, human rights, and grit from the governments of the region. As chairman of the subcommittee, I maintain