Political | Process

Companies and nonprofit organizations, including Gap, Visa, Coatl, and AgroAmerica, were among the newest batch of government partners.

“These, we think, are pretty sizable direct investments in economies the size of the three countries in question, and they will be responsible for creating tens of thousands of jobs,” a senior administration official said in a call with reporters Monday evening.

Clothing company Gap will increase its sourcing of materials from Central America to $50 million per year with an intention to surpass $150 million by 2025, according to a White House statement.

It estimated that 5,000 additional jobs will be created in the region. Financial service company Visa will pour in $270 million over the next five years toward bringing people and small- and medium-sized businesses into the global financial system.

Family-owned sustainable food corporation AgroAmerica will invest $100 million across six projects that will create 1,000 permanent, living-wage jobs over the next five years.

Projects include a food ingredients refinery, banana plantation, and an avocado plantation and processing plant. Digital service firm Coatl will expand access to high-speed internet in rural parts of El Salvador.

President Joe Biden pledged to interrupt the migration crisis by addressing the root causes that have led millions to flee Central America for the southern border in recent years.

As a presidential candidate, Biden said that rather than focus on measures to stop migrants at the border, he would resolve the factors that prompt people in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to abandon their home countries namely, widespread poverty and the threat of violent crime. The three countries sit at the northern end of Central America, directly south of Mexico.

In early 2021, the White House announced $310 million in aid to Central America and the appointment of Harris as the leader of diplomatic talks with regional leaders. It also released its “Strategies to Address the Root Causes of Migration in Central America.”

The document laid out, in general terms, plans for improving business conditions, addressing corruption within governments, bolstering human rights, countering gangs and cartels, and combating domestic violence.