NEW YORK U.S. foreign policy after 9/11 has
dramatically shifted its focus toward the Middle East,
leaving Central and South America in the cold. Within the
past several months, there have been several alarming
developments in Central America that suggest the opening
of a new front in the struggle against global terrorism.
And while the Bush administration has not paid sufficient
attention to these issues, recent events offer some hope
of an important shift. On his way to the Defense
Ministerial Conference in Quito, Ecuador, last week,
Donald Rumsfeld held talks with the presidents of
Nicaragua, Panama and El Salvador to promote regional
cooperation to combat all "the enemies of civil order
in the world."
Central America is plagued by ineffective border security,
weak infrastructure, half-hearted efforts at regional
cooperation, widespread poverty and rising crime rates.
For many years, the porous borders of Belize, Costa Rica,
El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras
have turned the region into a major transit zone of
narcotics and human trafficking between South America and
the United States. And now, Al Qaeda may be recognizing
opportunities there.
.
During the summer, Adnan Shukrijumah, a Saudi Qaeda
operative also known as the "next Mohammed Atta"
and listed as one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists, was
spotted in an Internet cafe in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez fears Shukrijumah
has been involved in plots to disrupt shipping lanes by
using explosives to damage the Panama Canal.
.
In another troubling Mideast connection, Ashref Ahmed
Abdallah, an Egyptian national, was arrested by U.S.
authorities at Miami International Airport in July for
smuggling illegal aliens from the Middle East into the
United States. Central America is a staging ground for his
operation.
.
And if international terrorism succeeds in gaining
influence in drug circles, its rewards could be
staggering. Shortly before 9/11, the U.S. Coast Guard
intercepted a Belize fishing vessel carrying 26,400 pounds
of cocaine, worth $600 million.
.
A sure way to fight the threat of terror from this
direction is to address the region's more conventional
crime, since both thrive under the same conditions.
Foreign criminals of all stripes can easily extend their
illegal operations because the region's local law
enforcement is ineffective, and at times, corrupt and
susceptible to bribery. National governments are ill
equipped to manage the enforcement workload.
.
Prominent Central Americans suggest that the creation of
an integrated economic zone would help resolve the drug
and crime problems. With free trade, governments are
forced to improve border and port security to safeguard
commerce. Civil society and multinational corporations
would be more likely to collaborate as pressure groups on
security reform.
.
The Central American Free Trade Agreement, signed this
May, could be a catalyst for change. Central Americans see
the pact as an opportunity to accelerate economic and
political reform and to forge a stronger relationship with
the United States. But in order to fully reap the benefits
of free trade, Cafta members should formulate a coherent
policy on port and border security; after all, this is
where import and export begins.
.
Largely because of deficiencies that are typically
nourished by impoverished societies, local law enforcement
in Central America is an unreliable force to guard the
region's borders. The creation of a regional integrated
border patrol supported by all government agencies and
economic partners of Cafta is an investment that woull
benefit Central America and the United States in the long
run.
.
Without further attention in this arena by the United
States and its Latin American neighbors, Adnan Shukrijumah
and his colleagues will gain unfettered use of this
region. In only a matter of time, Central America can be
the conduit for more terrorist activities in the North. A
divided Central America, with ineffective border controls
looms like a potential Afghanistan, a short flight or a
day's drive from America's own porous frontier. Let us
hope that Rumsfeld's trip signals a new focus on America's
southern flank.
.
(Michele Miranda is an associate at the EastWest
Institute, and Mark R. Shulman is the director of graduate
programs at Pace University School of Law.)
