An Examination of the United States' CARSI Policy

There is no question that the economies of the United States of America and the countries of Central and South America are profoundly interconnected. The implications of this economic relationship are multifaceted and the correlations are not always obvious. However, in the case of citizen security in Central America it is clear that the present issues can be traced to the interconnected economies of the United States and Latin America. Located between the drug producing countries in South America and the drug consuming United States of America and Canada, Central America is rife with drug trafficking along with gang related criminal activity and government corruption.

There have been multiple attempts over the past couple of decades to address the security issues in Central America, but none have yielded any positive results. In fact, drug production has only increased over the past twenty years (General Accounting Office, 1994). In response to the failed attempts, the United States developed the Mérida Initiative in 2007 to drastically progress the standard of living for Mexican and Central American citizens. From the Mérida Initiative the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) branched out to allocate funds and focus attention on the Central American region. Although CARSI has experienced some success in improving security conditions in Central America, there is still much to accomplish before citizens of Central America can feel secure.

Background Security Policy

Prior to the Mérida Initiative, most efforts towards improving security conditions in Central America focused on the prohibition of narcotics. Operation Cadence was put in place in 1991 to intercede drug shipments from Columbia travelling through Central America. The United States sent trained officials from the DEA and DOD to operate the interdiction efforts. Although approximately 29