09/22/21 09/22/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> to a don't support for the lifting of the illegal financial blockade imposed by the united states against cuba, which has been intensified to liberally and opportunistically during pandemic conditions, despite been condemned for decades by the overwhelming majority of the international community.

amy: the cuban government is denouncing the united states for intensifying its economic blockade while the island nation is facing a surge in covid cases and deaths. we will speak to the head of -- we will speak to a guest about the embargo, the pandemic and calls for a new regional bloc in latin america to counter u.s. influence. then we go to central america to look at how a drug-trafficking mayor in honduras fueled the u.s. migration crisis. and we will speak to a mother in texas who is suing republican governor greg abbott over his executive order banning face mask mandates in schools. >> this s become so politicized and in my opinion, the very simplest thing that we should all be able to agree , which is the heah and educatioof children and no parent should have to choose between the two. amy: all that and more, coming

up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in new york, heads of states addressed the united nations general assembly tuesday as u.n. secretary general antonio guterres warned "we are on the edge of an abyss" as the world faces the mounting crises of the pandemic, inequality, conflict, and the climate catastrophe. at his general assembly debut, president biden called for unity and diplomacy. the critics say his administration's rhetoric are stirring up a new cold war china. biden also address the climate crisis. pres. biden: scientists and experts are telling us we are fast approaching a point of no return in the literal sense. to keep within our reach, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius, every

nation needs to bring their highest possible ambitions to the table when we meet in glasgow for cop 26. amy: president biden pledged to ws aid to poor countries bearing the brunt of the climate crisis but activists i his promises are far too meager considering the u.s. historically the world worst polluter. other climate prejudice, -- pledges, chinese president xi jinping announced china would stop funding new coal-fired power plants overseas and would help developing low-carbon energy sources in poorer nations. south korean president moon jae-in called for a declaration to end the korean war peace, and for talks to resume with south korea. peru's recently elected president pedro castillo said he came as a representative of the poor and the marginalized and called for vaccine equity to overcome the pandemic. >> on behalf of peru, i want to

propose the signing of a global agreement between heads of state to guarantee universal access to vaccines for all people in the planet with no discrimination on the basis of privilege. amy: iran's new leader ebrahim raisi said nuclear talks should lead to the lifting of brutal u.s. sanctions on the country. >> sanctions and especially sanctions on medicine at the time of cover 19 pandemic are crimes against humanity. amy: meanwhile, brazil's health minister has tested positive for covid-19, just hours after he accompanied president jair bolsonaro, who is unvaccinated, to the general assembly. house democrats passed a bill tuesday evening to avert a government shutdown and suspend the debt limit. but with less than two weeks before a september 30 deadline to keep funding the government, senate republicans have said they will not support a suspension of the debt ceiling, meaning critical funding for

health, housing, education, and other programs could be interrupted and some federal workers could stop receiving pay checks. the bill also funds emergency recovery assistance for recent climate disasters and for resettling afghan evacuees. -- refugees. under pressure from progressive lawmakers, democrats removed $1 billion in israeli military funding from the stopgap bill, though democratic leaders said funding for the iron dome missile defense system would still be passed separately at a later date. in other news from washington, d.c., commerce member -- congressmember cori bush and senator elizabeth warren have introduced legislation that would reinstate the federal pandemic eviction moratorium and give the health and human services department permanent authority to enact an eviction ban during public health crises. the bill was unveiled at an anti-eviction rally tuesday outside congress, led by people who have been evicted or are facing eviction. this is vivian smith, a leader

with the miami workers center. >> i have been forced to choose between food, rent too many times. making choices between our health or our homes. amy: johnson & johnson said tuesday an additional dose of its covid-19 vaccine boosted its efficacy to 94% in mild to severe infections, up from 74% for just one shot. the j&j shot also has longer lasting efficacy than the mrna vaccines authorized in the u.s. according to a recent study. j&j says their data still needs to be reviewed by the fda before any recommendations can be made about a second dose. meanwhile, the world health organization once again warned against wealthy nations offering booster shots for the general

population with so many countries still lacking basic access to the vaccine. elsewhere, the northern chinese city of harbin has ordered recreational facilities and religious venues to shut down million. the move is part of china's zero tolerance approach to stamping out new outbreaks of the virus. mexican authorities have started violently apprehending and rounding up haitian asylum seekers who left a makeshift and unsafe encampment in del rio, texas, to return to mexico. it's believed the asylum seekers may be sent to a massive immigrant detention camp in southern mexico. meanwhile, the biden administration continues its mass deportation of haitian asylum seekers, expelling

hundreds of them since sunday without due process under the trump-era title 42 policy. back in washington, d.c., immigrant communities, advocates and allies took to the streets to demand the government provide a pathway to citizenship for millions of people and pass legislation protecting workers and combating the climate crisis. the march came two days after the senate parliamentarian ruled democrats could not include a pathway to citizenship as part of its reconciliation package. >> millions of immigrants work to provide a better future for our families. essential to the country's economy. yet we are still forced to live in the shadows. we are tired of living in fear of being separated from our loved ones. the path to citizenship would change my life and would change the lives of many of us here today protesting. amy: senate majority leader chuck schumer and minnesota congressmember ilhan omar also addressed the crowd at the event the bodies of at least eight refugees, including one child, have washed up on the shore of spain's mediterranean coast between sunday and tuesday morning. local authorities say the refugees likely came from one or

more boats that capsized after setting off on a dangerous journey from morocco or algeria. the u.n. says at least 238 refugees fleeing extreme poverty, displacement, and violence have died this year as they attempt to reach spain for safety, though local rights groups estimate the number to be far higher. in more news from spain, about 6000 people have been evacuated from the island of la palma, one of the canary islands, as the cumbre vieja volcano continues to erupt. today va poured om the volcano for a foth straigh day since sunday, bearing homes in the path. scientists warmed the corruption could last up to three months. experts said if lava reaches the sea, it could trigger more explosions and clouds of tox gases. in other news from texas, officials have enacted yet a new law restricting reproductive rights by barring doctors from providing medication to induce a medical abortion after only seven weeks of pregnancy. anyone who violates the law faces a state felony offense, up to two years in jail, and a fine

of up to $10,000. naral pro-choice america said -- "anti-choice politicians have made their intentions abundantly clear, and they will stop at nothing to strip away reproductive freedom." senator bernie sanders joined healthcare advocates at a protest outside the headquarters of pharmaceutical research and manufacturers of america, one of big pharma's top lobbying groups, demanding an end to the for-profit drug industry and for drug corporations to stop meddling in congress. this is senator sanders. >> while the pharmaceutical industry charges as hired prices in the world, one out of four americans cannot afford the medicine they need, what we're seeing is every year the drug companies are making outrageous profits and are paying their executives --

amy: house democrats unveiled the protecting our democracy act tuesday, which they said would help rein in presidential powers and abuses of power following the trump administration. the legislation would impose new restrictions on presidential pardons, protect watchdogs and inspectors general from firings or other retaliation, make it more difficult for presidents to refuse congressional subpoenas, to circumvent congressional appropriations, and to make profits from the office of the presidency. "the new york times" reports donald trump's reelection campaign was aware that claims by trump lawyers that 2020 voting machines were rigged were unfounded. just days after the campaign determined the voting fraud conspiracies had no merit, sidney powell and rudolph giuliani held a press conference where they continued to level the false claims. meanwhile, the new book by "washington post" journalists bob woodward and robert costa says a lawyer on trump's legal team tried to convince then-vice president mike pence that he could overturn trump's election loss by throwing out electors from seven states.

and caribbean political philosopher charles mills died at the age of 70. a longtime educator, mills was most recently distinguished professor of philosophy at the city university of new york. his landmark book "the racial contract" challenged the de-racialized framework of the "social contract." mills wrote -- "white supremacy is the unnamed political system that has made the modern world what it is today." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, cuba is denouncing the united states for intensifying its economic lactate while the island is facing a surge in covid cases and deaths. we will speak to a leading cuban diplomat about the embargo, the pandemic, the pandemic, calls for a new regional bloc in latin america to counter u.s. influence. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york,

joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: as president biden called global aders at the united nation's yesterday to work together on combating the climate crisis and the covid pandemic, mexican president andrés manuel lopez obrador is pushing latin american and caribbean nations to form a new european union-style bloc to counter u.s. influence across the hemisphere. amlo made the call during a meeting of the community of latin american and caribbean states in mexico city attended by regional leaders including the presidents of cuba and venezuela. he criticized the outsized influence the u.s. has on the organization of american states and denounced the u.s. embargo of cuba. >> it is time to end the lethargy and establish a vigorous relationship between

the people of america. it seems to me it is time to replace the policy of blockade and mistreatment with the option of respecting each other, walking together, and associating g ourselves for the good of america without violating our sovereignty. amy: the regional meeting, cuban at the regional meeting, cuban president miguel diaz-canel criticized the united states for intensifying its blockade at a time when cuba is facing a surge in covid cases and deaths. >> to acknowledge support for the lifting of the illegal economic commercial and financial blockade imposed by the united states against cuba, which has been intensified deliberately and opportunistically during pandemic conditions, despite being condemned for decades the overwhelming majority of the international community. amy: regional meeting comes as the cuba is playing a growing role in combating the covid pandemic globally. just this week, vietnam signed a deal to buy 10 million doses of

a cuban-made vaccine. cuba is also at the forefront globally of vaccinating children. cuba recently began vaccinating children as young as two years old. we are joined now by carlos fernández de cossío, director general for u.s. affairs in the cuban ministry of foreign affairs. he is the former cuban ambassador to south africa and also to canada. he is in new york for the united nations general assembly. welcome to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. let's talk about what your island is experiencing right now. it is the worst covid surge you have experienced to date. it still does not compare to the united states, which is a about 490 deaths per does well, 490 deaths in the population of yours at 1500. can you talk about what is happening in your island?

it is about three times better if all cases are being reported of deaths in the united states. >> we coked quite well in 2020 with the pandemic. our figures were very, very low thanks to the robust public health system in the country that was able to prevent -- preventative measures to cope with the pandemic. but beginning in the first quarter with the introduction of the delta virus, it started to have a surge. it has plateaued since july. there is no way for us to deal with it without vaccinating the population in order to get herd immunity that one needs to be confronting this most of the fact we were able to develop our own vaccines -- we have four at this moment which are being applied -- has allowed us to apply limited in the amount of

contagious infections. we have begun to reduce the amount of daily deaths. we believe we should be out of the problem by the end of the year. our plan is to end with november with practically the whole pie relation vaccinated. amy: want to clarify, in the u.s. around one in 490 people have died of covid and in cuba it is around one in 1500. juan: ambassador, what has been strategy or approach of cuba for the vaccines compared to what has been happening in the industrialized west? what advice would you have come your country have to those countries and to the companies like pfizer, moderna, and j&j, which are resisting technology transfers to make the vaccine as available as possible? >> our approach was to begin to

find a vaccine very early. in march 2020 when we still did not have anyone impacted in cuba, our president led an effort to try to produce vaccines. even during the month -- several months in 2020 when it seemed we were able to control it just by the public health system, he insisted we needed to do it because this virus could replicate. it could change. we could have other pandemics and we needed to try to make an effort to develop. that is why we have four vaccines. one of our aims -- the reason why we can be able to vaccinate children as young as two years old is that from the very beginning, we needed a vaccine that can be applied to children because of the important role in the dissemination of viruses and the fact we needed to protect the whole population. now we think the international effort should be to share. that this is not an issue for the great transnational corporations or big

transnational corporations to profit and a fine there's a great distance opportunity here. we are facing a huge problem. it does not go away easily unless there is a concerted effort of solidarity for all to be vaccinated or it will be a big problem for a long time. juan: could you talk about the impact on the island of your public health efforts? for instance, what is been the situation with public schools? have you been able to keep the schools open? and since cuba depends a lot on tourism, what is been economic impact of so many countries shutting down travel? >> the impact has been huge. i should begin by saying we were forced as part of the measures we took early on in 2020 two close schools and close businesses and reduce the amount of people to people contact in the country as a way to prevent

the circulation of the virus. to this day, schools have been -- children are not attending schools. universities are not open. we've been using the television system to continue education so children can be continuing in school. universities have had to find ways of doing education and classes at a distance so it does not shutdown. to this moment, we have not been able to go back as a presence to school. we plan to be able to do some between the end of the year, perhaps in october or end of november, depending on the figures and the facts as they come up. but we are sure it is the central to avoid contact -- essential to avoid contact. juan: in terms of tourism? >> outcome another point. thank you. we have to shut the entrance of

the country and that is had a main impact on our country. we've had to cope with the pandemic, with having to shut -- spending huge amounts of money. if you had with fact the u.s. government chose to see in the covid pandemic and ally in the regression against cuba, it has been a huge problem for us to cope with the -- to give you 90 a, it is prohibited by law in the u.s. to export oxygen to cuba or export medicine. you could get a license after a very troublesome negotiation with companies that would be ready to run the risk of doing business with cuba, but in practical terms, it is prohibited to import medicines, raw materials, oxygen, equipment from the u.s. to be able to face a huge problem like this or to buy those equipments or

medicines anywhere in the world if it has up to 10% of u.s. technology, parts, or items of origin. amy: i wanted to ask about another health issue. the house of representatives yesterday unanimously passed a bill authorizing additional support for u.s. officials who were injured in a series of mysterious episodes that caused traumatic brain injuries. it is called havana syndrome because that is where it was first identified. but it has gone far beyond that. you have u.s. diplomats and cia officers who have been injured in europe and central asian, including two possible episodes in the united states. the cuban government has been cooperating with the u.s. government in looking for what is the cause of this. tony blinken, secretary of state, just had a meeting with infuriated television -- intelligence officials were

sickened by this. perhaps unfairly called havana syndrome. what are your thoughts on it? >> you mention cuba has been cooperating with the u.s. government. i would think their correct term would be we have been trying to cooperate with u.s. government. there hasn't been much effort or welcoming from u.s. government from the very beginning. over three years have gone by. the u.s. government has no answer to explain what has happened. many of the theories that have been put out there, sometimes under a scientific banner, are having been highly questioned by scientific communities across the world. some of them simply cannot overcome the challenge or physics or known signs like having ultrasound or weapons that can damage one person, which is the same as another, without having any physical or visible effect. recently, a group of elite

scientists from cuba published an article trying to defeat many of the theories that have gone through. in the past four years come as government has not been able to come up with an answer -- one of those mysteries that remain unsolved. they are politically manipulative. the use of the term "havana syndrome" is deliberate. it has a lot of weight to try to single out cuba as a place that is unsafe or american officials, which is totally untrue. there have been many inconsistencies in what u.s. government has said and yet it is not put to a challenge. juan: ambassador, in terms of the policies of the biden administration toward cuba, one of the most little remarked results of the u.s. census not only the increase of the latino population in the u.s., but the

enormous increase in nezuelan population, about 126% increase in the number of venezuelans in the u.s. in the last 10 years -- do you have a sense this new -- of course, this has not gotten as much attention as the central american increase in population, but do you have a since the biden administration is still kowtowing to not only the remnants of e old rit-wing cuban population in the united states, but also now this growing venezuelan population? >> the biden administration policy toward cuba today has been the trump administration policy toward cuba. there is no change whatsoever. the government said it was going to revise -- it separates itself from -- the impression of separating from the trump approach but at the same time, applying faithfully the same policy that trump designed

against cuba. it is a policy that does not reflect the points of view, majority of americans. it is not reflect the point of view of the majority cuban-americans. i cannot speak about what venezuelans who live in the united states believe. but what most people tell us -- again, this is what we are told, there's a lot of political calculation. no you was strategic priority being met by the lessee toward cuba. it is purely crude politics related to southern florida. this is what we are being told. amy: u.n. on tuesday at the u.n. , president biden referenced cuba during his address to the general assembly. pres. biden: the truth is, the democratic world is everywhere. it lives in anticorruption activists, human rights defenders, journalists, the

piece protesters, on the front lines in burma, syria, cuba, venezuela, and everywhere in between. amy: can you respond, carlos fernández de cossío, to what he is referencing and also the mass protests that are throughout the island, throughout cuba and the criticism, the response of the cuban government to arrest so many? >> that is one question for a long answer. he forgot to mention the u.s. in that list he used at the u.n. where there are problems of democracy, people are asking for the rights, depending different legitimate concerns. he forgot to mention the united states. in many of its allies in that list. on july 11 and cuba, not during the month, on that date specifically on july 11, there

were groups of people who demonstrated in cuba. you cannot say it was massive. it was in 11 communities in cuba. there was a mixture of people who were peacefully expressing their frustration of a difficult situation in cuba, a combination of the pandemic, economic hardships -- which included electrical power cuts, problems of the availability of food stuffs, increasing prices from areas, which are typical of the economic crisis through which cuba is going on today and is not unique to cuba. what is unique is a lot of it is made by the u.s. government -- not all, but much. that occurred in cuba. you have a combination of that with people that wanted to violently act against the government. over 40 commercial entities in cuba were vandalized with windows broken, things stolen. people suffered aggression from

some of the demonstrators, not the great majority of them, but some of the demonstrators. so people have been called to attention, some have been prosecuted. some will be doing time in prison. many have been fine. it is a process that occurs in many countries. that has been the subject of a comprehensive and massive propaganda campaign against cuba. first to allege that cuba was weeks or months undergoing massive rallies and protests, which is not true. second, there were people disappeared in cuba, which is not true. thirdly, we were incarcerating minors. not true. fourth, we were torturing people. not true. if you look at the seams that were put on television, there were many trying to exaggerate what happened in cuba. the legitimate use of police force. it is very mild compared to the typical use of police force you see in cities in the united

states, in cities across europe, across latin america in many countries. if you do an objective comparison, not under the impression of what the media is trying to portray, there were pictures in may media organizations of egypt, planus areas, trying to portray tt massive rallies in cuba. the greatest amount of people out on the streets on july 11 were people without the support of the revolution. you will -- you won't find that in the ms media. they were not the first was to come out but the majority of those that came out were in support of the government. amy: interestingly, fox got caught using pro-government b protesters asroll as antigovernment protesters but blurring out their signs. >> it was not only fox. juan: ambassador, i would ask

about the recent announcement by mexican president lopez obrador: for a new regional bloc in latin america. clearly, this has been attempted in the past, president hugo chavez attempted to develop regional blocks as well. do you see any prospect for success this time around? >> we will have to see. it is evident it is an outdated organization, created by the u.s. in 1948 at the height of the cold war. it is an organization that is tainted, has a very bad legacy in support of coup d'états and support of some of the most repressive regimes, including those that have assassinated thousands of people. a foreign policy of the monroe doctrine of domination of the

western hemisphere. in 2011, the countries of latin america and the caribbean, 33 nations, for the first time a region that is independent in the 19th century, for the first time came up with an organization that represents exclusively countries of latin america and the caribbean and inclusively -- i say all the nations, without exclusion whatsoever. it is an organization that belongs to us and truly represents our region, is a difference to the oas which is an organization to which cuba does not belong, but that includes canada and the u.s. and an area where countries of latin america and caribbean -- the call by the president of mexico is an expression of a feeling that exists in the region, that is shared by most of the region. but it depends on the popularity

of the government, with people in each of the nations requests from the government. we hope in the future, our region will continue to consolidate an organization that represents us as a whole and gives us an idea without any foreign interference. amy: i wanted to ask you about the shocking images we have seen from del rio, texas, where border patrol on horseback have been filmed chasing, grabbing, whipping a haitian asylum seekers. i border agent was heard screaming obscenities, including at children, as they attempted to return to makeshift camp where thousands have been staying underneath a bridge for days. i'm wondering if you can comment on the situation. he talked about the biden administration not changing policy toward cuba from trump come even though biden was the

vice president for obama who was starting to normalize relations with cuba. you also have the same situation on the border where the biden administration is continuing the trump-era policies. in fact, surpassing when it comes to deportations and expulsions of refugees and asylum seekers. then you have mexico cracking down on these haitian asylum seekers as they return from the 15,000 crowds under the del rio bridge. and yet our department of homeland security had mayorkas who is a cuban-american. your thoughts? >> the images are impressive. they are dramatic. there is an expression of the way migrants are treated on the border. on many occasions, double standard of u.s. policies that uses migrants -- because the u.s. economy needs them -- and at the same time, is very repressive on the border. the biden government has

expressed on several occasions, even though the white house does not see much of a practical impact, that migration is not an issue of just people wanting to choose to go to the u.s. their social, economic, sometimes political conditions that urge people, move people to migrate to the u.s. that if development is not really trickle down under to will continue creeping north -- under development will continue creeping north. much of that is what is happening with latin america. with a case of haiti, one has to understand there is a historical trajectory of racism against haiti. the western world has always been unforgiving for the only slave insurrection of africans in the world. and the only one successful that was able to get a government in region. there has always been that kind of prejudice against haiti,

which is something that is unacceptable. these images, to some extent, a show of that. we understand migration is a huge issue for the u.s. in the case of cuba, we have agreements in place from decades ago and the trump administration chose not to comply with them and the biden administration has continued the same approach, not to comply with very migratory agreements we have between the two countries. specifically to avoid the kind of crisis in the case of cuba that you are seeing today in the border of mexico and on occasion in the florida street. those are important agreements. we stand by them. but for them to be able to fulfill the role, there has to be two countries, both complying with what has been agreed upon. amy: thank you for being with us. last answer, 10 seconds, bite holding a major covid somebody i alongside the united nations

general assembly. is cuba represented and what are your demands of this summit? >> we would demand for the u.s. government to leave us in peace and not have covid as an ally and an instrument of aggression against cuba, making life difficult and making it difficult for cuba to cope with the pandemic. amy: carlos fernández de cossío, director general for u.s. affairs in the cuban ministry of foreign affairs. former cuban ambassador to south africa and canada. thank you so much for being with us. this is democracy now! when we come back, we talk about honduras and how a drug trafficking honduran mayor led to the great migration from honduras. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. honduran president is in new

york today where he is scheduled to address the u.n. general sibley, less than six month after federal court in new york sentenced his brother tony to life in prison for drug trafficking. u.s. prosecutors look at the hundred president as a co-conspirator in the -- state-sponsored trafficking. we turn to a new special report looking at corruption in the drug trade titled "how a drug trafficking mayor in honduras fueled the u.s. crisis." we are joined by laura gottesdiener who wrote the piece, former democracy now! producer, joining us from monterey, new mexico -- mexico. and we are joined by adriana beltrán is the executive director of the seattle international foundation. laura, lay out what you found. >> thank you for having me.

we spent about the last six months looking into some of the effects of essentially one small municipality along the border with guatemala in western honduras. we were interested in taking a look at the specific area because it is one of the places where number of the different factors appear to be pushing forced displacement from honduras were embodied in this former mayor and confessed to drug trafficker who ruled athe elected mayor. he did not confess to buying goods and caring out front in the election, but he ruled as the elected mayor for eight years from 2006-2014. according to his testimony and part of the ongoing drug trial

against a number of now confessed drug traffickers from honduras. he has very close ties to the ruling national party. he has confessed to both -- both presidents have denied it but he has confessed to donating millions of dollars to the election campaigns about the current hundred president hernandez as well as the former president logo. according to his testimony, he was the link between or help facilitate the link between el chapo guzman, the convicted mexican drug trafficker, and highest echelons of honduras honduras the national party in facilitating a million-dollar payment for hernandez's campaign. if you step back, no one disputes the drug trafficker is

the mayor of your town that that is a bad thing, but what we really wanted to say is how and is this linked to migration out of this region and out of honduras more broadly if we understand this is a phenomenon replicated in various parts of honduras? we wanted to look at essentially how did the fact that this mayor alexander ardón transformed this into one of the principal drug trafficking corridors, how does it affect you if you had nothing to do with the drug trade and you just wanted to keep living in what was always a neglected -- neglected by the government -- a poor region of the country? what we found is his time in office, his eight years serving as mayor as well as the many

more years it was a major trafficker in western honduras, fundamentally shifted the job prospects come the land ownership in the area. what we found is this was an area a rural area, primarily people engaged in farming as well as the coffee industry. what we found is this mayor, and this is a phenomenon many have looked into and seen is replicated across parts of latin america, he and his associates essentially bought up large swaths of land that had previously been dedicated to the coffee crop, raised those essentially -- destroyed those farms and turned it into cattle raising areas because cattle is essentially requires large pastureland that allows one to abate hasslefree corridor --

hasslefree corridor for cocaine trafficking. the area fell as well as the surrounding municipalities. the number of jobs available to day laborers fell dramatically. according to han rights experts and many migrants that we attribute both in the medicine polity as well as people traveling through mexico and those living in the u.s. that fueled their need to migrate because their source of income had dried up. juan: what is essentially revealing about your article is this connection to what is happening not only in terms of insecurity and drug trafficking for the populations, but also of the loss of jobs. i mentioned earlier in the show

the census bureau report showed there were 129% -- 126 percent increase in the venezuela population. of the setting -- the second greatest increase over the last 10 years has been in the number of hondurans and guatemalans. over a million hundreds now in the united states, over a million guatemalans now in the united states. and so much of this ha been in the last 10 years after the coup that occurred in honduras in 2009. most americans don't seem to make the connection between what happened there and why so many hondurans are appearing at the border. your thoughts -- you interviewed one family. can you talk about them as well? >> i think it is incredibly important to see this period of honduran migration, which is

distinct from other migrations from central america, from guatemala for example, because we are releasing the majority of the people who are now living in the united states coming the last 10 years. for example, this year owning to cbp data, approximately 250,000 hundreds attempted to enter the u.s., similar figures for 2019. so we are saying a dramatic increase of people -- seeing a dramatic increase of people from when i speak to them in mexico, major city in one of the many different routes migrants take through mexico, but people really describe feeling their life has become unlivable in honduras. that is certainly the case for many members of family i met in monterey.

he was reaching the texas border and stopped in monterey for a short period of time. as we talked and conducted an interview outside the shelter, he described having left home at 13. he is now 24. so over 10 is ago. because his family -- his father had been killed under circumstances that were never resolved just before -- the drug trade was already increasing. as the oldest son come even though he was quite young at the time, sparked a lot of fear for his mother and for him about the possibility of increased sort of threads to his life. his family, like other families in rur areas, fit led to major cities. his mother was working as a woman who washed clothes.

incredible -- incredible amount of insecurity, violence, low wages for internal migrants, people who have fled the countryside. he came back. in the year she found the town had been transformed and other members of her family, all of whom are not landless. they have been incredibly small plot of land but not enough to make subsistence farming reality to live on. all of this was -- all of them worked in the coffee crop. as the jobs evaporated -- and it is worth saying these were never high-paying jobs but they made a living off of it. one after another member of the family, including many as teenagers, tried to come to the united states. some now successfully live in the united states according to family members. one father and his one-year-old child disappeared along this

very dangerous migration route. others have been expelled back into mexico or deported back to honduras. it is really the story about family that over the coue of 10, 15 years has found what was already a poor area to become an unlivable area in their assessment and has really fueled forced displacement as they see it. other members of the family told me they had never intended to leave where they are from. amy: i want to bring adriana beltrán into the conversation, executive director director of the seattle international foundation. hernandez, his brother is in prison for life in the u.s., he himself was named as a co-conspirator and the president of honduras. you have juan asking

hillary clinton about the u.s. support for the coup in honduras at deposed the democratically elected celaya and brought in these governments. talk about that history. >> first of all, i want to congratulate laura for her brilliant piece stop i think it describes and illustrates, brings attention, clearly, to the nexus between politics and organized crime in honduras as a problem across the region. as you say, amy, to a large extent, the crisis you continue to see in honduras has its roots in the coup. in -- and hundreds has been struggling to fight corruption

and crime. and what you had after the coup, while the u.s. did -- it was quick to reinstate assistance and a time when you also with the u.s. failed drug policy, yet a shift in route to central america, oanized crime took advantage of the fact the government stopped functioning after the coup, particularly in rural areas where the country -- the government itself had very little present. and that prompted very quickly re-engagement at the u.s. fueled significant amount of anti-drug aid that went to these corrupt governments. as a result, you had rising crime over the years, a rise in corruption that has continued to debilitate the system. today i would say honduras does

she have a cup to craddick government where corruption is the operating system of honduras. that has had implications for the government not being able to address the many needs of the population from security, education, health, addressing terminal disasters. in a country that as you know has extremely high rates of poverty, particularly in the rural area. juan: the biden administration has earmarked $4 billion supposedly to combat the root causes of migration from central amera. in view of all this corruption that exists -- people don't realize that 4 billion dollars in central america is a lot of money. the entire budget of the national government of honduras in 2020 was $3.5 billion. do you have fears given the corrupt state of so many of

these governments that this money will be stolen rather than actually used for its intended purpose? >> great question. in lawrence please, in satellite. -- in laura's peace, a satellite. governments have continued to be the main impediment to economic growth insecurity. until we address these issues, we are not going to see much reform, needed reforms in the areas of education, health, economic development, security. the biden administration from that? has said they want to prioritize governance and tackling corruption. they launched a strategy which illustrates this, but again, the devil is in the details.

as you say, this includes learning from the past and ensuring that if we are going to invest in the region that we look at the long term. in the past, the u.s. has tended to focus on central america whenever there's a crisis and shipped attention elsewhere, and that does not really allow us to help those that are pushing for reforms in these countries, really address the root causes of corruption, of the governance , of high rates of insecurity and crime. that includes also picking the right partners. this goes to your question. there is a lot of concern in congress here about the epidemic levels of corruption that you see that continued backsliding of advances that have en made in tackling corruption across

the region and trying to ensure that does not and up in the pockets of corrupt officials. ere has been a big push to try to ensure that much of the eight goes to organizations, civil society, and to those voices that a committed to reforms, that have been leading the efforts of reform. i would say in the case of honduras, like much of central america, for me it is not just a question of aid but a question of diplomacy and political effort. i do think in order to tackle this epidemic, corruption, the biden administration needs to use all its tools at its disposal to try to weaken and dismantle the destruction of --

you know, the honduran government and much of the institutions of other governments. amy: your message to the american people when you look at the history of the united states, even going back before the u.s. supported the coup in honduras in 2009, going back to for example -- and you can go further -- honduras being the staging ground for the united states to illegally support the contras in nicaragua, toppling the sandinista government. what that meant. then moving rward to supporting these literal drug traffickers in honduras and what this means for the hundred people and linking into migration today? >> you said it best, the u.s. has throughout much of the region supported abusive, corrupt governments. and other times, because of its

own interest in the region, looked the other way and is not prioritized democracy, human rights, and governance. and that is where we need to focus attenon if we really nt to help those that are risking their lives for reform in the region. as laura's peace describes, the nexus between corruption and how it has contributed to migration and the fact when corruption reaches the top echelons of a government, what hope to people have that their needs are going to be met? what hopes to people have their going to find decent job, that their kids are going to be able to go to school without the fear they're going to be attacked by gangs or drug trafficking? amy: thank you for being with

us, executive director of the seattle international foundation. and laura, correspondent in reuters mexico and central america bureau. we will link to her article "how a drug trafficking mayorxññññññññ

(sophie fouron) it's such a small plane. it's not your first flight, is it? (pilot) first flight of the day. (sophie fouron) first flight of the day! o.k. good enough. we're off to great barrier island this morning. it's a 30-minute flight from auckland, new zealand. they have incredible fauna and flora over there, as well as secluded and quiet bays and beaches. i think i could get used to this. great barrier is quite isolated. living there meansiv