Emigrate is “the only option” of many Latin Americans, confronted with the crises of climate changehe covid and the skyrocketing of prices, stated the person in charge of the region of World Food Program (WFP) in an interview with AFP.
“It is a hemispheric migration”according to the director for Latin America and the Caribbean of this UN organization, Lola Castro.
“People are moving everywhere on the continent (…) In the area towards the border between USA and Mexicoeverything is affected by migration, and governments are telling us ‘What do we do with all this mass of people transiting?’”he warned.
The pressure, especially at the level of food security, leads Castro to insist that Latin America “is not forgotten” when its rulers and those of the European Union (EU) meet at a summit in Brussels on July 17 and 18.
Haiti is a major concern for WFP, especially because of gang-related violence, Castro explained.
“The situation has deteriorated extremely”he said, adding that “There are 200 gangs and they have taken control of the city of Port-au-Prince”the capital.
The danger they pose is that they prevent Haitians from going to work or school, or going to the market. “It’s really taking the population hostage”he whipped.
cuts
About half of Haiti’s population, some 4.9 million people, need food aid, but WFP only has the capacity for 2.5 million of them.
“Due to funding cuts around the world, we are not going to get to one (million) of these 2.5 million”Castro specified. It is a sittuation “very dramatic”lament.
The person in charge assured that 122 million dollars are missing to finance the WFP operations in Haiti this year.
The war in Ukraine has led to serious food problems in several regions, especially in Africa and the Middle East, but food insecurity in Latin America is increasing inexorably, despite its agricultural production capacity, Castro said.
While in previous years, the WFP helped three million people with severe food problems in Latin America and the Caribbean, “now we are never below 10 to 30 million”.
“At the moment the migration It’s the only option people have.”he asserted. “They’re going north, and what we’re seeing is a big increase.”he insisted.
With the summit between the EU and CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) in Brussels –the first in a decade– the European countries seek to promote dialogue and advance in a free trade agreement after reaching an agreement on beginning in 2019 with the members of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
