Is there Hope for Central American Youth?
Event documents are now available for download at the bottom of this page. Papers from several speakers will be posted soon.
Violence remains high in the countries of Central America’s Northern Triangle – Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Maras threaten many communities and the gang truce in El Salvador appears to have unraveled. The recent surge in migration of Central American children toward the United States has brought renewed focus on the problems facing youth in the region. In the context of sustained violence and limited opportunities, many are asking: Is there hope for young people in Central America? This event brings together two panels of experts working in the region to discuss the roots of violence and desperation in Central America, and to offer policy ideas for alternative approaches to addressing the challenges of youth trapped in violent environments.
Introduction
Cynthia J. Arnson
Latin American Program, Wilson Center
Speakers
Claudia Paz y Paz
Former Attorney General, Republic of Guatemala
César Rivera
Inter-American Development Bank, Honduras
Anthony Fontes
University of California Berkeley
Miquel Cortes Bofill
Federación Internacional Fe y Alegría, Guatemala
Katharine Andrade Eekhoff
Catholic Relief Services, El Salvador
Rodrigo Serrano
The World Bank
Moderators
Carlos Basombrío
Wilson Center Global Fellow
Eric L. Olson
Latin American Program, Wilson Center
Event Sponsors
Speakers
Hosted By
Latin America Program
The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action. Read more