Tangled Roots Podcast Joseph Flores

Migration is a choice, albeit one that doesn't get made lightly. Enabling people to make that choice without fear or desperation requires attention to multiple risks and vulnerabilities. This is especially true among women, youth, and the thousands deported back to Central America from the U.S. each year.

In this final episode of Volume I, Deputy Coordinator at the UN Development Programme Juan Pablo Gordillo joins from El Salvador to discuss the UNDP's framework of "citizen security". Citizen security attempts to address people's vulnerabilities through prevention-focused programs that turn away from the "mano dura" policies we've seen in the past. In this effort, civil society groups confront both local challenges and the echoes of a political rhetoric in the United States that criminalize those who migrate without legal status.



Credits

Guest: Juan Pablo Gordillo ,Deputy Coordinator of the Infosegura Team, United Nations Development Program

Host: Joseph Flores

Producer: Joseph Flores



Sponsored by the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

For the full interview text and more resources, visit the Tangled Roots website here.

For all the attention paid to people coming from Central America, the United States sends a lot back to the region as well. Remittances, corn, and even... criminal gangs?

In this episode, Dr. Michael Paarlberg recounts the origins and operations of the gangs Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 (18th Street Gang) from the streets of Los Angeles, California to the prisons of Central America. As an unintended consequence of the growing deportation system, the United States has slowly fueled the region's deadly gang problem for the last thirty years. 



Credits

Guests: Dr. Michael Paarlberg, Assistant Professor of Political Science at VCU

Host: Joseph Flores

Producer: Joseph Flores



Sponsored by the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

For the full interview text and more resources, visit the Tangled Roots website here.

USAID implements hundreds of projects a year in Central America in an effort to improve the lives of the people living there. It's admirable work that has been increasingly tied to one questionable goal: Keeping people from wanting, if not needing, to leave their communities.

In this episode, researcher Reva Resstacks brings us back to a high-level look at the United States' relationship with Central America, this time focused on international development efforts. Reva invites us to question the premise of "Root Causes" Strategy itself and ask whether it's smart - let alone right - to have a goal that envisions less people pursuing better lives in the U.S.



Credits

Guest: Reva Resstack, Research Assistant at the Center for Global Development. Co-Author of “Addressing the “Root Causes” of Irregular Migration from Central America: An Evidence Agenda for USAID”

Host: Joseph Flores

Producer: Joseph Flores



Sponsored by the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

For the full interview text and more resources, visit the Tangled Roots website here.

Maize (or corn) is a central part of the Guatemalan diet, as well as an important cultural symbol. So, why is it becoming harder for people to access at a time when the country imports more of it than ever?

In this episode, researcher Carrie Seay-Fleming takes us through over fifty years of agricultural development programs in Guatemala to get a deeper understanding of U.S. efforts to shape Central American economies. We'll discuss how the supposed solution to rural poverty wound up becoming a major driver of migration from rural communities, and how U.S. food programs have deepened the risk of hunger in Guatemala.



Credits

Guest: Carrie Seay-Fleming, Ph.D. candidate and the University of Colorado, Boulder. Author of "Food Insecurity in the Northern Triangle: Leveraging Agricultural Policies and Programs for the Benefit of Smallholders".

Host: Joseph Flores

Producer: Joseph Flores



Sponsored by the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

Find the full interview text and more resources at the Tangled Roots website here.

Across administrations, U.S. officials use a particular kind of doublespeak when talking about Central America. References to a "complex history" with the region are often used to down play the legacies of U.S.-sponsored coups, conflicts, and corruption that have driven millions of people to leave their homes.

In this episode, Dr. Aviva Chomsky walks us through over one hundred years of history to get a big picture of the relationship between the United States and Central America. From the United Fruit Company to the U.S. southern border, we'll start identifying the deep connections that implicate the United States in the real "root causes" of migration.



Credits

Guest: Dr. Aviva Chomsky, Professor of History and Coordinator of the Latin America, Latino, and Caribbean Studies Program at Salem State University

Host: Joseph Flores

Producer: Joseph Flores



Sponsored by the Strauss Center for International Security and Law

Full interview text and additional resources available at the Tangled Roots website here.

How do you respond to millions of people crossing the U.S. southern border? It's a question different U.S. presidents have answered in much the same way: better security, more enforcement, and (maybe) some money for the countries that people are often fleeing.

In 2021, Joe Biden put a big bet on that last point, committing $4 billion dollars to address the "root causes" of migration from Central America. It's the largest, but definitely not the first effort of its kind. With over a hundred years of history behind it, however, does the "Root Causes" Strategy really get to the depth of the problem?

In this opener episode, Joseph introduces the Tangled Roots podcast. Let's dig in.



Credits

Host: Joseph Flores

Producer: Joseph Flores



Sponsored by the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.