USAID Cuts & Authoritarianism in Central America
- Across Central America, civil society organizations face staff cuts and program closures due to USAID funding reductions, threatening democratic values in a region struggling with high homicide rates...
- Kara Wilson García, who runs Project RED in El Salvador, saw her $50,000 USAID commitment vanish after a U.S.
- Alex Recinos looks at photos of incarcerated women at the Apanteos women's prison, in Santa Ana, El Salvador, Jan.
The USAID funding cuts are severely impacting civil society and democracy in Central America. Essential services are being slashed as organizations face staff reductions and program closures, empowering rising authoritarianism. From El Salvador to Honduras,watch as vital projects supporting child care,environmental protection,and citizen journalism are dismantled.These cuts directly benefit autocratic leaders, impacting human rights and political stability across the region. As News Directory 3 explores, the consequences extend to Nicaragua and Guatemala, with disinformation campaigns further complicating matters. Discover what’s next for civil society.
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USAID Cuts Hinder Democracy and Child Care in Central America
Updated May 26, 2025
Across Central America, civil society organizations face staff cuts and program closures due to USAID funding reductions, threatening democratic values in a region struggling with high homicide rates and corruption. The cuts impact essential services and embolden governments to curtail civil society.
Kara Wilson García, who runs Project RED in El Salvador, saw her $50,000 USAID commitment vanish after a U.S. freeze on the agency. Her NGO focuses on child care, specifically aiding children whose parents were arrested under President Nayib Bukele’s “state of exception.” This crackdown, while reducing homicides, has left thousands of children abandoned.
Salvador Melendez/AP/File
El Salvador’s legislative assembly passed a “foreign agents” law imposing a 30% tax on foreign funds received by individuals and organizations. enrique Roig, former deputy assistant secretary in the U.S.State Department,said the USAID cuts make democracy work “much more vulnerable” and benefit “autocrats in the region,like Bukele.”
Honduras, considered the deadliest country for environmental activists, saw the Forest conservation Institute lose a project. Electoral observation work by churches and universities was also suspended. A Washington Office on Latin America survey found that 70% of local organizations cut staff due to the USAID cuts.
Nicaraguan journalists exiled in Costa Rica launched a crowdfunding campaign. They said they face unprecedented challenges to continue reporting.
President Donald Trump dismissed USAID’s work as that of “radical lunatics,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the cancellation of 83% of USAID programs, claiming the funds were spent inappropriately.
Jose Cabezas/Reuters/File
The White House cited a $2 million grant for sex change operations in Guatemala as an example of inappropriate spending. Though, Asociación Lambda, an LGBTQ+ organization in Guatemala, said the grant was for legal advice and psychological counseling, not surgical procedures.Diego Lima, coordinator of the National Human Rights Observatory at lambda, called it “the power of disinformation.”
“No doctor or specialist in Guatemala performs sex change operations,” Mr. Lima says. “That’s the power of disinformation.”
Lambda says the number of people receiving psychological support fell from 200 to 20 due to the cuts, and their ability to shelter LGBTQ+ community members dropped by 50%. They are now considering grants from Asian governments.
Organizations like Lambda do the work the state fails to do, using USAID money for everything from nutrition to Indigenous rights, Mr. Lima says. They “invested in socially excluded populations that the state doesn’t care to invest in.”
Bukele supported the Trump management’s cuts, claiming the funds were funneled into opposition groups and NGOs with political agendas. El Faro reported that 11 media organizations were affected by the cuts, and 50 journalists lost their jobs.
Cutting this so-called aid isn’t just beneficial for the United States; it’s also a big win for the rest of the world.”
El Salvador’s new law requires NGOs to register under a Foreign Agents Registry, prohibiting activities that subvert public order or undermine stability. Foreign funding of civil society