Central America security

WASHINGTON, D. C. – Cristina Equizábal, a senior fellow at El Salvador’s National Foundation for Development (FUNDE), visited Costa Rica earlier this month – and was shocked to learn that local police had uncovered an enormous cache of M-16s, Uzis, AK-47s and other weapons in a suburb of San José.

Costa Rica's president and public security chief spoke with the U.S.' top military leader for the region about collaboration opportunities, border police training, humanitarian assistance and human rights.

ECATEPEC, Mexico — The first time, after the men with police badges had lashed Adriana Carrillo's wrists and ankles with tape, and she had spent 37 hours in the back of a Nissan, her father tossed the $12,000 ransom in a black satchel over a graffiti-strewn brick wall and brought her nightmare to its conclusion. She took three days off and then went back to work.

It's nice to see the United States paying attention to Central America again. Too bad it took tens of thousands of desperate children pouring across the border to attract our interest.

"The issues on the table are trade, the environment, tourism and culture," Pérez Molina told reporters during a tour of rain-damaged areas in the southern department of Escuintla.