Despite decades of U.S. aid and development programs, poverty, corruption and violence remain entrenched across El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

The U.S. has invested billions to promote economic growth, improve governance and strengthen security. Yet for millions of people, fleeing north seemed to be the only viable path. While the Trump administration has disrupted this path, the underlying conditions persist.

At the heart of this crisis is elite capture, where political and economic elites dominate institutions and resources for personal gain. Latin America's elites have long controlled land, wealth and political institutions, obstructing much-needed reforms.

Over time, these elites have developed entangled alliances with highly organized criminal networks — drug cartels, human traffickers and extortion groups — to sustain their dominance. Criminal groups have adapted by building political alliances, using bribery, threats and enforcement capacity to ensure mutual protection and influence within state institutions.

This criminal-political nexus destabilizes governance, exacerbates violence and erodes essential services. Together, these forces have created a criminal-political ecosystem in which exploitation, corruption and violence are mutually reinforcing, leaving ordinary citizens trapped in a cycle of instability.

This collaboration transforms public institutions into dysfunctional tools of exploitation.

In Honduras, political leaders implicated........

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