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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairwoman María Elvira Salazar delivered opening remarks at a subcommittee hearing titled, “INL Should Fight Crime, Not Fight Conservatives.” 

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-Remarks- 

Once again, thank you to the witnesses for coming and giving us your time and your expertise. Always welcome.

So, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs—INL, acronym—the motto is “Security through Justice.” But unfortunately, for the last 4 years, they have been more interested in “security through ideology,” trading fight against narcotics for seminars to teach pronouns and workshops on gender diversity. I believe that the result of this alien ideology has been damaging to our national security, especially in a region which is very close to my heart—Central America.

As some of you know, I was the Central American bureau chief for Univision Network during the civil war in El Salvador. I lived in that country for many years until 1992 when they signed a peace treaty. Central America—don’t I know it—has suffered for decades, and this was the perfect time to help them.

Let’s go to Guatemala. Almost 9 million migrants passed through their territory trying to come to the United States in the last 4 years. The Guatemalans needed INL’s assistance to tackle the human trafficking and narcotics. But unfortunately, the Biden administration refused to work with the attorney general of that country, because apparently she was too conservative. They sanctioned her. Her name is Consuelo Porras. I don’t know her, but I do know that she is the head of Ministerio Público, which is for us in the United States, the attorney general. Unfortunately, the previous administration refused to work with her. I believe that if the Guatemalans put her there, the Biden’s bureaucrats don’t have any business in telling her that she was not fit for the job. And they attacked her over and over again.

This is the perfect definition of putting politics and ideology before safety and respect for our neighbors’ political views. If the Guatemalans are conservative, well, so be it. We got to respect it.

Let’s talk now about El Salvador, the country which has been tackling terrible gang problems for 30 years. I was about to be killed a few instances—I lived it, I know it. And, uh, things were terrible in El Salvador until President Bukele arrived in the picture. El Salvador should have been a perfect partner for the INL Bureau—which, by the way, it says that its mandate is to bring down transnational criminal organizations like MS-13 and Tren de Aragua—but instead of training the Salvadoran police forces, INL Law Enforcement Academy taught gender and inclusion as one of their main goals for El Salvador.

I believe—I’m sure—that at that moment the Salvadorans were going to be saying, “The gringos have gone crazy.” I am no law enforcement expert, but I am fairly confident that getting MS-13 to learn how to pronounce correct pronouns is not going to dissuade them from committing any crimes.

I am a witness. I have spoken to him—that Bukele wants to work with the United States—but instead, the Biden administration cut funds to the Salvadoran police by 50%. Why? INL concentrated its budget for El Salvador to give it to NGOs that attack his security plan.

With or without us, Bukele was successful. His strategy reduced one of the world’s highest homicide rates to nearly zero. He presented this strategy to INL, and they said, “No, we’re not gonna work with you.” During the last 4 years, unfortunately, woke ideology has replaced common sense. But thankfully, things have changed under President Trump. And we’re going to return the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to its original mission, which is helping our allies fight crime, dismantling gangs, restoring law and order.

They have a budget of $2 billion a year, and I think we owe it to the American taxpayers to commit and re-establish their mandate—fighting drugs, stopping human trafficking, training police forces worldwide with American-made weapons by our allies. INL is one of the best tools we have as Americans to create a safer, stronger, and more prosperous country while helping our neighbors to do the same, whether it’s in Central America or anywhere else in the world.

I believe that we are still the United States—we’re the point of reference for the rest of the hemisphere, at least when it comes to good governance. The beacon of hope that there is a political system that respects human dignity. Thank God we’re back on the right side of history. 

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