Donald Trump is about to complete his first year in office, but his controversial decisions and steps are inviting the ire from not only the outside world but also from within the US. His latest targets are the citizens of Central America -- especially from El Salvador -- who have been working in the US for many years now. Last week, the Trump administration announced that it would cancel the permits of two hundred thousand workers from El Salvador. With this decision the most affected will be the ones who came to the US after the devastating earthquake of 2001 in El Salvador.

After the earthquake, the US had issued visas on humanitarian grounds to thousands of workers allowing them to seek jobs in the US. Over the last 15 years around two hundred thousand workers from El Salvador received work permits in the US. El Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. When we talk about this region essentially it means a land strip that connects North America with South America. Some geographers include Central America within the North American fold as its sub-continent, whereas others insist that North America strictly means Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Central America is an interesting region that borders both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, with Mexico in the north and Colombia to the south. Central America contains seven countries i.e. Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. All these countries have a combined population of 40 to 45 million. Moreover, this entire region is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. From the early 1600s to the early 1800s, this region was under the occupation of Spain that called it New Spain and ruled it from the capital, Mexico City.

This New Spain started getting independence around 1820s that saw the formation of a Mexican Empire. In 1823, a new Federal Republic of Central America was formed that included five countries of today i.e. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica, while Panama was part of Colombia and Belize later became a British colony. After independence, this region became a victim of civil wars and different parts of Central America fought for independence from the federal republic. Finally, by 1840 the federal experiment had failed and Nicaragua, Honduras, and then Costa Rica declared their independence.

Then the Congress of the federal republic itself announced that all provinces were free to form their own independent countries. El Salvador was the last country that declared independence in 1841. In 1890s, once again the three countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua tried to form a federal government but failed. From 1900s to 1950s, El Salvador suffered harsh economic conditions and saw repeated military coups that settled and unsettled one dictator after another. During the last decades of the 20^th century, El Salvador endured a 15 year period of another civil war that lasted from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

That was the time when Afghanistan and Iran in Asia, and in Central America El Salvador and Nicaragua staged anti-American revolutions. In El Salvador, a military junta captured power in October 1979 and started nationalising most private companies and lands. The privileged segments of society were not happy and a guerrilla war started that ultimately engulfed the entire country. Within a year, many militant groups -- mainly coming from students and workers -- formed their militias. This precipitated an American involvement and, as had happened in many other countries, the US tried to stifle the socialist programme being implemented.

Within three years the revolutionary government collapsed but the civil war continued for over a decade. Elections were held in 1982 and the American CIA contrived to form a new government that tried to crush the guerrilla rebellion. Now, this pro-American government started killing the left-wing students and workers and used ‘enforced disappearances’ as a tool of war. By the late 1980s, the Soviet Union was declining resulting in the diminishing resistance from the guerrillas. In 1992, the rebels agreed to sign a peace agreement and the civil war ended.

In 1990s, the capitalist economy was fully restored. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, almost all socialist countries abandoned the communist model and started adopting the principles of market economy. El Salvador too embarked upon the neo-liberal agenda and a massive privatisation programme was launched. Such denationalisation mostly helps the people in power and the elite. The rulers of El Salvador took full advantage of this situation but the people remained under extreme poverty and deprivation. Taxes were reduced on the rich and the value-added or the sales taxes were increased for the common people.

Almost the similar situation we faced in Pakistan when even the basic necessities of life such as rice and wheat were subjected to sales tax but the big businesses and shopkeepers hardly paid any income tax. With this injustice, El Salvador suffered a massive earthquake in 2001 that caused extensive damage to the economy and infrastructure. The US government came to help and on humanitarian grounds announced that it would issue visas and work permits to the workers who want to seek jobs in the US. During the last 15 years, the people of El Salvador have benefitted greatly from these concessions.

Suddenly, President Trump decides to expel over two hundred thousand citizens of El Salvador. Prior to this, he took a similar step against the workers of Haiti and Nicaragua by cancelling their work permits. Last year in January, immediately after assuming power, Trump had imposed restrictions of immigrants from Syria and then banned their entry. The citizens of Haiti had come mostly after the earthquake of 2010. President Obama had awarded over 50,000 visas allowing the people of Haiti to come and work in the US. The world had appreciated this positive American gesture.

According to some estimates, the decision by the Trump administration will affect over a million foreign workers who are contributing greatly to the US economy. America itself will face a jolt by the expulsion of these workers. But Donald Trump is hardly moved by any such caution and wants to continue on his path of nationalism and racism. The recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is another similar example. Regarding El Salvador, the US officials maintain that after the earthquake, 15 years have passed during which a lot of development and welfare work has been done in El Salvador.

The damaged and destroyed buildings and other infrastructure have been restored and state institutions are functioning properly so that the citizens of El Salvador can go back to their country and contribute to its economy rather than staying in the US. This American policy is another cause of its reduced influence in the world. Trump’s statements are causing irreparable harm to his and to American reputation, resulting in an increasing isolation for the US. The world is no more taking Trump and the US seriously; a case in point is the statements against Pakistan and the threats coming from the Trump administration.

If Obama had issued such statement, the world would have taken them in earnest, but now the options for America are limited. If this trend continues, not only in Asia and Central America but also in other regions more hatred will sprout against the US.