MEXICO CITY, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Reducing the amount of aid offered by the United States to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador could exacerbate the flow of migration from these Central American countries, Moody's Analytics said Tuesday.
"The consequences of reducing aid could worsen the flow of migration northward," said Alfredo Coutino, director for Moody's Analytics Latin America, in a report.
"In spite of the efforts by the Mexican government to deter the march northward, the majority of migrants keep going forward," Coutino said.
In the face of the flow of migration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said via Twitter that Washington will "begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given" to the Central American countries.
The reduction of funds specifically earmarked for the support of employment, health, education, safety and peace in general "will without a doubt have an important consequence for vulnerable people," Coutino said.
"President Trump could end up with the opposite result of what he thought would be a punishment for the Central American governments," the report said.
"The potential increase in insecurity and the consequent reduction in well-being will constitute an added incentive for people to abandon their own country, which could aggravate the migration of Central Americans northward," the report said.
