Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a> has helped companies direct investments outside the United States and into the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economy</a> of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/central-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Central America</a> in a move that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> claims will decrease record levels of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/illegal-immigration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">illegal immigration</a>.
Harris, who serves as the administration’s border czar, has frequently argued that the federal approach to border security should center upon addressing economic instability, climate change, and other “root causes” that purportedly lead to illegal immigration. She has galvanized a combined $4.2 billion in “private sector commitments to create economic opportunity in northern Central America,” according to a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/02/06/fact-sheet-vice-president-harris-launches-next-phase-of-public-private-partnership-for-northern-central-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fact sheet</a> from the White House.
The federal government’s Central America Forward framework created a new Northern Central America Investment Facilitation Team which will “support clean energy infrastructure development, facilitate private sector operations, and promote sustainable economic development in the region.” USAID will sponsor workforce development programs, while the newly formed Central America Service Corps will engage young people in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras with “paid community service opportunities.”
Central America Forward aims to provide one million jobs in the region, as well as heighten access to the financial system, create a $75 million debt fund for small businesses, and facilitate $500 million in infrastructure deals. Federation for American Immigration Reform Head of Government Relations RJ Hauman said in a statement provided to The Daily Wire that “none of these investments serve as a deterrent for illegal immigration to the United States.”
“If the Biden administration wanted to truly end the crisis, they should start from the ground up at relevant agencies, not in corporate boardrooms,” he commented. “Sign asylum cooperative agreements, reform our asylum system, empower officers to enforce federal immigration law, and send the message to economic migrants and human smugglers that asylum fraud is not a pathway to get into the United States.”
As many as 5.5 million migrants have crossed into the United States under the Biden administration, according to <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fair-analysis-5-5-million-illegal-aliens-have-crossed-our-borders-since-biden-took-officehow-is-secretary-mayorkas-still-employed-301658734.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Some 113 known or suspected terrorists crossed the border in fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022, while migrant deaths surpassed 856 in fiscal year 2022, marking the deadliest period on record. Critics of the Biden administration’s immigration policies have asserted that lackluster emphasis on securing the border and increased resources for migrants who enter the country have worsened the illegal immigration crisis.
The efforts to spur investments outside of the United States come several months after the Biden administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-commits-to-fighting-food-shortages-in-latin-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> funds for food security and humanitarian aid for Latin American nations. The aid package amounted to $645 million and included support for “refugee and migrant populations,” as well as cooperative efforts on “climate smart economic reform.”
“This contribution will complement the United States’ existing commitment to providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, responding to acute food insecurity, and advancing capacity-building activities that bolster disaster preparedness and response” across Latin America and the Caribbean, a White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/09/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-commitments-to-advance-food-security-in-the-western-hemisphere/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> said.
The move nevertheless occurred as inflation in the United States reached record levels. Food prices were increasing 9.1% year-over-year at the time, according to <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/prices-for-food-at-home-up-13-5-percent-for-year-ended-august-2022.htm'" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with prices for meat rising 11.7% and prices for dairy rising 13.5%.

Kamala Harris

VP Harris Helping Funnel Money To Central America To Slow Illegal Immigration

VP Harris Funnels Money Into Central American Job Creation In Effort To Slow Illegal Immigration

Biden Administration

Central America

Economy

Executive

Illegal Immigration

World

As soaring food and fuel <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">prices</a> rock <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/central-america">Panama</a>, nationwide protests have disrupted traffic on major roads and left a weakened government scrambling for credibility — prompting <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/socialism">left-wing</a> activists to take advantage of the situation.
The demonstrations, launched early in July beginning with teachers’ and construction workers’ unions, have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/protests-spread-to-panama-as-inflation-gas-prices-strangle-developing-world">blocked critical infrastructure</a> such as the Pan-American Highway. The Panamanian government, which has argued that the high prices are attributable to COVID and the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/russia">Russian</a> invasion of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/ukraine">Ukraine</a>, announced on Monday that it would work to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/panama-regulate-prices-72-food-items-ease-rising-living-costs-2022-07-25/">reduce the cost</a> of several dozen food items.
“The economy has been struggling here just like around the world, but Panamanians live very much day-to-day,” Jon Fowler, an American missionary working in Panama, told The Daily Wire. “There has been a history of Panama being fairly stable economically and with the government. They had very severe lockdowns, so the economy had already been weakened … but then you had on top of that these prices.”
Consumer prices in Panama, where mask mandates enacted in March 2020 were lifted earlier this month, are expected to end 2022 at 4.0% according to <a href="https://www.focus-economics.com/countries/panama/news/inflation/inflation-comes-in-at-highest-level-since-february-2013-in-may#:~:text=Our%20panelists%20project%20that%20inflation,inflation%20ending%202023%20at%202.3%25.">data</a> from the forecasting group Focus Economics.
“It’s hard to get groceries because production is down,” Fowler added. “They’re throwing tomatoes away because things are going bad. People can’t get things because things can’t get to the stores, because protests are happening.”
The protests in Panama follow a collapse of the government in Sri Lanka, which occurred as residents grew <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-mob-storms-presidential-palace-swims-in-pool-as-asian-nation-teeters-on-brink-of-collapse">frustrated</a> over food and fuel prices — thereby exacerbating religious tensions between the majority Buddhists and minority Tamils. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned his post and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sri-lankas-president-flees-the-country-amid-mass-uprising">fled</a> the South Asian country on a military jet as protesters occupied the Presidential Palace.
While some protesters are merely grieved by the higher costs of living, others seek a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-panama-next-for-a-hard-left-turn-war-games-venazuela-russia-china-iran-drones-special-operation-military-exercise-11658680168">reorganization of the government</a> amid nonexistent public trust in Panamanian political leadership. The construction union activists leading the protests have demonstrated support in the past for Nicolás Maduro, the socialist dictator of nearby Venezuela, and circulated footage of wealthy Panamanian elites <a href="https://www.ecotvpanama.com/politica/diputados-oficialistas-celebraron-inicio-periodo-legislativo-plena-contencion-gastos-n5733466">drinking whiskey</a> amid the nation’s troubles.
&#8220;You’ve got some who are saying ‘We need lower prices on gas and food,’ and others who are saying ‘We need to rewrite the constitution.’ These are two different ideas, two different directions,” Fowler observed. “Hard-left extremists are trying to topple things — they’re trying to take advantage of the weak leadership.”
In any case, a socialistic mindset already prevails among the population.
&#8220;On paper, they’re the Republic of Panama. Written into the constitution is a mindset of socialism, though. The people have the expectation that the government is responsible for taking care of them when they’re in trouble,” Fowler remarked. “The president that they elected made promises to them to take care of them when they were in need, to distribute wealth… and when it’s the hour of need, he is nowhere to be found.”
Panama, however, is among the most important nations for international trade in the western hemisphere. The Panama Canal handled more than 255 million long tons of cargo and processed more than 12,000 transits in fiscal year 2020, according to <a href="https://logistics.gatech.pa/en/assets/panama-canal/statistics">data</a> from Georgia Tech Panama, with commodities such as grains, crude oil, and coal among the most heavily transported materials.

Panama city

‘Hard-Left Extremists Are Trying To Topple Things’: Protests Rock Panama Amid Food And Fuel Inflation

Panama Protests Contain Strong Left-Wing Revolutionary Element

Inflation

Socialism

Widespread protests have gripped <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/central-america">Panama</a> for weeks as residents grow frustrated over high <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/gas-prices">gas prices</a> and rising <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a>.
Protesters — organized by teachers&#8217; and construction workers&#8217; unions, among other activists — have blocked the nation’s capital, Panama City, as well as other cities and the Pan-American Highway, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-caribbean-prices-panama-2f9cefd05950947747331384b4f35d27?taid=62ce005036d8fb0001cf7a79&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter">Associated Press</a>. Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo has stated that he understands citizens’ concerns and pinned the high prices on COVID and the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/russia">Russian</a> invasion of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/ukraine">Ukraine</a>.
The nation’s top Roman Catholic clergyman, Jose Domingo Ulloa, moderated talks between protest leaders and government officials last week. Ahead of the talks, Cortizo agreed to freeze the price of gas and a handful of basic goods, as well as devote $150 million to subsidizing fuel expenses. “Together we can find viable and feasible solutions to the problems affecting our society,” the government of Panama said in a statement, per <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-13/panama-government-to-meet-anti-inflation-protesters-for-talks#xj4y7vzkg">Bloomberg</a>.
Consumer prices in Panama are expected to rise by 3.1% in 2022, according to <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/PAN#ataglance">data</a> from the International Monetary Fund. Fuel costs were capped at $3.95 per gallon last week after eight consecutive days of protests, per the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-62120055">BBC</a>.
Panama, which uses a currency pegged to the dollar, derives much of its economic output from service industries and agribusiness. The U.S. Embassy in Panama <a href="https://pa.usembassy.gov/situational-awareness-on-recent-protest-activity/">advised</a> Americans to “exercise caution near any large gatherings or protests and maintain situational awareness,” noting that national police have been known to use tear gas and riot control munitions to disperse crowds.
News of the protests in Panama follows a collapse of the government in Sri Lanka, which occurred as residents grew <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-mob-storms-presidential-palace-swims-in-pool-as-asian-nation-teeters-on-brink-of-collapse">frustrated</a> over food and fuel prices — thereby exacerbating tensions between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned his post and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sri-lankas-president-flees-the-country-amid-mass-uprising">fled</a> the South Asian country on a military jet as protesters occupied the Presidential Palace.
Global oil prices have indeed spiked since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion on February 24. As of Monday morning, Brent Crude has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@LCO.1">surged</a> from roughly $99 to nearly $106, while West Texas International crude <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@CL.1">increased</a> from under $93 to almost $102 over the same time frame. Prices for regular unleaded gas reached $4.52 in the United States on Monday, according to <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">AAA</a>, with Europe facing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europes-gas-prices-are-even-higher-than-americas">even higher prices</a>.
Russia and Ukraine produce a combined 30% of the world’s traded wheat, according to the <a href="https://www.foodsecurityportal.org/node/1921">International Food Policy Research Institute</a>, leading to a rise in worldwide food prices. Roughly half of African wheat imports come from Russia and Ukraine, with some nations importing “more than one-third of their wheat from the two countries,” according to a <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/osginf2022d1_en.pdf">United Nations</a> report released in March. Some countries — such as Egypt, Somalia, Laos, and Benin — import more than 80% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration vowed ahead of the Summit of the Americas to provide another $331 million in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-commits-to-fighting-food-shortages-in-latin-america">food security and humanitarian</a> aid for Latin American nations.
“This contribution will complement the United States’ existing commitment to providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, responding to acute food insecurity, and advancing capacity-building activities that bolster disaster preparedness and response” across Latin America and the Caribbean, a White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/09/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-commitments-to-advance-food-security-in-the-western-hemisphere/">statement</a> said.

Protests Spread To Panama As Inflation, Gas Prices Strangle Developing World

Protests Rock Panama As Inflation, Gas Prices Cripple Economy

Gas Prices

Russia

Ukraine

In 2018, Marshall Mayer and other investors started a project to crowdfund money to buy the “world’s first crowdfunded private island.” A year later, they had raised more than $250,000 through their website “Let’s Buy an Island,” CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/islandia-lets-buy-an-island-micronation/index.html">reported</a>.
Just before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, in December of 2019, Mayer and his group raised enough money through their crowdfunding strategy to buy Coffee Caye, a one-acre island near the coast of Belize in Central America.
Crowdfunding is when large groups of people donate money for particular business ideas and startups, according to <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crowdfunding.asp">Investopedia</a>. With an increasingly online world, crowdfunding has found success in starting successful businesses and even making movies and award-winning TV series like “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fans-pour-fundingand-faithinto-a-hit-drama-about-jesus-11637989204">The Chosen</a>.” 
But as far as buying an entire island completely through crowdfunding, Mayer and his group of investors made history as the first. 
“In 2018 we began to accept investors with the understanding that once we hit a minimum number we would buy an island regardless,” the <a href="https://www.letsbuyanisland.com/">website</a> states on its homepage. “The golden number was hit quickly! We have since purchased Coffee Island in Belize, becoming the first group to successfully crowd source buying an island” (emphasis original).
Mayer had the idea for a while – 15 years to be exact according to CNN – but his idea for a crowdfunded island got a new spark when he met Gareth Johnson, co-founder and CEO of “Let’s Buy an Island.” 
Johnson had also been interested in crowdfunding for a private island. He approached Mayer with the idea in 2018 when he saw an island in the Philippines for sale. 
​​&#8221;When Gareth first put the idea to me, I thought God no, this will never become a reality,&#8221; Mayer said, &#8220;But he began to explain how much an island might cost, and we realized that actually, there are parts of the world where buying an island was much more realistic.”
Their website claims Coffee Island has 103 investors, and anyone can become an investor with a donation of at least $5,495. Investors get to help make decisions about the island and become part owners of the tropical paradise. 
Islandia isn’t just some crowdfunded getaway – it’s also somewhat of a social experiment. The investors consider their island a “micronation experiment” that aims to “forward [their] ideals of democracy.” They even named their micronation the “Principality of Islandia.” 
According to Islandia’s website, “The Principality of Islandia is a micronation experiment within the greater IBG project. We plan to use our island paradise to forward our own ideals of democracy, inclusion and sustainability. We will do this in a manner that is in keeping with, and enhances the laws of our host nation.”
While the crowdfunded island isn’t recognized as a nation by the international community, some investors consider it pretty close to a real country. &#8220;We are as close to a nation as you can get, without getting an army and a navy,&#8221; Johnson told CNN.
The website allows for anyone to become a citizen of Islandia for “a very small donation.” “Citizenship is a great way to support the project, and get insider deals as we begin offering the island for rent,” the website states. “You’ll get deals on other great products too, plus you’ll always stay on top of everything else we’re up to.”
“Let’s Buy an Island” is reaching out to anyone who wants the perks of owning a private island. “Many of us have dreamed of owning an island, with all the benefits that come with it: isolation, relaxation, and that joy that comes with knowing you are disconnected from the busy world most of us deal with each day,” the website states. 
“We now have our island, our investor base is growing, and we want you to be a part of it,” the investors write. Islandia is aimed toward those who want to vacation like millionaires without needing the wallets of millionaires. The “island property [is] designed to rent to travellers who can visit, live, relax and enjoy the solitude of nature, and the joy of staying on your own private island.”
A crowdfunded micronation might not be as successful as other crowdfunding experiments, but for now, the island investors are happy with what they’ve accomplished. “It was a crazy leap of faith to take,” said Mayer. “But our initial goal of buying an island, we&#8217;ve done it.”
The group did not respond to a Daily Wire request for comment.
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Investors Crowdfunded The Purchase Of A Private Island. Now They Have Their Own ‘Micronation.’

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VP Harris Helping Funnel Money To Central America To Slow Illegal Immigration

‘Hard-Left Extremists Are Trying To Topple Things’: Protests Rock Panama Amid Food And Fuel Inflation

Protests Spread To Panama As Inflation, Gas Prices Strangle Developing World

Investors Crowdfunded The Purchase Of A Private Island. Now They Have Their Own ‘Micronation.’