Heather Higginbottom, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, will travel to Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala October 13-16, 2015.

Deputy Secretary Higginbottom will visit the region to support the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America (the “Strategy”). She will meet with senior government officials in each of the three countries to highlight the value of strengthening government institutions and reducing opportunities for corruption in Central America, and to discuss Guatemalan and Honduran efforts to empower independent and international oversight mechanisms to address corruption cases in their respective countries. She will engage with representatives from civil society to emphasize the value of accountable, transparent, and effective public institutions. She will also stress the importance of efforts underpinning security and economic prosperity pillars of the Strategy, as well as support for the Alliance for Prosperity.

This trip will provide an opportunity for follow up on President Obama’s meeting with his counterparts from these three countries in July 2014; Secretary Kerry’s meeting with the foreign ministers of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras at the UN General Assembly in September 2014; and Vice President Biden’s meeting with the presidents of these three countries in November 2014, his travel to Guatemala in March, and his meeting with the President of Honduras in June.