ABOUT CATF

OUR SOLUTION

The Central American Training Foundation (CATF) seeks to empower the people of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to better prepare their region for emergencies and natural disasters through the creation of the Central American Training Center (CATC).  The Central American Training Center will be a 49,000 square foot complex comprised of training rooms, a large auditorium, simulations rooms, classrooms and a state-of-the-art “Situation Room”.  The campus will include at least five acres of actual emergency simulation elements, and the property is 6 miles from the Palmerola International Airport in Comayagua. Palmerola Airport will act as the gateway hub for all of South and Central America. 

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The CATC will provide the people of the three Northern Triangle countries with state-of-the-art equipment, methods and technology to mitigate destruction and devastation before it occurs and to effectively respond to crises, including global pandemics, as they happen. This alleviates the existing burden faced by foreign countries, namely the United States, to support the region when emergencies arise. 

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Further, training and equipping the people of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to serve as first responders creates job opportunities, improves the economy and health of these countries and offers a solution to help curb migration out of the region into nearby nations, including the United States.    

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Latin America is the second-most disaster-prone region in the world. From 2000 to 2019, 152 million people in Central America were affected by 1,205 disasters. In 2019 and 2020 alone, the United States spent a combined $39.4 million in response to emergencies in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, including fires, floods, earthquakes, volcanic events and hurricanes. U.S. foreign direct investment to these countries regularly totals over $5 billion per year.

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Currently no centralized training facility exists nor there is a region-controlled facility which trains, equips and stands ready to respond to any crisis on its own. Central America is now overly-dependent on the resources of countries from outside the region. While international cooperation and assistance will always remain important, the current situation leaves the area too reliant upon the resources, budgets and goodwill of outside governments.*wsws.org

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As the global economy staggers back from impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and more countries focus their efforts inward, Central America has never been more at risk.