Answer:
Foreign aid is driven by compassion and strategy. The U.S. Congress budgets a certain amount of U.S. dollars—taxpayer dollars— each year to provide aid and influence foreign government policies so that they support American priorities.
In providing these funds, the U.S. presses those countries to prioritize American goals for the region: improve governance by advancing the governments’ ability to collect taxes and prosecute criminals; enhance public security by training police, improving border management, and attacking organized crime and gangs; and promote prosperity by encouraging pro-growth policy reforms, improving worker training, and encouraging regional economic integration.
These funds are not given to the government of the recipient country; rather, the U.S. contracts with third parties like non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or educational institutions to provide goods and services directly to the citizens of the country. Generally, these contractors must be American entities. For example, to help train police in Central America, the U.S. will contract with a third party like the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia to train police officers from Central America, who are selected by the U.S. after a background investigation to ensure that the trainees are not corrupt or vulnerable to blackmail.
