Photo by Barbara Zandoval

On 15 July, a spokesperson for the US Department of State told CNN that it is disseminating “more than 30,000 radio ads a month” throughout the Northern Triangle. The ad buys cost the US government nearly $600,000 per month, and the content is broadcast in Spanish and five indigenous languages. According to this spokesperson, the radio campaign, which has been ongoing since at least April 2021, is part of the State Department’s efforts “to deter irregular migration.” According to an anonymous US official, who spoke to CNN in June 2021, “more than 6,300 people on average” per day attempted to illegally cross the US-Mexico border that month. The ongoing migration crisis from the Northern Triangle continues to put immense political, economic, and security pressure on both Mexico and the US, and their respective governments.

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