EXPORTING PEOPLE AND RECRUITING REMITTANCES: A

This article explores migration as an emerging development strategy embraced by the state in Central America, concentrating on the case of El Salvador. As primary export prices decline, and non-traditional agricultural exports and assembly production fail to fulfill their promise of compensating for reduced export volumes and sales, exporting people has become an increasingly viable strategy to recruit foreign exchange, reduce poverty and inject new capital into the financial sector. The article contributes to the broader analysis of migration by examining the current state-led strategies to enhance and capitalize upon these human and financial flows. Using quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of sources the article concludes that the Salvadoran state and elites that benefit from migration and remittances are seeking to manage and facilitate these flows. Furthermore, these state-led strategies are being actively encouraged by multilateral and bilateral institutions which are keen to incorporate and promote a discourse on migration and development that sees remittances as windfall income without acknowledging the enormous human, social and economic costs of migration