the development question is sadly rare in this medium, and the response was underwhelming. the key thing to understand is that the best way for america to help development is not to do more but to do less. a much better president once developed something called the good neighbour policy, which was a non-intervention strategy. it was an excellent, progressive, forward-thinking idea. it didn't take long for the blasted monroe doctrine to reassert itself, with continued disastrous consequences. before we knew it, we were secretly funding contras to suppress the population by carrying out weapon sales to iran.
three major ideas will help reverse the violence:
1) end the drug war. legalize it.
2) stop overthrowing elected governments that are trying to end the violence.
3) put the free trade agreements that they signed at the tip of a gun through a paper shredder.
none of these are in the realm of discourse. and, a neighbour who "resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others" is not looking to be a likely development in the near future.
when you see people talking in a situation like this, it often seems like they don't really grasp the situation, and it leads to this perception that they're not reacting like they ought to. that's because they don't really understand the situation. it's not going to actually click until they get the call. they will convince themselves things are going to work out until the last moment that they no longer can.
given the scenario, the most likely explanation is probably predation. bear. cougar, maybe.