Central American News
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Central American News
Central American News has delivered weekly curated news of the region, along with good reads, art and cultural recommendations, for nearly four years. We do this out of love of Central America, Central Americans, and to keep information easily accessible for …
Central American News
Welcome back! Apologies for the late newsletter - we wanted to include the historic extradition of the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández. On April 21, 2022, he boarded a flight towards New York, where he will face trial for drug-trafficking…
Central American News
Under the banner of "make Costa Rica prosperous again," former World Bank economist Rodrigo Chaves won the presidential elections, becoming Costa Rica's future president. More than 42% of eligible voters abstained in this election, illustrating Costa Ricans' …
Central American News
As El Salvador went through a spike in homicides last weekend -- the highest in decades --, the government put in place a state of emergency that hinders constitutional rights. The tension is particularly felt in low-resourced communities. More than 2000 peop…
Central American News
Let's highlight Nicaraguan news. This past week, Nicaragua's Ortega-Murillo government has continued to shut down NGOs and Mayangna Indigenous leader Salomon López Smith was found dead with signs of torture. His nephew asserts that people illegally appropriat…
Central American News
After a week of protests from women, the LGBTQ community, and students in Guatemala, the Congress shelved the law that toughened prison sentences for abortion and prohibited same-sex marriage. Analysts believe that social pressure led the president to back do…
Central American News
Throughout Central America, thousands of women protested for their right to live and the right to decide over their bodies this past week. Femicide rates continue to be high in Central America and the Caribbean and impunity for these crimes as well. Access to…
Central American News
All Central American governments condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, except two: El Salvador and Nicaragua. Until now, El Salvador's foreign ministry has stayed silent and Nicaragua's diplomacy largely blamed NATO and Ukraine's "2014's coup d'Etat" for le…
Central American News
Garifuna leaders joined their Mayan counterparts in protesting the Belizean government's lack of consultation with them regarding land rights. These leaders reject the government's Free, Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) Protocol, which was, according to them, cr…
Central American News
Former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez has been arrested yesterday following a extradition request by the U.S. for drug-trafficking charges, and many Hondurans are celebrating it. They frame it as "justice being served." In Honduras, Hernandez ha…
Central American News
The Costa Rican presidential election was historic for two reasons: it had the most candidates and the highest abstentionism rate. It is proceeding to a runoff on April 3, as no candidate won more than 40% of the votes. The race is now between two familiar fa…
Central American News
Due to a couple of COVID-19 cases among the team, we hope you will enjoy this simpler version of Central American News this week!Also, as Xiomara Castro became Honduras' president last Thursday, now is the time to listen to our first long-form podcast episode…
Indigenous women win historic trial
After more than 40 years of impunity, a group of 36 Mayan Achí indigenous women received justice in Guatemala.Last Monday, a court sentenced five former civil patrollers to 30 years in prison for having raped, sexually enslaved and tortured them between 1981 …
Garifuna people, displaced
Two Garifuna land defenders, Leonard Brown and Luis Gutierrez, were detained and beaten by the Honduran National Police on January 13, according to local sources. The following day, Leonard was presented in a court for land usurpation charges, while local med…
Nicaragua: Resistance continues
Last Sunday, Daniel Ortega was sworn in for his fourth consecutive term. When reading media, it may seem the autocratic leader, who overcame political obstacles by force, won. About 160 political prisoners remain behind bars and no country has broken diplomat…
Central American News in 2021
Welcome to our last newsletter of the year! Thank you so much to our first thousand subscribers to this newsletters and thousands more following on social media. We will be taking a well-deserved breaks for a few weeks. This year, we have witnessed the troubl…
El Mozote, 40 years of impunity
Forty years ago, a U.S.-trained battalion of the Salvadoran army massacred nearly 1,000 people in the village of El Mozote, the largest mass killing during the country’s 12-years-long civil war - and in Latin America. Most victims were children. Survivors of …
Yachts, Cybercrime Law, Political Merengue
Two weeks after being extradited from Guatemala to the U.S., Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, son of former President Ricardo Martinelli (2009 - 2014), pleaded guilty in a New York court for conspiring with his brother to launder $28 million in bribes from Od…
Hope, Finally, in Honduras
Many Hondurans are hopeful for change in their country. Xiomara Castro of the left-leaning party Libre is poised to win the elections in a landslide win, becoming the first female president of Honduras. Despite fears of electoral fraud and violence, elections…
Honduras' 'Dirty' Election Campaign
Bitcoin made the international headlines again with President Bukele's announcement to create a tax-free "Bitcoin city" in El Salvador, which is sure to spur much debate. This news overshadows other regional news; two campesino leaders were murdered in neighb…