Tag: Central America

Central America

Perverse ironies of Honduran political crisis

The US "certifies" Honduras for continued military aid exactly as the government declares a state of emergency and unleashes the armed forces on protesters. The crisis was sparked by President Juan Orlando Hernández's apparently fraudulent election to a second term. Yet Hernández and his conservative National Party supported the 2009 coup d'etat that ousted Manuel Zelaya from the presidency for merely broaching a second term in supposed violation of the constitution.

Central America

Guatemala: general strike to demand prez resign

Independence Day celebrations in Guatemala were disrupted by protests across the country, as thousands took to the streets to demand the resignation of President Jimmy Morales. The protests were sparked after the country's Congress voted down a measure to remove Morales' immunity from prosecution and instead approved legislation that decreases the penalties for campaign finance crimes.

Central America

Guatemala: halt expulsion of anti-corruption chief

With protesters paralyzing the capital, the Guatemalan Supreme Court suspended President Jimmy Morales' order to deport the head of a UN anti-corruption commission from the country. The order came two days after Ivan Velásquez, the Colombian prosecutor who leads Guatemala's International Commission against Impunity, announced he was seeking to lift Morales' immunity from prosecution.

Central America

Nicaragua: Amnesty International assails canal plan

A new report from Amnesty International accuses the Nicaraguan government of "placing business before the future of the country and its people," with its inter-oceanic canal mega-scheme "that will affect the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people and might leave many homeless." The report also accuses authorities of harassing and persecuting opponents of the project.

Central America

Honduras: Berta Cáceres daughter survives attack

The daughter of assassinated Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres survived an armed attack, weeks after being named leader of the indigenous alliance formerly led by her mother.

Central America

Taiwan sacrificed to Central America geopolitics

Panama is the latest Central American nation to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Bejing—under pressure of China's fast-growing economic presence on the isthmus.

Central America

El Salvador bans metallic mining

El Salvador became the first country on Earth to completely ban the mining of metals—following a long campaign by campesinos and their ecologist allies.

Central America

Guatemala: Barrio 18 gang in deadly prison siege

Three guards were killed as riot police stormed a juvenile detention center outside Guatemala City, where members of the notorious Barrio 18 narco-gang had staged un uprising.

Central America

Nicaragua nabs cocaine lord of Miskito Coast

A Colombian cartel operative who established Central America's remote and lawless Miskito Coast as a major cocaine transfer point was arrested by Nicaraguan authorities.