UN rights officials praised the Nicaraguan government’s decision to give the indigenous Awas Tingni community official title to its traditional lands, marking the culmination of a decades-long struggle by the group to gain recognition and protection of its ancestral territory…. Read moreNicaragua: indigenous rainforest community wins title to ancestral lands
A Canadian mining company intends to sue El Salvador’s government for several hundred million dollars if it is not granted permission to open a widely unpopular gold and silver mine that scientists warn would pollute local water supplies. Pacific Rim… Read moreCanadian mining company threatens El Salvador with CAFTA suit
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hosted Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega at the Kremlin Dec. 18, as a group of Communists in St. Petersburg called for naming one of the city’s new subway stations “Nicaragua” or “Sandinista” as “a sign of Russia’s… Read moreNicaragua: ’80s nostalgia in wake of contested elections
Members of the Stop CAFTA Coalition, along with allies in Central America and the Dominican Republic, have compiled a report that describes the trends and impacts of the first three years of the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA)…. Read moreObama urged to suspend CAFTA
The Russian destroyer Admiral Chabanenko passed through the Panama Canal Dec. 5 following joint naval maneuvers with Venezuela. It marked the first Soviet or Russian military ship to traverse the 80-kilometer waterway since World War II. Panamanian Foreign Minister Samuel… Read moreRussian warship enters Panama Canal, first since World War II
A confrontation between the rival Mara Salvatrucha and La 18 gangs at Guatemala’s central prison, on the outskirts of the capital, ended in seven deaths Nov. 22—with five of the dead beheaded and burned. When authorities retook the prison five… Read moreSix beheaded in Guatemala prison riot
Nicaragua remains violently divided more than a week after contested national municipal elections. On Nov. 18, the opposition Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) candidate for mayor of Managua, Eduardo Montealegre, called off a planned march, charging intimidation by followers of the… Read morePost-electoral violence continues in Nicaragua
On Nov. 11 Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly passed the last enabling laws necessary for the implementation of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), a trade accord strongly promoted by the US. President Arias said it would take effect… Read moreCosta Rica approves CAFTA
After the Nov. 15 Group of 20 (G20) summit in Washington, Chinese president Hu Jintao flew to Costa Rica for the first visit by a Chinese president to Central America. He and Costa Rican president Oscar Arias were to sign… Read moreHu does Costa Rica
A criminal complaint has been filed in the Spanish High Court in connection with the Salvadoran army’s Nov. 16, 1989 slaying of six Jesuit priests in one of the most notorious events of El Salvador’s civil war. Human rights lawyers… Read moreSalvadoran officers could face charges in Spain for 1989 massacre
From the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Sept. 16: On September 4, party workers from the Salvadoran FMLN (Farabundo Martà National Liberation Front) were assaulted in San Salvador, resulting in the hospitalization of four individuals…. Read moreEl Salvador: FMLN activists attacked
On Aug. 29 Guatemalan interior minister Francisco Jimenez announced the capture of former legislative deputy Manuel Castillo at a luxurious residence he owned near the border with El Salvador. Castillo is accused of masterminding the murder of three Salvadoran deputies… Read moreGuatemalan legislator arrested in murder of Salvadoran delegates
