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 MartĂ 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
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced his government will formally recognize the independence of the breakaway Georgian enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhaziaâbecoming the first country other than Russia to do so. The Nicaraguan decree was read in a Sept. 5… Read moreNicaragua recognizes South Ossetia, Abkhazia
An Aug. 5 confrontation between the campesino group “Padre Guadalupe Carney” and landowners left at least nine dead at El TilĂn, in the Honduran Caribbean coastal department of ColĂłn. The Honduran Security Secretariat said some 200 armed peasants attacked the… Read moreLand conflict in Honduras leaves ten dead
From the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), July 29: As student groups prepare to commemorate the anniversary of an infamous massacre of students by government forces on July 30, 1975, political violence continues in El… Read morePolitical violence increases in El Salvador
In a letter from chancellor Jaime BermĂșdez, the Colombian government formally rejected Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s offer to mediate in a peace process with the FARC guerillas. The letter also objected to Ortega’s reference to the FARC as “brothers,” calling… Read moreColombia bashes Nicaragua over FARC dialogue offer; Ortega bashes back
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) told the Biloxi Sun Herald July 2 he witnessed a confrontation between John McCain and a Nicaraguan Sandinista leaderâa lieutenant of President Daniel Ortegaâduring a 1987 diplomatic mission in which the Arizona senator “got mad at… Read moreDid McCain slug Sandinista?
Taking a tip from their counterparts in Colombia, young opponents of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua used Facebook to launch a protest campaignâunder the slogan “Democracy yes, dictatorship no.” A June 20 protest brought out some 4,000 in downtown Managua… Read moreNicaragua: cyber-savvy youth protest Ortega
The "Mothers of April" movement condemned the "massacre" that took place during the group's march on Nicaragua's Mother's Day, and called on the business sector to declare a national work stoppage to press for the resignation of Daniel Ortega's government. “They went out to massacre that sea of people who came out to support us in our mourning, in the largest march in the recent history of the country. Therefore, we ask the business people to call a national work stoppage, because although we will suffer from hunger for a few days, it's better than them continuing to kill us," said Rosa Cruz Sanchez, mother of Michael Cruz, a young man killed during the April protests. The Mother's Day march in Managua, demanding justice for protesters slain in the April repression, itself turned deadly when it was attacked by police and pro-government turbas (mobs), leaving 15 dead. (Photo: Today Nicaragua)
