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 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 Abkhazia—becoming 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 BermĂşdez, 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
