Anti-Bukele Protests, Media Wars, and 'Fake News'

Oct 19, 2021

Dear Readers,

Last Sunday, thousands of Salvadorans took to the streets to protest against Nayib Bukele's government and recent policies, again.

As Bukele's popularity may begin to see cracks, we must remain vigilant of the news we consume.

In our previous newsletter, we shared the news that "according to a study, 99% of Salvadorans in the diaspora are favorable to Bukele's reelection." A reader reached to us and made us re-think this.

Indeed, "99%" seems far-fetched and a quick look at the sources - both the media and the research center ("CIESCA") - are dubious.

CIESCA does not have a website other than social media pages. Additionally, it is extremely expensive and difficult to conduct surveys, especially for the Central American diaspora, according to the reader, who is a researcher. "Maybe CIESCA used social media like Facebook to reach Salvadorans in the diaspora but that should give us more reasons to be skeptical. I couldn’t find the methodology used or any report from them," they wrote.

Anyone can fall for disinformation presenting itself as statistics, or well-meaning but poorly made surveys, which sway public opinion one way or another. Analyses of how Bukele's government relies on public opinion abound. Obscure media, research centers and surveys must be taken with a grain of salt.

We thank our reader for these tips. Our readers' replies are always welcome - they help us improve.

In this newsletter, you'll find our headlines, a story from Garífuna leader Miriam Miranda and the involvement of Colin Powell in Central America. Thanks for being here.

Salú,

Melissa and Kirsten, El Salvador News Curator

Curators Needed

We are looking for volunteer (2 hours/week) news curators for Belize and Panama.

Headlines

Migration

📰 Remain in Mexico: The Biden Administration will re-implement the “Remain in Mexico” program at the southern U.S. border under court order.

📰 ICE Raids: The Department of Homeland Security secretary ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to no longer conduct workplace raids.

📰 Indigenous Displacement: Land defenders and human rights activists claim that land displacement due to corporate hydroelectric dam projects are forcing Mayans to migrate to the U.S.

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Central America

📰 Deportations: In the past two months, more than 14,000 Central American migrants and asylum seekers have been expelled over El Ceibo, Guatemala.

📰 App purchase: German investors acquire Central American delivery app Hugo, for $150 million.

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Belize

📰 Donations to Cuba: The government of Belize donated an equivalent of BZ$200,000 in food and other supplies to Cuba in a display of "solidarity with the nation's government and people." Belize was one of the first countries to receive aid from Cuba at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

📰 LAIT UP BELIZE!: A project whose goal is to bring electricity to remote rural communities in southern Belize is in its final stages.

📰 COVID-19: With 110 active cases coming from a spike in the virus' spread, the mayor of Dangriga is imploring residents to seriously heed COVID precautions ahead of upcoming Garifuna Settlement Day celebrations. // PM Briceño announced that nearly all teachers in Belize have been vaccinated. He is pushing for schools throughout the country to be officially reopened.

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Costa Rica

📰 COVID-19: The government enacted a law that requires all public sector employees to be vaccinated and empowers private companies to require the vaccine for their employees.

📰 Anti-Stealthing Bill: Legislative deputies are considering an initiative to ban “stealthing” or removing or damaging a condom without consent during sex. The initiative proposes a penalty of up to 12 years in prison for perpetrators.

📰 Overcrowded Prisons: Minister of Justice and Peace Fiorella Salazar is warning of overcrowding prisons as the country expects an increase of 10,000 inmates in the next ten years. The prison system could collapse within a year or two.

📰 Rodrigo Chavez: The World Bank failed to protect two young employees who filed sexual harassment allegations against a veteran, high-ranking official who is now a presidential candidate in Costa Rica, according to findings released by the bank’s internal labor tribunal.

📰 Crime: The multiple murder of six people on a farm shocked Costa Rica on Monday. The motive behind the crime is unclear so far.

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El Salvador

📰 #El17Marchamos: Approximately 4,000 Salvadorans marched in San Salvador on Sunday against Bitcoin and anti-democratic behavior of the government of President Nayib Bukele. There were numerous police checkpoints, sometimes impeding people to march. Indigenous people and representatives of evangelical churches marched as well. President Bukele's Twitter description now reads "Emperor of El Salvador".

📰 Girls' Rights: Coinciding with the International Day of Girls on Oct. 11, multiple feminist organizations and human rights defenders called for the dismissal of Erick Romero Mena who is the President of the National Council for Children and Adolescents. Romero is currently facing domestic violence charges.

📰 Water Law: The Water Resources Law now discussed in an ad hoc Commission allows the use of water from Protected Natural Areas despite requests from universities and water organizations. It also includes 18 new infractions, with fines that go up to $3 million. // Foro del Agua, an organization committed to defending the right to water, has echoed previous calls for the reinstatement of dismissed judges after the new environmental judges have 'no experience with environmental laws'.

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Guatemala

📰 Congress: On Monday, October 18, Congress elected its new board of directors, through an alliance between the parties of Sandra Torres, Felipe Alejos, Zury Ríos, and President Alejandro Giammattei. Congresswoman Shirly Rivera, who was elected as president, is known for presenting a bill that seeks privileges for churches and attacks the rights of the LGBTIQ + community.

📰 Exile: This week marks three months since Juan Francisco Sandoval, former head of the Special Prosecutor against Impunity (FECI), was removed from his position in a process that he called illegal. Journalist Héctor Silva interviewed him in Washington, where the former prosecutor who now lives in exile. He spoke of the criminalization suffered by those who fought against corruption and what is the future of justice in Guatemala.

📰 Covid-19: In Guatemala, 43 percent of the population identifies as indigenous, but the Ministry of Health did not create a communication strategy on the pandemic in Mayan languages, which caused misinformation to gain ground among this population. Unequal access to the vaccine is also evident. According to the Data Laboratory, 85 percent of the doses have been given to people who identify as ladinos or mestizos.

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Honduras

📰 Elections 2021: The candidate for the "Salvador de Honduras" (PSH) Party, Salvador Nasralla, resigns to his presidential aspirations and supports Libre's presidential candidate for the November 28 elections. The “de-facto” alliance was consolidated between PSH, Libre, and Innovation and Unity (PINU), improving its chances to compete in the elections.

📰 UN Human Rights Council: Honduras was elected to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations. President Juan Orlando Hernandez welcomed the news. Lawyer and human rights defender Edy Tabora noted that “the government cannot give a single instance of respecting and promoting human rights,” and added that “it might create pressure on the State to comply with standards.”

📰 Indigenous Peoples: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights determined that the Honduran State violated the rights to life, integrity, work, health, social security, and non-discrimination of Indigenous Miskito divers in the Buzos Miskitos (Lemoth Morris y otros) vs. Honduras case.

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Nicaragua

📰 Migrants: Authorities in the southern border of Nicaragua charge $150 to Haitians and other migrants to let them cross the country. Migrants do not receive any receipt for their payment.

📰 Diplomacy: The European Union promised to put pressure on the Nicaraguan government for political reforms in the context of the November elections. However, there does not seem to be a specific plan at the moment. // Belarus and Turkey do not support international sanctions against Ortega’s public officers and family. // The OAS permanent council will discuss about Nicaragua on October 20.

📰 COVID-19: The National Assembly approved a loan to equip 6 modular hospitals with 406 new beds for COVID-19 patients. Funds are provided by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), among other financial institutions.

📰 Elections: The Government said it will call for a new “national dialogue” after the elections with main sectors of society, including the private sector. The political opposition supporting international sanctions is not invited. // The Electoral Council has not approved nor informed how or who will print the electoral ballots for this year’s elections.

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Panama

📰 Copa Airlines: The Panamanian Copa Airlines proposed a global initiative to increase the presence of women in the aviation industry and presented its program of diversity and inclusion.

📰 Bribrí: The Bribrí indigenous people want to reinforce and maintain permanent recognition of their ancestral territory to the Panamanian government.

📰 National: The elimination of gender parity in the changes to the recent Electoral Code triggered protests and criticism from women organizations and citizens.

Water Law, Bitcoin, and Water Access

Janette Guevara, 9, checks the water level in a container in her house located in the municipality of Berlin, El Salvador. There are plans to use geothermal resources in the area for bitcoin mining, while the community is lacking essential goods as drinking water. Source: El Faro.

Colin Powell in Central America

Colin Powell, the first Black US secretary of state, died at age 84. He played a key role in the Contra Wars under Reagan and in the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989.

"In the eighties, he played a key role in the war against the Sandinista revolution when he was working as an adjunct in the Reagan government and later as its national security adviser. His work consisted of ensuring Congressional backing for the Republican fundamentalists’ favorite creation, their Nicaraguan “freedom fighters,” or contras. (...) Another entry in Powell’s extensive curriculum is the invasion of Panama in 1989." (Revista Envío)

Good Reads

📌 Mayan People: The indigenous Maya people of Central America have been migrating and populating East Tennessee, alongside the indigenous people of the southeastern US (WATE - unavailable in Europe).

📌 Journalism: A Nicaraguan in exile in Costa Rica won a grant to tell the story of Nicaraguan migrants and explains her work. (Fundación Gabo, in Spanish)

📌 Food Sovereignty: Women of El Paisnal, El Salvador, cultivate food sovereignty in their communities (Gato Encerrado, in Spanish)

📌 Garífunas: Garífuna activist Miriam Miranda writes about the Garífuna struggle against U.S.-backed political persecution and land displacement in Honduras of her Afro-indigenous community (In These Times).

Call for Papers

🎓 Alambique: revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasía made a call for papers for those interested in Central American science fiction.

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