Arévalo Victorious in Guatemalan Elections
Central American News
In Brief
Hi Readers, Welcome back!
I trust your summer was as enjoyable as ours. Here are this week’s highlights:
Bernardo Arévalo was elected as the new Guatemalan President this past Sunday.
The Nicaraguan government issued an official letter accusing the Jesuit Central American University (UCA) of “functioning as a center of terrorism” seizing their assets.
In July 2023, Panama reported the second highest number of migrants crossing through the Darién Gap surpassing documented crossings in 2022.
Greetings,
The Central American News Team
Headlines
Migration
📰Darién Gap: In July 2023, Panama reported the second highest number of migrants crossing through the Darién Gap. 55,387 people, 69 percent of them Venezuelan, crossed the perilous 60-mile jungle stretch that separates Colombia from Panama. As of July, migration through the Darién has already surpassed documented crossings in 2022.
📰Chinese Migrants: An increasing number of Chinese migrants are crossing the Darién Gap and making their way through Central America and Mexico to reach the United States. The Panamanian government reports that Chinese nationals are one of the main groups crossing the Darién.
📰Migrant Camp: Paso Canoas, the main border crossing between Costa Rica and Panama, has experienced a surge in border crossings largely from Venezuelans, Haitians, and Ecuadorians. Upon entering Costa Rica, migrants are sent to the Paso Canoas migrant camp where they struggle to afford a $30 bus fare to the Nicaragua border.
Central America
📰PARLACEN: On Monday, The Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) voted to expel Taiwan as a permanent observer after more than two decades. The country is being replaced by China, whose growing economic influence in Latin America has increasingly marginalized Taipei.
Guatemala
📰Election| Democracy: The controversial Guatemala elections result in a historic victory by Semilla Party presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo, son of the first democratically elected president in the country in 1944. However, this was an election that almost didn’t happen, according to Marco Fonseca, Instructor of Latin American and International Studies at York University in Canada.
📰Human Rights: Guatemala President-elect Bernardo Arevalo and Vice President- elect Karin Herrera face death threats, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The commission urges the state to “provide more protection” and reinforce security for the newly elected officials.
📰Environment: Environmental and land defenders continue to be criminalized in Guatemala for protecting their homelands, setting precedent for future extractivist corporations in Latin America. What happened in Guatemala “helped to establish criminalization as a go-to tool for polluting industries and governments seeking to discredit and silence activists.”
El Salvador
📰Gendered violence: In the last two reports from the Attorney General of the Republic, statistics showed that violence against women increased within the last year, specifically cases of sexual, psychological and patrimonial violence.
📰Government: The Legislative Assembly voted to remove Nuevas Ideas deputy Erick Garcia for ideological falsehood after he was accused of having ties to drug trafficking. Garcia is the third party deputy to be removed.
Nicaragua
📰UCA confiscation: The Nicaraguan government, through a Managua judge, issued an official letter accusing the Jesuit Central American University (UCA) of “functioning as a center of terrorism”. With the UCA, 27 private universities have been confiscated.
📰Political prisoners: After the illegal confiscation of the UCA, the government started new arbitrary detentions against university movements leaders. Student leader Adela Espinoza Tercero, from the UCA, and Gabriela Morales, from the confiscated Juan Pablo II University, were detained on Saturday.
📰Visa restrictions: On August 19, the U.S. State Department imposed visa restrictions on 100 Nicaraguan municipal officials who participated in efforts to repress civil society organizations, close civic spaces like that of UCA, and unjustly detain individuals who support a free civil society, including Bishop Rolando Álvarez.
Honduras
📰Poverty: Honduras continues to experience what economist, Mauricio Diaz, is now referring to as ‘chronic poverty’ with 7 of 10 persons living in conditions of poverty and 5 of 10 falling under extreme poverty. It is suggested that the Strategy of Reduction of Poverty has instead contributed to the economic disparities in the country. Using poverty as justification for large budgets, the government has turned this into a means to no real end.
📰Foreign Investors vs The State: The state of Honduras is being sued by Próspera Inc. for the alleged violation to investments of Peter Thiel’s ZEDES that were later made unconstitutional in the state. The law repealed on April 20, 2022 left foreign investors like Peter Thiel, asking a country experiencing economic turmoil for decades, for $10.8 million dollars in compensation.
Costa Rica
📰Extreme Heat: Temperatures over the past three months have shattered records as extreme heat persists across the country. The capital of San José saw its hottest July since records began to be kept 80 years ago. Carrillo in Guanacaste recorded the hottest temperatures in the country with a high of 40.8C (105F).
📰Indigenous Stewardship: The Indigenous territories of Talamanca Cabécar and Ujarrás are receiving ₡325 million (about $600,000) for signing the Contract for the Reduction of Forest Emissions. The two communities plan to reduce emissions over the course of seven years as a result of maintaining and caring for the forest.
📰China and Cybersecurity: General Laura Richardson, head of the U.S. military’s Southern Command visited President Rodrigo Chaves and questioned China’s interest on infrastructure and technology across Latin America. Following last year’s ransomware attacks on various ministries, Richardson also announced a $9.8 million investment over three years for the Ministry of Public Security to establish a cybersecurity operations center.
Belize
📰Cruise Port Saga: Opposition Leader Shyne Barrow has again raised concerns about the legitimacy of an MOU involving the Belize government, Portico Enterprises, and Boskalis International. In a letter to Royal Caribbean Group's audit committee chairman, Barrow warned of potential project cancellation by a future administration due to alleged corruption ties.
📰Sex Scandal: The Briceño administration faces scrutiny as the People's United Party Minister of the Blue Economy and Civil Aviation, Andre Perez, is implicated in a sex scandal involving explicit text messages with a legal professional. The woman alleges threats to her safety, prompting the opposition, the United Democratic Party, to demand the minister's resignation.
📰Shirley Roberts-Young Scholarships: The Shirley Roberts-Young Foundation held an award event in Belize City, honoring six full and four partial scholarship recipients. The Foundation covers education costs and supports schools nationwide. Awardees attend different institutions, and partial recipients received laptops and supplies.
Panama
📰Hate crime: Estrella, a trans woman, is fighting for her life after a man brutally assaulted her in the middle of the street on Wednesday. According to La Prensa, "the aggressor allegedly contacted Estrella for services that he later refused to pay for". On Friday, August 18, citizens protested demanding justice for Estrella.
📰Martinelli brothers: The sons of former President Ricardo Martinelli were sworn in as alternate deputies of PARLACEN last Wednesday after two failed attempts. The swearing in took place 5 days before the beginning of the trial of the Blue Apple case. Both are the main defendants and the judicial processes that follows must pass to the Supreme Court of Justice.
📰State budget: Last week the Minister of Economy and Finance, Héctor Alexander, presented the state budget for 2024 for almost $33 billion before the National Assembly. The 2024 budget is 18.7% higher than that estimated for 2023.
Culture/History
The Burning of the Devil is a very important tradition in Guatemala. This custom is used to carry out as part of the preparations for Christmas, in this way the expiration of the "devil" is declared, to give space to the Christian nativity.
Good Reads
📌El Salvador: The military siege revives the old ghosts of Cabañas (Revista Factum)
Good News
✨Honduras: Honduran Libni Bove is the new president of the Latin American Association of Chemical Engineering Students.
Central American Voices
✍️ Headline: Edgar Gomez is a recipient of the coveted 2023 American Book Award for his novel, High- Risk Homosexual: A Memoir, the Nicaraguan- Puerto Rican author posted on his Twitter.
Events
📅EducaFest STEM: The festival of scientific and technological careers in Guatemala EducaFest STEM 2023 will be held on Thursday, August 31, 2023. It will be at the Grand Tikal Futura Hotel Convention Center from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
📅El Salvador en Colores: The El Salvador en Colores tile painting workshops will be held on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in September, at the National Palace. Girls and boys from 6 years of age, youth and adults can enroll. Each painting workshop costs $8.00 and includes the materials that will be used.
Film
Hey all! This week I wanted to share with you a film called Cadejo Blanco. Directed by Justin Lerner and filmed in Guatemala City, the film takes place in the streets of Guatemala City where Sarita and her sister Bea go out dancing one night. The morning after, Sarita notices Bea never returned home. As panic starts to settle in, Sarita begins her search by retracing her steps and eventually speaking to unhelpful police. Sarita takes the situation in her own hands by infiltrating and joining a gang, whom she suspects have involvement in the disappearance of Bea. This Crime Drama follows Sarita in her gritty quest to find her sister even if dangers face her in every corner.
This can be watched on: Vudu. Apple TV, Amazon, and Google Play
The Team
Editorial team: Mindrid Tesucum
Coordinating team: Karla Saenz Porras, Kayla Alamilla, Shahrazad Encinias
Social media: Abigail Galvez-Aguirre
News curators: Pablo Arauz (Costa Rica), Kirsten Cintigo (El Salvador), Luna Cordóba (Nicaragua), Rodrigo Medina and Joan Collins (Panama), Allison Aguilar (Honduras), Elliaz Luna(Belize), Oliver Martínez López (Migration)
Film curator: Robert Zuniga