Central American News
Worst Migration Accident in Panama’s History
In Brief
Panama registered its worst migrant accident where a bus transporting 66 migrants fell off a cliff. At Least 39 people have died and about 20 are receiving medical attention. In Guatemala, Catholic Church leaders have expressed concerns on the survival of their migrant shelter networks. The instituted immigration reforms in the country could criminalize religious organizations and volunteers since the label “trafficker” can be applied to anyone facilitating the stay and transit of migrants in the country.
The Ortega regime stripped the nationality and citizenship rights of 94 Nicaraguans and ordered the confiscation of their assets. Additionally, they have been accused of being “traitors to the homeland” and are being considered as “fugitives from justice.” Among them are feminists, human rights defenders, journalists, and religious leaders. While in Costa Rica, The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice condemned the Chaves administration for limiting the movement of a Nicaraguan journalist seeking academic opportunities in Columbia. However, through the digitizing of residency cards by the government, more Nicaraguan migrant children are recipients, granting them free movement and opportunities to apply for scholarships.
The Central American News Team
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Headlines
Migration
📰 Migrant Shelters Under Threat: Catholic Church network of migrant shelters in Guatemala could face closure. The country instituted immigration reforms that could criminalize religious organizations and volunteers sheltering and supporting migrants and asylum seekers. They are meant to crack down on human smugglers, but the label “trafficker” can apply to anyone facilitating the stay and transit of migrants in the country.
📰 DIMEX: The Costa Rican government is digitizing their Documento De Identidad Migratorio Para Extranjeros (DIMEX) residency card. With the help of government agencies, UNICEF, and NGOs, Nicaraguan migrant children are receiving residency cards allowing them to apply for scholarships and freely travel Costa Rican borders.
📰Transit Ban: The Biden administration is preparing to replace the Trump-era pandemic expulsion order “Title 42” with a “transit ban” in May. Despite promising to bolster the U.S. asylum system, this may deny entry to migrants who didn’t previously seek asylum in a third country.
Panama
📰 Accident in Panama: A bus carrying 66 migrant passengers fell off a cliff in Panama in what has become the worst migration accident in the country’s history. At least 39 people have died and about 20 are under medical attention. President Cortizo stated that his administration is working to support those affected by the incident.
📰Carnival: On Tuesday, thousands flooded the promenade of the Panamanian capital (Cinta Costera) to celebrate the closing of the carnival with the traditional burial of the sardine. It was held after a two-year gap due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nicaragua
📰Nationality stripping: The Ortega regime stripped 94 Nicaraguans of their nationality and citizenship rights and ordered the confiscation of their assets. The regime is accusing them of being "traitors to the homeland" and considering them as "fugitives from justice". Among these people are feminists, human rights defenders, political activists, journalists, media directors, writers,and religious leaders, etc.
📰 Espionage: Since 2018, the regime of Daniel Ortega has been using a Russian technological tool called “System for Operative Investigative Activities” (SORM) for espionage. This technology allows the monitoring of credit cards, e-mail, phone calls, text messages, and social media.
Costa Rica
📰 Fatal Crash: Both vice presidents of the country survived a motor vehicle accident where one person died and six others were injured in Puerto Jiménez, Puntarenas. Jimarki Badilla, the bodyguard of vice president Stephan Brunner, died in the crash. President Rodrigo Chaves made a video statement on the incident.
📰 Migration: The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, also known as Chamber IV, condemned the Chaves administration for limiting the movement of a Nicaraguan journalist. The journalist sought refuge in Costa Rica and was denied a permit to leave the country for academic reasons to Colombia.
📰 Intersex Rights: Women’s rights organizations denounced the Costa Rican state and its healthcare system for discrimination against intersex people. The groups demand that healthcare providers get consent from intersex people before performing genital-change surgery and stop classifying their gender-at-birth as a “sexual development disorder.”
Belize
📰Insight Crime Report: For the first time in many years, Belize did not make the top ten most murderous countries in the world. A Recent report by Insight Crime suggests that the murder rate of Belize has decreased from 125 homicides in 2021 to 113 in 2022.It brings Belize’s homicide rate to 25.6 per 100,000.
📰Nurses Protest: The nursing staff at the Southern Regional Hospital protested the deplorable working conditions, inadequate remuneration, and high taxes. They stand in solidarity with medical professionals across the country calling for the reinstatement of increments for public workers that were frozen in 2020.
📰Human Smuggling: Haitians and Chinese often enter the country legally but disappear after. Recently, a group of nine Jamaicans attempted to “abscond” from a cruise ship, seven were later detained. Investigators believe that they are part of a larger human smuggling ring.
El Salvador
📰State of Exception: On February 15, El Salvador once again extended its State of Exception marking a year of its enforcement. More than 64,000 Salvadorans have been arrested under the exception. According to Aljazeera, a growing number of people who have been freed have been rearrested, sparking concerns.
📰Bitcoin: Last week, the country’s Ambassador to the U.S. Milena Mayorga, announced that the country plans to open a Bitcoin embassy in Texas.
📰Environment: A zoo in Idaho has been asked by the country’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to help manage El Salvador’s first-ever spider monkey sanctuary.
📰Human Rights: Arnoldo Antonio Vásquez, a former second lieutenant in the Salvadoran military, was stripped of his U.S. citizenship and deported after being linked to human rights violations during the civil war.
Guatemala
📰Elections: A month has passed since the electoral process began. In that time the Supreme Electoral Tribunal cleared the way for parties with early campaign signals to participate. It left Podemos, Roberto Arzú and David Pineda, and the Movement for the Liberation of the People (MLP), with Thelma Cabrera and Jordán Rodas out of the race.
📰Tragedy: Five months ago, a music festival sponsored by Cervecería Centroamérica ended in tragedy. Nine people died trying to leave the concert where the number of attendees exceeded the occupancy limit of the event. According to Plaza Pública, preventative measures were not followed and the organizers had lied in their reports.
📰Teen pregnancies: In Guatemala, the small municipality of Sayaxché Petén registered the largest number of pregnancies in girls. It also has high indices of illiteracy, poverty, and malnutrition. Even though the government should provide an economic voucher for girls, the program is distributed inefficiently.
Honduras
📰State of Exception: Honduras, under a state of exception that is meant to fight crime, has detained at least 8,155 people between December 2022 and January 2023. Out of 8,155 people detained, only 105 have been linked to illicit crime.
📰Poverty: According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), more than 1.3 million Honduran youth work for less than 8,000 Lempiras per month, an equivalent of $324.59 USD. Young people earning this income are between the ages of 12 and 30. They make up a significant percentage of the workforce in agriculture, construction, and forestry.
📰Political: The new 15 magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) for the period of 2023-2030 were finally announced on Friday, February 17. The addition of 6 supplemental magistrates were also approved where two are to be nominated per political party.
Central American Art
Good Reads
📌El Salvador: It is misleading that El Salvador expels fewer migrants thanks to "improved opportunities" (Gato Encerrado)
📌El Salvador: El Salvador Deals Major Blow to Nahuat Language Revitalization Efforts (El Faro)
Good News
✨International Competition: The Honduran folk dance group called "Catrachos" won first place in an international folk dance competition held in Bilbao, Spain.
✨Touristic Wonders: On Monday, a team from the National Geographic arrived in Petén Guatemala to visit Tikal as a part of an air tour to visit the most important tourist places in the world.
✨Film: Congratulations to Honduran filmmaker, producer and Central American Voices Podcast Host Alejandra Quiroz for releasing her debut film “Searching.” Catch it’s premiere during the Beyond Status 2023 Short Film Showcase on 23 March.
Events
📅Collage Exhibition: Guatemalan artists Igal and Mario Permuth will be exhibiting a series of pieces created with collage technique in the exhibition "The Third Eye." The exhibition is open to the public free of charge in the gallery of the Rozas-Botrán Foundation until March 24.
📅Art Fair: The Museum of the Old Town AMCA Panama presents "Less than a thousand", its third annual art fair, open to the public until Thursday, March 30 at the San Francisco de Asís Church, in front of Plaza Bolívar, free pass.
“Dare to change the world. There is nothing quixotic or romantic in wanting to change the world. It is possible. It is the age-old vocation of all humanity. I can't think of a better life than one dedicated to passion, to dreams, to the stubbornness that defies chaos and disillusionment.”
-Gioconda Belli, Nicaraguan-born author, novelist, poet, and person recently stripped of her nicaraguan nationality
History
Home to the oldest operating railroad in the world exists in Central America. The Panama Railroad is a fully functional railroad that transports passengers between Panama City and Colon. During its creation, it is estimated that 12,000 lives were lost. The majority died due to diseases, yet what is tragic is that no one knows an exact number because the company did not keep track of everyone, only its white workers which only represented a small fraction of the total workforce.
The Team
Editorial team: Mindrid Tesucum and Vanessa Lobo-Gradiz
Coordinating team: Karla Saenz Porras, Kayla Alamilla, Shahrazad Encinias
Social media: Abigail Galvez-Aguirre
News curators: Pablo Arauz (Costa Rica), Jody García (Guatemala), Kirsten Cintigo (El Salvador), Luna Cordóba (Nicaragua), Rodrigo Medina and Joan Collins (Panama), Allison Aguilar (Honduras), Oliver Martínez López (Migration)
Film curator: Robert Zuniga