Central American News

Feb 23, 2022

Dear Readers,

Garifuna leaders joined their Mayan counterparts in protesting the Belizean government's lack of consultation with them regarding land rights. These leaders reject the government's Free, Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) Protocol, which was, according to them, created without their consent.

Joseph Guerrero, Lands Minister of Garifuna Nation, said "that it is high time for the government to stop administrating Garifuna lands without the consent of the Garifuna people traditionally living in those communities."

"Belize has a historic pattern of ignoring its duty to consult its Indigenous Peoples," argues Monica Coc Magnusson, Director of Advocacy at Cultural Survival. "Given repeated experiences wherein the duty to consult is either ignored or not properly applied, in 2014, the Maya people (...) created their own consultation framework, known as the Maya Consultation Framework (MCF)."

Know more about these processes in the good reads below, along with news from the region and a podcast recommendation!

Salú,

Melissa and Candice (Belize news curator)

Headlines

Migration

📰 At the border: Migrant encounters at the US-Mexico border declined in January compared to the previous month. // Migrants stuck in Mexico sewed their mouths shut in protest to demand authorities allow them passage through the US-Mexico border.

📰 Immigration policy: The Supreme Court will review the Biden administration’s efforts to terminate the “Remain in Mexico” rule in April. // US Republicans demonstrate a rift in immigration legislation as some support immigration reform with pathways to citizenship while others refuse to support reform without border security measures.

📰 Immigration courts: Immigration courts struggling with understaffing and backlogs are raising concerns that migrants due in courts will not receive hearing notices.

📰 Hemispheric politics: Cubans protest outside of the Costa Rican embassy in Cuba to protest the tighter visa requirements to travel to Nicaragua. // Mexican diplomat urged the U.S. to create legal pathways for entry into the U.S. to address the flow of migration.

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Belize

📰 EU cooperation: The government of Belize has signed an 17 million euro agreement with the European Union for the Cooperation Indicative Programme, which focuses on ѕuѕtаіnаblе management of nаturаl rеѕоurсеѕ, еnvіrоnmеntаl рrеѕеrvаtіоn, rural trаnѕfоrmаtіоn, іnсоmе gеnеrаtіоn, іnсluѕіоn оf іndіgеnоuѕ соmmunіtіеѕ, regional integration and border management.

📰 Garifuna politics: The President of the Garifuna Nation joined the Maya leaders in rejecting the Free, Prior, Informed Consent protocol submitted by the Belize government to the Caribbean Court of Justice regarding communal land rights for its lack of consultation and inclusion of the Garifuna people. // The National Garifuna Council (NGC) is preparing to elect new leadership and has named Beatrice Mariano as interim president.

📰 Environment: The Department of the Environment has extended the phase-out timelines for the sale and possession of single-use plastics. The sale and possession of single-use plastics must end on March 31, 2022.

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Costa Rica

📰 Human rights: An UN human rights expert from Nigeria is evaluating the country’s commitment to human rights. He will present his findings at a press conference in San José in early March.

📰 Migration: The country’s office of migration announced that it will request visas from Venezuelans who migrate to Costa Rica or are temporarily staying in the country in transit to other destinations. The office indicated that the decision was made in order to protect Venezuelans already living in the country.

📰 In person classes: After nearly two years of virtual learning, more than 5,000 education centers across the country are beginning the 2022 school year with face-to-face classes. The government has mandated that schools require masks for all students.

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El Salvador

📰 Disappearances: Mothers looking for their missing children (now under the banner of "Bloque de Búsqueda") held a press conference where they highlighted El Salvador's lack of actions toward finding disappeared persons. They also went to see forensics in order to see the identities of the 26 bodies that were recently exhumed in a mass grave in Nuevo Cuscatlán.

📰 COVID-19: The Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that El Salvador invested over $170 million in COVID-19 vaccines. The exact number is unknown as it is not publicly available. Health officials have also cited that rates of vaccination and positive cases are no longer being updated despite being in a fourth wave.

📰 Bitcoin: In a tweet, President Nayib Bukele responded to a request by U.S. senators to investigate the implementation of Bitcoin, "to stay out of the country’s internal affairs". // Bukele also proposed granting citizenship to foreign investors.

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Guatemala

📰 Hospitals: Medical practitioners from one of the main hospitals in Guatemala took the streets to protest a crisis in the supply of medicines and medical equipment. The doctors denounced that "patients are coming to the hospital to die" and that others are receiving attention from mattresses on the floor.

📰 Attorney General: 26 people applied for the position of Attorney General. Among them is Consuelo Porras, who is seeking reelection in office, despite having been sanctioned by the United States and being included in the Engel List of anti-democratic actors.

📰 Exile: The persecution of prosecutors who investigate major corruption cases is on the rise. Juan Francisco Sandoval, former head of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity, said that at least 13 of his colleagues are in exile and that at least four are in prison in Guatemala.

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Honduras

📰 Bankruptcy: Honduras' new government, through the Secretariat of Finances, presented to the National Congress a decree to declare a state of fiscal and financial emergency in Honduras. The decree was approved the same day and some Congresspeople denounced that it was not discussed enough. Government authorities assure that it was necessary because the State of Honduras is completely bankrupt. The new decree indicates that the previous administration’s general budget lacks legality, transparency, and favors corruption, while allowing the new administration to borrow up to USD 2,000 million.

📰 Anti-corruption: The Honduran government announced that it has formally petitioned the UN to lead the installation of an International Commission Against Impunity in Honduras, or the CICIH.

📰 Foreign relations: Honduras expects the arrival of the Chief of the United States Southern Command, Laura Jane Richardson, to discuss security and defense. // Honduras called for all parties involved in the Russia-Ukraine crisis to dialogue to prevent violence from breaking out.

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Nicaragua

📰 Education: Two more private universities may be closed according to a proposal in the National Assembly. About 18,000 students were affected by the previous closure of six universities, which then have been “nationalized” as public institutions. They are now under administrative, academic and political control of the government.

📰 Foreign relations: Nicaragua supports Russia’s plan to send troops to separatist regions of Ukraine.

📰 Political prisoners: 27 countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) demanded that Nicaragua release all 170 political prisoners and end unfair trials.

📰 Gender violence: Eight femicides have been reported in 2022 in Nicaragua, a higher number than 2021 for the same period, and with more extreme violence exercised.

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Panama news will be back next week!

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"Belize has a historic pattern of ignoring its duty to consult its Indigenous Peoples"

Monica Coc Magnusson explains the issues behind Belize's Free, Prior and Informed Consent protocol and why Mayan leaders are against it. (Cultural Survival)

Migrants' lives at the border

At least 650 migrants died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021, according to the International Organization for Migration. But the IOM has noted that “all (migrant death) figures remain undercounts.” (The Conversation)

Indigenous Science With Jessica Hernandez

LatinoUSA interviewed Dr. Jessica Hernandez, a Zapotec and Maya Ch’orti’ environmental scientist and author of the book “Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes Through Indigenous Science.” A great listen on her experiences in Western academia.

Back to school: an investigation

The budget allocated for school health insurance for 2022 is double what was allocated last year. But these parents and teachers cannot use it. (Plaza Pública)

Ortega's monopoly

From oil to media, here is a report on the 22 companies under Ortega-Murillo's control. (Confidencial)

Sports and Food

Two Salvadorans celebrate soccer hero ‘Magico’ Gonzalez through art and hot dogs.

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