El Salvador Swings Between Violence, the Army, and Possibly More Censorship
Dear Readers,
It was a stressful week for Salvadorans. There were 47 reported homicides in the span of three days in a country of 6 million people; many were afraid of going outside and shops changed their opening hours. The abrupt rise and fall of organized crime sparked all kinds of theories, some more substantiated than others, about the reasons behind it.
As Bukele sent the army to patrol the streets, his government also launched another stressor for democracy: a "foreign agents" law proposal, destined to protect Salvadoran politics from foreign (particularly U.S.) interference. Human rights organizations and media would be taxed by 40% on their international funding. Just last year, Nicaragua signed off a similar law, which itself had been heavily inspired by one in Russia.
In other regional news, the longtime mayor of San José, Costa Rica, has been arrested on corruption charges, and the U.S. and the OAS are laying a diplomatic arsenal against Nicaragua after its undemocratic elections. Nicaragua is pondering leaving the OAS altogether. More political violence is coming out of Honduras ahead of its elections this month, as the Mayor of Cantarranas was killed. The sons of former President Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, are currently facing extradition proceedings authorized by the Guatemalan Court for money laundering related to Odebrecht. Meanwhile, Guatemala's Indigenous communities keep protesting the mining site in El Estor and demand a better future -- a plurinational state.
Salú,
Melissa
Headlines
Migration
📰 Immigration Reform: Migrant advocates are calling for Congress to pass legislation for humanitarian immigration reform.
📰 Operation Horizon: The US government will send court documents to 78,000 migrants who have recently crossed the border to determine if they will be authorized to remain in the U.S. or deported.
📰 Migrant Caravan in Mexico: The Mexican National Guard confronted the migrant caravan last Friday as Mexican authorities try to slow down their passage in trucks on their journey through southern Mexico, which has now lasted 20 days.
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Belize
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Costa Rica
📰 Operación Diamante: Agents with the country’s Judicial Investigations Unit detained Johnny Araya Monge, the longtime mayor of San José, in a nationwide anti-corruption raid Monday morning. Araya was arrested along with more than three dozen others, including five other mayors in an alleged bribery scheme orchestrated by the construction company MECO.
📰 Doubts in the Process: After Attorney General Emilia Navas abruptly left public office following the Cochinilla Case in August, there is no clear path as to who will take up the position. So far, there are 22 candidates for the office as doubts linger in the transparency process.
📰 Diabetes Mortality Rate: The Health Ministry reported a 32% increase in deaths from diabetes mellitus in 2020. That means 2,200 more people died from the disease than in the previous year. Health officials are asking the public to take precautions.
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El Salvador
📰 Foreign Agents Law: Nayib Bukele's government presented a proposal for a “Foreign Agents Law” to the Legislative Assembly. The law aims to “prohibit foreign interference” by regulating and imposing a 40% tax the funds received by civil society organizations and media that are deemed threatening to the country. Multiple organizations, including Cristosal, have denounced this initiative. Comparisons have been with similar laws in Nicaragua and Russia.
📰 Homicides and Militarization: More than 40 homicides were recorded in three days last week, sparking fear among the population. President Nayib Bukele deployed El Salvador’s military to patrol the streets. The homicide rate dropped on Friday, but speculations remain as to why the violence started and stopped abruptly. Specialists say that surges of gang violence are a result of government-gang negotiations while Bukele applauds the Territorial Control Plan and points a finger at "dark forces" and "international financing of gangs with no further details.
📰 COP26: The Salvadoran Minister of Environment and Natural Resources attended COP26 but did not present El Salvador’s commitments to addressing climate change as previously planned.
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Guatemala
📰Strike: On Monday, November 15, the Campesino Development Committee (Codeca), one of the largest indigenous organizations in Guatemala, took to the streets and blocked roads to protest against the increase in gas, gasoline and electricity prices, demand the resignation of President Alejandro Giammattei, reject the state of siege in El Estor and request the integration of a Plurinational State. The National Civil Police dispersed some of the routes and accused the indigenous congresswoman Vincenta Jerónimo for having led the demonstrations.
📰Corruption: Former President Otto Pérez Molina could regain his freedom in house arrest after having spent six years in jail by paying Q13 million bond. He had been accused by the Public Ministry and the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) of directing a customs fraud network known as La Línea. However, this is not the only case that he is facing. Before recovering his freedom, he must elucidate a case better known as "State Cooptation".
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Honduras
📰 Electoral Strategies: Milton Avila Benitez, also known as “El Perro Amarillo,” is joining the alliance with opposition candidate Xiomara Castro. Avila is mobilizing his voters to vote for Xiomara, rather than him, for the upcoming November 28 elections.
📰 Political Violence: Mayor of Cantarranas, Francisco “Paquito” Gaitán Agüero, was killed this week. Paquito was aspiring for another term for the opposition Libre Party. The UN expressed deep concerns over political violence in Honduras.
📰 Human Rights: Women’s platform “Somos Muchas” publicly denounced the electoral campaign of the ruling National Party of Honduras (PNH) for the promotion and the incitement of hate against women.
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Nicaragua
📰 OAS: The Organization of American States approved a resolution declaring Nicaraguan elections as “not legitimate”. This could lead to a suspension of Nicaragua under the Democratic Charter. Nicaragua may start the process to leave the OAS.
📰 Other Diplomacy: The United States, Canada and United Kingdom issued sanctions against 18 public officials due to corruption, human rights violations and illegitimate elections. The U.S. also signed the “Renacer Act” which gives President Biden the power to add more sanctions towards Nicaragua and review their free trade agreement.
📰 Post-Elections: Civil organizations listed at least 35 detentions in the days before and after the elections, including activists and journalists. // The FSLN party will receive 17 million dollars as “refund” for electoral campaign costs.
📰 Less Media: A state regulatory body cancelled the TV and Radio license of Canal 21 and Radio Enlace, both owned by presidential candidate Guillermo Osorno. Osorno denounced the anomalies in the electoral process after the elections were held.
📰 COVID-19: The Nicaraguan government launched a massive "house-to-house" vaccination campaign against COVID-19, including children from 2 years of age, in order to increase the immunization rate in the country, one of the most behind in Latin America. Health authorities report a 72% vaccination rate for Nicaraguans over 30 years old.
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Panama
📰Ex-President, Acquitted: Former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli was acquitted for the second time for wiretapping more than 150 people while he led the country from 2009 to 2014. On the other hand, his sons, Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, are currently facing extradition proceedings authorized by the Guatemalan Court for money laundering related to Odebrecht.
📰Sexual assaults: The number of sexual assault complaints have increased by 36% in Panama over the course of 2021. Approximately 5,365 complaints of this type were filed this year. The Emberá, Gunayala and Ngäbe-Buglé regions, housing many indigenous communities, are the most affected.
📰Sports: The Panama Government will spend 14 million Panamanian balboas (same in U.S. dollars) in the construction of the "Panamanian Sports Hall of Fame" in Amador to spur pride in Panamanian sports. The Panamanian Sports Institute (Pandeportes) expects to inaugurate the place by the end of 2023.
Mining changing landscapes
How have mining projects changed the mountains of Guatemala? A new research from Agencia Ocote includes satellite images of changing landscapes.
Good Reads
📌Bukelismo: Journalist Roberto Valencia wants to find out what is behind the fervor for Bukele in the city that most voted for him. (El Faro)
📌 Russian Mines: This investigation digs into Russian companies' interest in exploiting Guatemala's soil. (No-Ficcion)
📌 Palm Oil: In Latin America, Honduras has been one of the pioneer countries in the export of oil palm derivatives. Despite international complaints for damage to the environment, companies have not been held accountable. (Contracorriente)
📌Nicaragua's elections in detail: NACLA examines how Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega won his fourth consecutive term after silencing and punishing his opposition.
📌Prison companies: After a ruling in Washington requiring a prison corporation to provide back pay to migrant detainees, lawyers and advocates in other states are leveraging the court decision to defend detainees labor rights. (TIME)
📌Press in El Salvador: Salvadoran journalist Nelson Rauda recounts the persecution of journalists in El Salvador under the Nayib Bukele presidency. (Frontline-PBS)
Quote
"The international left remains divided on the Nicaraguan crisis, with some among it arguing that the Ortega-Murillo regime represents a continuation of the 1980s revolution and that the United States has been attempting to overthrow it." (NACLA)
Multimedia
🎥Tangled Roots: The School of the Americas Watch hosted a virtual conference, Tangled Roots: Mass Migration and the Biden Administration, featuring migrant advocates and leaders.
🎥El Mozote: Frontline documentary Massacre in El Salvador examines the El Mozote massacre of 1981.
🎧 Hogar Seguro case: Agencia Ocote launched the second part of the podcast No Fue el Fuego (It was not the fire), with which it tells the story of the fire at the state shelter Virgen de la Asunción.
Central American Studies
🎓Memoirs of Guerrilla Radio: University of Texas Press is reprinting an English translation of the Salvadoran guerilla account of the civil war and the role of radio transmission in the book Broadcasting the Civil War in El Salvador, A Memoir of Guerrilla Radio.
🎓 Pathways for legal employment: The Migration Policy Institute released a policy brief that provides alternatives for legal employment pathways for Central American arrivals to the US.
🎓 Equipo Maíz: Scholar Jorge Cuellar published a new article in the Radical History Review titled “How to Read Equipo Maíz: Cartooning the Political in El Salvador” about popular education efforts by the Equipo Maíz collective.
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The Team
Belize News Curator is needed!
Melissa Vida, Founder, Editor-in-Chief
Jonathan Peraza Campos, Migration News
Pablo Arauz Peña, Costa Rica News
Jalileh García, Honduras News
Jody García, Guatemala News
Joan Collins and Rodrigo Medina, Panama News
Kirsten Cintigo, El Salvador News
Natalie Leach, Social Media Manager
Vivian Ramos, Twitter Manager
José Martínez, Cecilia Rivas, Andres Guillen, Podcast Producers
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In Latin America, Honduras has been one of the pioneer countries in the export of oil palm derivatives. Despite international complaints for damage to the environment, the competent authorities in the interior of the country do not register sanctions against palm companies or independent producers. (Contracorriente)