Indigenous women win historic trial
Dear Readers,
After more than 40 years of impunity, a group of 36 Mayan Achí indigenous women received justice in Guatemala.
Last Monday, a court sentenced five former civil patrollers to 30 years in prison for having raped, sexually enslaved and tortured them between 1981 and 1983. The case was picked up in 2011, when the women started telling their story; in 2019, a court had freed the defendants.
Indigenous lawyers Lucía Xiloj, Haydeé Valey and Gloria Reyes Xitumul, fought for justice for the Achí women. Now, the case sets a historical precedent by judging sexual abuse as a strategy for war.
Also read about El Salvador's future virtual casino and the beatification of Rutilio Grande, Honduras' congress dispute, Costa Rica's upcoming elections, and more.
Salú,
Melissa and Jody
Podcast
ICYMI: Our first long-form episode of the season, podcast co-producer Andrés Guillen sits down with Honduran News Curator Jalileh Garcia to talk about the state of Honduran politics following Xiomara Castro’s historic election. Listen here!
Headlines
Migration
📰 Presidential Matters: Immigration advocates express frustration with US President Joe Biden’s record of “broken promises” on immigration. // US Vice President Kamala Harris made plans to travel to Honduras to discuss the “roots of immigration.”
📰 Immigration in the Courts: The immigration court backlog in the U.S. nearly equaled the population of the city of Philadelphia. // A Harvard Law School clinic is suing immigration officials for not releasing records on solitary confinement in immigrant detention.
📰 Obstructing Migrants: Mexican officials have detained nearly 3000 migrants in two days last week. Guatemalan officials have stopped migrants traveling from Honduras.
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Belize
📰 Maya Forestry Exports: A Q’eqchi Maya forestry enterprise in Toledo District has started its first export of rosewood in 2022 to France. For some, "this development supports the idea that the growing demand for sustainable wood can drive Belize’s green economy with indigenous sustainable forestry as its engine."
📰 Justice: Four new Supreme Court judges have sworn-in. President of the Bar Association said "”At the end of 2020, the legal system was in a dire state (...) the Office of the Attorney General [has] breathed life back into the legal system.”
📰 Diplomacy: Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister visited Belize "to explore new opportunities for foreign trade between their two countries, as well as for cooperation in agriculture, foreign direct investments, and improving the human development index."
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Costa Rica
📰 Tourist Assaults: Two sexual assault cases reported in the country’s Caribbean province of Limón have put authorities the area on high alert. The National Institute for Women reported the assaults against two foreign tourists and made a statement that it would stand with the victims as the perpetrator(s) are judged to the full extent of the law.
📰 Pollution: A new report by the National Meteorological Institute found that the country’s transportation sector poses the largest obstacle to the country’s goal of net zero emissions. The report estimates that emissions from transportation accounts for more than 40% of greenhouse gasses.
📰 2022 Elections: An estimated 43% of registered voters are still undecided in the presidential election on Feb. 6 according to the latest CIEP-UCR polls which put José María Figueres and Lineth Saborío as the leading candidates, with Fabricio Alvarado trailing in third.
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El Salvador
📰 La Matanza Anniversary: On Jan. 22, the Indigenous community of Izalco commemorated the 90th anniversary of La Matanza, the massacre of Indigenous peoples that occurred in 1932. They also denounced the mayor’s office plans to build on the land despite it being considered sacred.
📰 Cryptobusiness: El Salvador's government will develop a partnership with NFT collection Astrobabies for a virtual casino within the Metaverse where people can buy and sell NFT, while also having a physical counterpart. // El Salvador plans to offer crypto-based loans of $10 million for small and medium-sized companies. // The IMF urges El Salvador to discontinue bitcoin’s status as legal tender.
📰 COVID-19: Despite increasing numbers confirmed COVID-19 cases, El Salvador’s Ministry of Health is awaiting confirmation of Omicron's presence within the country,
📰 Beatification: Salvadoran Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande, Italian Fray Cosme Spessotto, laymen Nelson Rutilio Lemus and Manuel Solórzano were beatified on Jan. 22. Grande, Lemus and Solórzano were assassinated on March 12, 1977. Spessotto was also assasinated later in 1980.
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Guatemala
📰 Justice: After more than 40 years of impunity, a group of 36 Mayan Achí indigenous women received justice. On Jan. 24, a Court sentenced five former civil patrollers to 30 years in prison for having raped, sexually enslaved and tortured them between 1981 and 1983. The case sets a historical precedent by judging sexual violations as a war strategy.
📰 General Attorney: The race to elect the next General Attorney of Guatemala has begun. According to the procedure, a commission must prepare a list of six candidates for President Alejandro Giammattei to choose the successor of Consuelo Porras, a prosecutor who had been sanctioned by the United States Department of State. The commission will start its meetings next Monday, on Jan. 31.
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Honduras
📰 Congress: A legislative crisis broke out in Honduras as two congressmen dispute the leadership of Honduras' Congress, along with their boards of directors. Congressman Luis Redondo of the Salvador de Honduras (PSH) party and the other headed by Congressman Jorge Cálix, expelled from the Libertad y Refundación (Libre) party were appointed through different, partly irregular processes. The Official Gazette published Redondo as the president of the Congress, yet two different Congressional proceedings have been taking place. Analysts affirm that the crisis will have to be resolved through a political pact, as the judicial branch does not have the conditions to lead to a resolution.
📰 Tegucigalpa: The new mayor of Tegucigalpa, Jorge Aldana of the Libre Party, was inaugurated this week. Politicians, diplomats, former mayors, and representatives of civil society attended the event. Aldana is breaking the 24-year long rule of National Party mayors in the city.
📰 Corruption: Honduras ranks the 4th most corrupt country in the Americas, according to Transparency International.
📰 Outgoing President: On Jan. 27, Honduras will inaugurate Xiomara Castro as President. Outgoing President Hernández is "widely expected to be indicted by US prosecutors on drug trafficking conspiracy charges upon leaving office."
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Nicaragua
📰 US Border: 15,388 Nicaraguans have been apprehended without visas at the U.S. border throughout December 2021. In October, November and December, 38,000 Nicaraguans have been apprehended at the US borders.
📰 Corruption: Nicaragua ranks as the 2nd most corrupt country in Latin American, and 1st in the category in Central America, according to Transparency International.
📰 Human Rights: Health of political prisoners deteriorates while dictatorship keeps their trials on hold. A group of relatives of political prisoners calls for “a process of citizen unification” and a call for the freedom of 170 political prisoners, as a first step to the recovery of peace and freedom.
📰 Honduras: An official delegation of Nicaragua headed by the chancellor will attend the inauguration of Xiomara Castro as president of Honduras.
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Panama
📰 Mexico Embassy: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador appointed historian Pedro Salamerón as Mexico's ambassador in Panama. In 2019, a student of the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), denounced Salamerón for sexual harassment. Human rights defenders in Panama sent a letter to President Laurentino Cortizo to reject Pedro Salameron as Ambassador of Mexico to Panama.
📰 University of Panama: The University of Panama expects to receive more than 90,000 students in the first semester of 2022. First year classes will be virtual. Before the pandemic, the university had an enrollment of 75,000 students.
📰 New sharks species: Between 2010 and 2011 two research expeditions sponsored by the Spanish government found a new species of shark off the Caribbean coast of Panama, now named "Squatina mapama". It is the first record of an angel shark found in the Central American Caribbean.
Rutilio Grande
📌 “It is good that they celebrate Rutilio, I would like to have my brother alive” (El Faro)
📌 "It is very paradoxical that this beatification is being celebrated when the voice of the Salvadoran people has been kidnapped," says Father Rodolfo Cardenal in an interview. (Revista Factum).
📌 What does the beatification of Rutilio Grande mean for El Salvador? (America Media)
🎥 A short documentary on Rutilio, Nelson and Manuel. "Servants of God moved by faith" (2022) (UCA)
The Indigenous women lawyers in Achí case
Those who were behind the historic Achi trial were three indigenous lawyers. Plaza Pública tells how they faced a system of impunity and discrimination.
Norma Torres' Op-Ed
U.S. Congresswoman Norma Torres wrote that “President-elect Xiomara Castro’s inauguration means new hope for Honduras,” in an opinion piece where she announces that she has requested the Department of Justice for the extradition of Juan Orlando Hernandez. (Contracorriente)
Shalom, Guatemala's most dangerous colonia
In three reports, journalists tell the story of families who fled due to violence and how security strategies failed in Shalom, Guatemala. "Of 300 resident families, only 125 remain."
Book Award
The Water Defenders: How ordinary people saved a country from corporate greed (Beacon Press, 2021) by Robin Broad and John Cavanagh is the winner of the 2021 Juan E. Méndez Book Award for Human Rights in Latin America.
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The Team
Melissa Vida, Founder, Editor-in-Chief
Jonathan Peraza Campos, Migration News
Candice Gillet, Belize 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