Taiwan Reaffirms Ties with Belize and Guatemala.
Central American News
In Brief
Late last week, Taiwanese President, Dr. Tsai Ing-wen arrived in Guatemala for a three day visit. She then proceeded to neighboring Belize where she toured different parts of the country. During her trip she visited projects that were funded by Taiwan such as hospitals. Both countries declared their continued recognition of the Republic of China (Taiwan) as a sovereign and independent nation.
The Taiwanese President visited the Central American countries after making a controversial stop in New York, and on Wednesday, Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen. Guatemala, along with Belize, are among the seven countries of Latin America and the Caribbean that remain as allies to Taiwan from a total of 13 nations. Her visit comes a week after Honduras broke relations with the island.
Greetings
The Central American News Team
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Headlines
Migration
📰 Stricter Travel: Belize has tightened travel restrictions for Haitians and Jamaicans by requiring them to obtain visas and show proof of lodging before entering the country. The new measure hopes to reduce the number of Haitians and Jamaicans using Belize as a transit point to irregularly cross into the United States.
📰 Human Rights: Guatemalan Bishops condemn migrant centers as places of detention that violate human rights, following the fire incident in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, that took the lives of 39 migrants.
📰 Texas Accident: Two Honduran migrants were found dead of asphyxiation in an unventilated cargo train car near Knippa, Texas. Over a dozen other individuals who were found inside train cars were transported to nearby hospitals for medical attention.
Guatemala
📰Elections: The presidential candidate of the Podemos party, Roberto Arzú García-Granados, stated that he challenged 12 of the 13 Supreme Court magistrates before going to the public hearing on April 10 where they will decide whether he will participate in the upcoming General Elections. He further stated that the decision issued by the Constitutional Court (CC) on April 3 was expected and they knew that they were going to reject the requested provisional protection.
📰Indigenous People: Indigenous land defenders in Guatemala are on the “front line of fire.” A report by an international group of independent lawyers points to the criminalization, violence, persecution, and impoverishment suffered by indigenous communities in the country.
📰 Taiwan Relations: On Sunday, Taiwan's President, Dr. Tsai Ing-wen completed a three-day trip to Guatemala. She offered more cooperation with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei's government, one of Taiwan's few allies in the world.
Belize
📰Taiwan Relations: The Taiwanese President, DR. Tsai Ing-wen arrived in Belize on Sunday. Prime Minister John Briceño and Foreign Minister Eamon Courtenay hosted the president, as well as Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and other government officials as they signed a Technical Cooperation Framework Agreement between both countries.
📰Passport Prices: Minister of Immigration, Eamon Courtenay announced last week during the sitting of the Senate an increase in the cost of passports and passport services. The new fees will take effect on April 4. The new cost of a 10-year adult passport is set at $200. This marks a 400% increase from the previous fee of $50. Additionally, the fee for minors has increased from $30 to $150, representing a 500% increase.
📰SargaBlocks: Omar Vasquez is the owner of SargaBlock, based in Mexico, and intends to build the first sargablock home in Belize for a needy family. He created a method to manufacture building blocks using sargassum. Mayor Nunez and Vasquez are partnering to renovate the Central Park in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, using sargablocks.
Honduras
📰National Security: Following the one month extension of the state of exception, the Defense and Security Council approved a new plan for national security. It was launched on April 1st, with at least 7 departments intensifying operatives against crime with the participation of over 20,000 members of the military and police. National organizations expressed concern over regression of demilitarization efforts and threat to judicial power.
📰Migration: Honduras was declared the Central American country with most detained migrants in Mexico. According to the National Institute of Migration (INM), at least 135 Hondurans migrate per day to North America.
📰Overpopulated Prisons: National organizations seek alternatives to deal with the overpopulation of prisons. While above capacity, at least 19,450 newly imprisoned people were reported at the end of March. The law of Constitutional Graces and the law of Judicial Redemption of Prison Sentence, are among main projects, with the intention of reducing time served and introducing programs for social reintegration.
Nicaragua
📰OAS Hearing: The president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), Judge Ricardo Pérez, informed the Permanent Council of the OAS that Nicaragua has remained in "permanent contempt" due to the non-compliance of ten resolutions issued by that court to protect the lives of 88 political prisoners, six of whom are still in jail.
📰Holy Week: The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo prohibited the viacrucis processions, one of the most outstanding religious activities during Holy Week. After the mass on Ash Wednesday, the Police informed the priests that there was no permission to make the Stations of the Cross “for security reasons.”
📰National Police: On Tuesday, the U.S. Commerce Department added the Nicaraguan National Police to the trade blacklist after the Biden Administration said the police force was engaged in serious human rights abuses including arbitrary killings, arrests and torture, as well as life-threatening conditions in prisons.
Costa Rica
📰Bosque Prusia: Environmentalists and forestry experts say that the Prusia Forest in the Cartago province is in need of government intervention as exotic non-native trees are overtaking the ecosystem. In addition, climate change continues to impact the landscape.
📰Farmers Protest: Agricultural leaders representing farmers across the country called President Rodrigo Chaves “arrogant and disrespectful” after the president dismissed a recent protest against the nation joining the Pacific Alliance, a trade bloc that includes other Latin American countries. Farmers are speaking out against the decrease in production of Costa Rican goods and the increase of imports.
📰Lucho Barahona: The Legislative Assembly voted unanimously to present Lucho Barahona with the distinction of honorary citizen. Barahona is a Chilean playwright and actor who emigrated to Costa Rica following the military coup in the 1970’s. He’s 93 years old.
Panama
📰Theft: Attorney General, Javier Carballo, revealed that 19,000 doses of fentanyl were "lost" from the Social Security Fund (CSS). In November 2022, a bag containing 12 vials of fentanyl was found in the reception area of the CSS Hospital. No one has been arrested for the crime, but the CSS has opened an investigation against the civil servant who owned the bag found in the reception area.
📰Water: Citizens from several sectors of Arraijan have been protesting for four days due to lack of water, a constant problem in Panama Oeste for the last 20 years. Today, of the 300,000 people living without water in Panama, 150,000 live in Panama Oeste.
📰Earthquake: On Tuesday, the Geosciences Institute of the University of Panama reported two earthquakes of 6.7 and 6.9, that were registered 71 km from the island of Coiba. The earthquake was felt the strongest in the province of Chiriqui, and no injuries were reported.
Central American Art
Good Reads
📌Costa Rica: Meryll Arias: the engineer leading the conservation of Costa Rica's Biosphere Reserves. (UNESCO)
📌Guatemala: Water defenders protect Guatemala’s majestic Lake Atitlán from mountains of garbage. (Waging Nonviolence)
Good News
✨Technology: Technological tools in Mayan languages are being created to promote health in Guatemala. The tools will provide help to translate for medical consultations or provide messages to parents and caregivers to promote the growth of children in their first years of life, all in different Mayan languages.
✨Native Freshwater Fish: Rosy Walther Zoo inaugurates the first native freshwater fish aquarium in Honduras.
Events
📅Maya: The Exhibition: Features over 250 authentic artifacts, many on tour outside of Guatemala for the first time, highlighting the ancient Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America at the California Science Center.
📅Miss Garífuna 2023: The Miss Garífuna 2023 pageant will be held on 17 April. It will take place in the Corozola community at the Hotel Brisas del Mar. The event will be held during the month of African Heritage in Honduras.
History
Across Central America, the preparation of the tapestries is an elaborate and tedious process that begins several weeks before Easter. It is usually displayed during Holy week leading up to the main activities on Good Friday. The carpets are made from layers of coloured sawdust and may have additional materials laid on them as decorations. Traditionally, sawdust carpets are created to greet religious processions. It is not only an expression of faith but of the creativity of Central Americans.
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), 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