Tragedy in Mexico Claims the Lives of Central American Migrants
Central American News
In Brief
A deadly fire at a Migrant processing center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, claimed the lives of at least 39 people on late Monday. Many of the migrants had traveled from Central and South American en-route to the United States. Twenty of the persons who lost their lives are of Guatemalan nationality. In a statement, the Government of El Salvador condemned the staff from the center and called for justice for the family of Carlos Pacheco. He was one of the Salvadoran migrants killed in the fire. So far five of the alleged perpetrators have been detained.
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Headlines
Migration
📰 Migration Center Fire: Fire in migration center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico killed at least 39 and left 29 seriously injured. 68 men from Central and South America were being housed there. Guatemala’s Migration Institute confirmed that 20 of the victims were Guatemalan.
📰 CBP One: The “CBP One” smartphone app launched in February to streamline asylum appointments at U.S.-Mexico points of entry is facing many technical and accessibility issues. These include frequent crashes, limited language availability, and a facial capture feature that does not properly recognize faces with darker skin.
📰 Refuge in Costa Rica: According to Costa Rica’s Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, 80-90% of refugees, mainly from Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, seeking asylum in the country do not meet the criteria to be qualified as such.
El Salvador
📰Migrant Casualty: In a statement from the government, El Salvador condemned the staff from the Mexico detention center where 39 migrants died. They also called for a thorough investigation. // The family of Carlos Pacheco, one of the Salvadoran migrants killed in the fire, is also calling for justice.
📰Municipality: In a notice from the Ministry of Interior, three municipalities in Santa Ana were notified that they would cease to exist and be incorporated as districts instead. This comes three months after President Nayib Bukele said he would reduce the number of municipalities from 262 to 50.
📰State of Exception: This week marked a full year since Bukele enacted a state of exception for El Salvador. So far, over 60,000 people have been arrested with human rights activists also citing rights violations.
Guatemala
📰Elections: Political parties complained to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) about the destruction and restrictions of propaganda. According to the political parties, discretionary decisions by local governments are affecting or hindering their right to campaign, since most of the mayors are not allowing them to use public lighting poles as a space to spread the image of their candidates. The parties affected by these municipal provisions have asked the TSE to rule and clarify where the electoral campaign can be placed during this phase.
📰Migrant Casualty: On Wednesday, the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry stated that twenty Guatemalans are believed to have died in a fire that broke out late Monday at a holding migrant center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Five alleged perpetrators of the fire have been detained.
📰Support Centers: Every year, the Comprehensive Support Centers for Women Survivors of Violence (Caimus) fight to receive funds from the government. The Interior Ministry is responsible for distributing this money through the National Coordinator for the Prevention of Domestic Violence against Women (Conaprevi). In 2022, some of these organizations received funds assigned for the entire year until December 30, but not in its entirety.
Honduras
📰Child Labor: The need to help out families economically has become one of the biggest problems affecting children in Honduras. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), at least 400,000 children find themselves victims of child labor. The increase in numbers of minors working the main streets of major cities, with no adult supervision, is often linked to the closing of schools during the pandemic and job losses of parents.
📰Overpopulated Prisons: Nearly all prisons in Honduras are overpopulated by over 150%, according to the Penitentiary Institute (INP). At least four new prisons would have to be built to compensate, but the state has only authorized the construction of two. Other institutions, like CONAPREV, do not support the construction of new prisons because “the state must aspire to build up, to implement programs of rehabilitation and social reintegration.”
📰Politics: Honduras officially cuts diplomatic ties of over 80 years with Taiwan. The state legitimized the beginning of a new relationship with China and publicly recognized Taiwan as part of Chinese territory.
Nicaragua
📰SICA: The Central American Integration System (SICA) will soon grant Russia the "observer country status". The decision comes seven months after the Daniel Ortega regime took over the General Secretariat of the regional body for the period 2022-2026. It is after an impasse of more than a year without a general secretary, due to repeated attempts by the Nicaraguan dictatorship to place political figures in office with no diplomatic experience.
📰NGOs: The closure of NGO’s has led to the unemployment of more than 23,000 Nicaraguans. Fundación del Río calculates economic losses of more than 250 million dollars and some 3.5 million citizens affected by the forced closure of more than 3,300 Non-Profit Organizations (OSFL), since the end of 2018.
Belize
📰Visas: On Tuesday, the Cabinet Office decided to cite Article 126 (A) of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas allowing Minister of Immigration, Eamon Courteney, to immediately enforce a visa requirement for Haitians entering Belize. Jamaicans are to provide proof of fully paid non-refundable hotel reservations prior to boarding flights. These changes are the results of discussions on the increasing number of visitors using the country as a transit point to the US.
📰Taiwan Visit: The President of Taiwan is schedule to arrive in Belize on Sunday 2 April. It will be President Tsai Ing-wen’s second visit to Belize since being elected in 2016. The visit is symbolic of the diplomatic relations between the countries that were established in 1989.
📰Panamanian Vessel: On Sunday, A Panamanian cargo vessel transiting Belizean waters reportedly experiences a mechanical failure and ran aground along the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve. The vessel was en-route to Port Everglades, Florida. A marine casualty incident investigation has been launched by the Belize Port Authority, the Department of the Environment, and the Belize Fisheries Department.
Costa Rica
📰Gay Rights Case: The Second Supreme Court of Justice, known as Sala II, granted a survivorship pension to a man whose partner died after 20 years of cohabitation. The pension was initially not recognized by the Board of Pensions and Retirement for National Teachers. The ruling held that the union between the two men should have been recognized.
📰Indigenous Sovereignty: A roundtable group of Indigenous people in Buenos Aires de Puntarenas demanded that Dinedeco, a development organization, cease its intervention in the Bribri Cabagra Indigenous territory. The group held that Dinedeco is acting against autonomy and self-determination of Indigenous peoples of Costa rica.
📰Chaves Campaign Investigation: Francisco Nicolás, a legislative deputy with the Party for National Liberation, hinted that Foreign Minister Arnoldo André may have participated in a money laundering scheme through Próspera Trust. The company is currently under investigation for financing the campaign of current President Rodrigo Chaves.
Central American Art
Good Reads
📌Year-long State of Exception: A year ago, the government of Nayib Bukele declared a state of exception as a bold measure to dismantle gang control in El Salvador. Investigative journalism by El Faro recaps what led the country down this path and how the Bukele administration has handled their newly-acquired power under the “exception regime” (elfaro).
📌El Salvador: Artwork in El Salvador commemorates anniversary of Romero assassination (La Prensa Latina).
Good News
✨International Film Festival: Honduran filmmaker Andrea Arauz participated in the VI International Festival of Women Directors in Turkey with her production "Cuerpos Vivos" and won the jury prize in the experimental short film category.
✨OWSD-Elsevier Award: Guatemalan scientist Gabriela Montenegro won the 2023 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Global Award for her contributions to life sciences and nutrition.
Events
📅Voices within the Cornfields: Voices within the Cornfields is an online panel with Maya Kaqchikel contemporary artists Ángel Poyón and Fernando Poyón on April 16.
📅Tamika Burgess in conversation with Isabel Quintero: Join Tamika Burgess in Riverside, CA for a conversation about her book “Sincerely Sicily” on April 14.
📅Refugio en las Flores: Central American artist Kiara Aileen Machado currently has a solo art exhibit at Launch LA, an art gallery in Los Angeles, that is open through May 14. Machado’s exhibit references traditional artesanía from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
History
Traditionally, vigil and harvest altars are placed in old churches during the Lenten season and Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala. The altars draw attention for their elements and size. It is also a manifestation of the creativity of Guatemalans. These altars are located on the main altar of the temple, and are complemented by the harvest, which occupy half of the churches. Different kinds of candles are placed and lit around the orchards, which complement the scene.
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