Central America
Guatemala registers more than 400 deaths from COVID-19 in June
Guatemalan authorities reported that, as of June 22, the number of people who died from the COVID-19 pandemic reached 547. According to the Ministry of Health, 624 new positive cases were identified on that day, 386 of them men and 238 women.
To date, Guatemala reports 13,769 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus. Over the past few days, the number of infections in Guatemala has been rising, recording more than 600 new cases over the weekend.
June has become one of the most complicated months in terms of COVID-19 fatalities: just this month alone, 439 deaths from the virus have been recorded.
Central America
Civil Protection Urges Immediate Evacuations as Tropical Storm Cristina Brings Flooding Risks
El Salvador’s Civil Protection authorities urged residents living in high-risk areas to comply immediately with evacuation orders as Tropical Storm Cristina continues to bring heavy rainfall and dangerous conditions across the country.
Civil Protection Director Luis Amaya announced on Monday that 180 pre-equipped shelters are ready to receive families living in vulnerable communities, providing temporary refuge while the threat from the storm persists.
“If authorities ask you to evacuate, please do not refuse,” Amaya said. “While flooding may cause material losses, protecting human life and ensuring people’s safety must remain the top priority.”
Heavy rains and increased wave activity along the Pacific coast have already caused flooding in parts of La Libertad. According to official forecasts, Tropical Storm Cristina is expected to influence weather conditions throughout the week.
Amaya noted that the populations most at risk are those living near rivers, streams, and areas prone to landslides or slope failures.
To address concerns about personal property, the official stated that the National Civil Police and the Armed Forces have joined the emergency response plan to safeguard homes and belongings left behind by evacuees.
“We can guarantee that their belongings will remain safe and that their possessions will be protected while they stay in the shelters,” Amaya said.
He also highlighted the participation of several government institutions in the emergency response, including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Office of the First Lady, the National Civil Police, and the Armed Forces, among others.
As part of the National Contingency Plan, authorities have activated evacuation routes and shelter networks across the country to facilitate the safe relocation of residents from areas exposed to flooding, landslides, and other storm-related hazards.
Central America
El Niño could intensify global climate risks, warns World Meteorological Organization
Latin American countries, one of the regions in the world most affected by El Niño, must “take extreme precautions” and make use of so-called “climate intelligence” to mitigate the most severe impacts of the phenomenon, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Celeste Saulo, told EFE on Tuesday.
With a 90% probability, El Niño is expected to return in the second half of this year, and a strong intensity cannot be ruled out.
As a result, the phenomenon could trigger intense rainfall and flooding in some areas, while causing droughts in others, leading to direct impacts on communities and a wide range of economic sectors, including fishing and agriculture.
Saulo said countries in the region have improved their scientific and institutional capacity to monitor and respond to El Niño, as well as to understand how it interacts with other climate variables, including those linked to climate change, in order to better forecast “more or less severe impacts.”
When describing likely consequences in South and Central America, the Argentine scientist first referred to the “Coastal El Niño,” as the phenomenon is known in Peru and Ecuador.
She explained that this event brings increased rainfall and ocean warming, which strongly affects the fishing industry.
She added that northern South America, Central America, and northeastern Brazil are typically exposed to below-normal rainfall or drought conditions. In past extreme episodes, El Niño has even affected the operational capacity of the Panama Canal and created serious water access and management challenges during severe droughts.
In contrast, southeastern South America—including southern Brazil, Paraguay, northern and northeastern Argentina, and Uruguay—can expect above-average rainfall, increasing the risk of flooding, severe storms, and landslides.
Given the potential for fear and misinformation among populations, Saulo urged people to “trust the institutions responsible for meteorological information,” stressing that national meteorological services are the official and authoritative sources in each country.
“These are the ultimate responsible authorities and the voices of expertise,” she emphasized.
The most recent El Niño episode occurred between 2023 and 2024 and was among the five strongest ever recorded, contributing to record global temperatures.
The WMO chief noted that climate models remain uncertain about the intensity of the next El Niño, though more accurate forecasts are expected in the coming weeks.
While climate change has not been proven to increase the frequency or intensity of El Niño events, scientists do know that both can interact and amplify extreme weather impacts, potentially leading to natural disasters.
Although Latin America is often heavily affected, El Niño impacts can also be felt in North America, the Caribbean, central and eastern Africa, parts of Asia, and Australia.
Central America
Northern Guatemala community warns of possible famine as dry season intensifies
As drought conditions intensify and the likelihood of an upcoming El Niño weather pattern increases, fear is spreading through an Indigenous village in northern Guatemala: the fear of starvation.
“If there is no rain, the crops will not grow. Whatever little we harvest we will eat, or we will have to buy it—if we have money. But if there is nothing, we will starve,” Cecilia Pasá told AFP.
The 38-year-old Maya woman, dressed in a colorful traditional handwoven outfit, has planted a small plot of corn a few meters from her adobe home, where she also raises small farm animals.
In Cunén, a mountainous and hard-to-reach area in the department of Quiché, nearly all of its approximately 47,000 residents live in poverty. Many communities rely on wells that are increasingly insufficient to meet basic water needs.
The region lies within the so-called Dry Corridor, an arid belt that stretches across parts of Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, and is highly vulnerable to extreme climate events.
It was one of the areas in Guatemala hardest hit by the food crisis triggered by El Niño in 2023, a situation that now threatens to repeat itself amid limited government assistance.
El Niño, which occurs every two to seven years, is part of a natural climate cycle that affects sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and can have significant global weather impacts.
The phenomenon is expected to develop between June and August, with effects likely to be felt worldwide in the following months.
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