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Drones were used in an attempt to smuggle drugs and cell phones into two Panamanian prisons

Yesterday, Panamanian authorities reported that an attempt to smuggle illegal goods into two of the country’s prisons using drones was made. They explained that, through these devises, small packages of drugs and a cell phone were thrown into the prisons in Panama’s largest prison complex.

However, the illicit substance and the cell phone were seized. “The strict security controls prevented the illegal substances from entering the La Nueva Joya and La Joya prisons through drones,” the Panamanian Ministry of Government said.

Through a statement, authorities informed that guards in La Nueva Joya detected the first drone. The device dropped two packages, one with drugs and the other with a cell phone and an earphone. While in La Joya, four cardboard containers with dry grass and lighters fell on the roof of the custodians’ area.

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Central America

Humpback whale found dead on Guatemala’s Pacific Coast

A 15-meter-long humpback whale, estimated to weigh between 25 and 40 tons, was found dead on Friday on a beach along Guatemala’s Pacific coast, according to the National Council of Protected Areas.

The cetacean was discovered by locals on Hawaii Beach in the municipality of Chiquimulilla, located about 88 km south of Guatemala City, said Marlon Chilín, advisor to the government agency, in a video sent to the press.

Photographs shared by the Council showed the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) on the beach.

The cause of death for the animal remains unknown, and it will be buried on the beach, Chilín added.

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Central America

Thousands protest in Panama against Trump’s Canal claims and U.S. Secretary’s visit

Popular and labor sectors in Panama held a “patriotic day” protest this Sunday in response to Donald Trump’s threats to reclaim the interoceanic canal and against the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino earlier that morning.

The demonstrators, called by the Alliance of the United People for Life, marched peacefully from the central Porras Park to the Panamanian Presidency building, where the meeting between Mulino and Rubio took place. However, several sections of the route leading to that location had been closed off by the police and riot control units as a preventive measure.

“One territory, one flag!”, “This homeland is not for sale!”, “Panama is not for sale!” were some of the slogans shouted by participants in the march, which included members of the National Union of Construction and Similar Workers (Suntracs).

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Central America

Guatemala acknowledges state responsibility in 1980 spanish embassy massacre

The Guatemalan government acknowledged on Friday its responsibility for the 1980 assault and fire at the Spanish Embassy, carried out by security forces during the country’s civil war (1960-1996), which left 37 people dead.

“In memory of the victims and their dignity, the Government of Guatemala recognizes state responsibility for this crime against humanity,” reads a golden inscription on a green marble plaque, unveiled by the Presidential Commission for Peace at the former site of the diplomatic mission in the capital.

On January 31, 1980, military and police forces stormed the embassy, which had been occupied hours earlier by Maya leaders and students protesting against human rights abuses committed in the fight against leftist guerrillas. During the raid, a devastating fire broke out inside the building.

At the site where the embassy once stood, a group of Indigenous Maya leaders held an ancestral ceremony to honor the victims. Additionally, peasant and human rights organizations issued a statement lamenting that the root causes of the armed conflict—racism, exploitation, inequality, and land dispossession—remain unresolved.

Among the 37 people killed were Spanish consul Jaime Ruiz del Árbol, former Guatemalan Vice President Eduardo Cáceres, former Foreign Minister Adolfo Molina, and Vicente Menchú, father of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchú and a prominent Maya leader.

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In 2015, a Guatemalan court sentenced Pedro García Arredondo, the former head of a special command unit of the now-defunct National Police, to 90 years in prison for his role in the attack. His unit was responsible for carrying out repressive actions and forced disappearances of political opponents.

Guatemala’s 36-year civil war resulted in approximately 200,000 deaths and disappearances, according to official reports.

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