Central America
US, EU, Spain give money to address C.American migrant crisis
AFP/Editor
The United States, European Union and Spain on Thursday pledged more than $85 million in aid to Mexico and Central America to offer alternatives to would-be migrants seeking a better life.
Washington has pledged $57 million on top of $310 million in humanitarian aid for the region already announced in April by Vice President Kamala Harris, a government official said in Costa Rica ahead of a presidential summit.
“This money will be used to support efforts in building asylum systems, enabling governments to address the pressures of the migration itself,” Amy Pope, the White House senior advisor on migration, told a gathering in San Jose.
“This is part of president Biden’s much comprehensive approach to migration, is not all about the United States border, it is about what is happening that causes people to feel that they do not have any other choice than to flee,” she said.
Pope spoke at an event in solidarity with forcibly displaced people preceding a summit of heads of state and government of countries in the Central American Integration System (SICA), and Spain.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the event his government would contribute $7.6 million to the cause, while the EU pledged another $22.5 million.
“We recognize that without a regional solution, we cannot address this problem,” said Pope.
Undocumented migration from Central America to the United States has been on the increase since 2018, and is a major headache for the administration of President Joe Biden.
Detentions of undocumented migrants, many fleeing poverty or violence at home, hit a 15-year-high along the US-Mexico border in April, with nearly 180,000 people intercepted, according to the US authorities.
Biden is allowing unaccompanied minors to stay and be united with relatives living in the United States.
The Republican opposition has accused Biden of creating a “crisis” on the country’s southern border.
Harris, on a visit to Mexico and Guatemala this week, said countries must work together to address the root causes of the problem, but told would-be migrants “Do not come” to the United States.
“The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders… If you come to our border, you will be turned back,” she said.
Earlier Thursday, Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei said Biden’s administration was tempting migrants through what he called humanitarian messages.
“Because there they said, ‘we are going to encourage family unification.’ And the coyotes (smugglers) took children and adolescents to the US, and the border filled up, not just with people from Guatemala. A ton of people,” Giammattei told Fox News.
Central America
Nicaragua’s Ortega and Murillo Mourn Pope Francis, Acknowledge ‘Difficult’ Relationship
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, who also serve as co-leaders of the country, expressed their condolences on Monday following the death of Pope Francis, acknowledging that their relationship with the late pontiff had been “difficult” and “troubled.” Nicaragua officially suspended diplomatic ties with the Vatican during his papacy.
“Our relationship, as Nicaraguans who are believers, devoted and faithful to the doctrine of Christ Jesus, was difficult and troubled—unfortunately shaped by adverse and painful circumstances that were not always understood,” Ortega and Murillo wrote in a message of condolence.
“Despite the complexity and hardships, despite the manipulation we all know occurred, despite everything, we kept our hope alive through Christian faith,” they continued. “We understood the distance, and above all, the complicated and strained communication that prevented better relations. We also recognized the confusion caused by strident voices that disrupted any attempt at genuine interaction.”
Pope Francis had previously compared the Ortega regime to communist dictatorships and even to Hitler, a remark that further strained relations between Managua and the Holy See.
Central America
Cardinal Rodríguez to Attend Funeral of Pope Francis: “He Was Very Dear to Me”
Honduran Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez announced on Monday that he will attend the funeral services of Pope Francis, who passed away at the age of 88 at his residence in Casa Santa Marta due to a stroke.
“We will be there throughout the novena and then, God willing, at the burial,” Rodríguez said in a phone interview with HRN Radio in Tegucigalpa, apparently calling from Spain.
He added that the last time he saw Pope Francis was in October 2024, during and at the end of that year’s synod, and that they remained in contact through email. “Sometimes, the Pope would even call me,” said Rodríguez, who was born on December 29, 1942, and was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II on February 21, 2001.
Rodríguez expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Pope Francis, saying: “He was a very dear person to me.”
However, he also shared a message of hope, pointing out that the Holy Father passed away during Easter: “This is a sign. He gave his life completely like the Lord Jesus, and though he died, we believe in faith that he has risen, now with Christ in eternal life.”
Rodríguez, who for ten years coordinated the Vatican’s Council of Cardinals, was one of the eight cardinals selected by Pope Francis to help govern the Catholic Church and reform the Roman Curia.
In January 2023, upon turning 80, Rodríguez stepped down as Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, and Pope Francis appointed Spanish priest José Vicente Nácher Tatay as his successor.
Central America
Senator Van Hollen Meets with Deported MS-13 Member in El Salvador; Trump and Bukele React
U.S. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, representing the state of Maryland, held a meeting in El Salvador with deported MS-13 gang member Kilmar Ábrego García, a member of the criminal group classified by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.
“Kilmar Ábrego García, miraculously resurrected from the ‘extermination camps’ and ‘torture chambers,’ now sipping margaritas with Senator Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” wrote President Nayib Bukeleon X (formerly Twitter), sharing photos of Van Hollen, Ábrego García, and a lawyer sitting together at a Salvadoran hotel.
The deported gang member is seen wearing a plaid shirt and a flat-brimmed cap, seated at a table with glasses and coffee cups. The senator also shared images of the meeting on his own social media accounts.
Bukele reaffirmed that Ábrego will remain in El Salvador and will not be returned to the United States.
“Now that his health has been confirmed, he has earned the honor of remaining under the custody of El Salvador,” Bukele added.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the senator’s meeting with Ábrego on Truth Social, calling Van Hollen “a fool” for advocating for Ábrego’s return to the U.S.
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