Connect with us

Central America

Guatemala’s Fuego volcano quiets after eruption

AFP

Guatemala’s Fuego volcano on Friday has quieted after a 32-hour long eruption, authorities said Friday.

The volcano, located some 35 kilometers (22 miles) southwest of the capital Guatemala City, began spewing lava and ash high into the sky on Thursday. 

No damages or injuries have been reported and Emilio Barrillas, spokesman for National Volcanology Institute, told journalists that ash eruptions eased and lava emissions stopped on Friday.

Advertisement
20231223_factura_electronica_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20231001-MH-fact-electronica_728x90
20230816_dgs_728x90
20230812_lactancia_materna_01_728x90
20230812_lactancia_materna_02_728x90
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
CEL
CEL
SSF
SSF
SSF
previous arrow
next arrow

“The seismic, acoustic and field observation parameters have shown that in the last hours this (eruptive) activity has remained in a progressive decline, which translates into low effusive activity,” Barrillas said. 

Fuego, 3.7 kilometers (12,240 feet) high, is one of three active volcanoes in Guatemala.

Though some areas on its eastern flank saw a bit of ash fall, there were no evacuations, the official said.

The current activity is the strongest since June 2018, when Fuego unleashed a torrent of mud and ash that wiped the village of San Miguel Los Lotes from the map, said Barillas.

More than 200 people were killed.

Advertisement
20231223_factura_electronica_728x90
20231124_etesal_728x90_1
20231001-MH-fact-electronica_728x90
20230816_dgs_728x90
20230812_lactancia_materna_01_728x90
20230812_lactancia_materna_02_728x90
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90
CEL
CEL
SSF
SSF
SSF
previous arrow
next arrow

Continue Reading
Advertisement
20231223_factura_electronica_300x250
RP_migracion_NV_832x731
20231124_etesal_300x250_1
20231001-MH-fact-electronica_300x250
20230912_isss_ssf_300x250_01
20230912_isss_ssf_300x250_02
20230816_dgs_300x250
20230812_lactancia_materna_01_300x150
20230812_lactancia_materna_02_300x150
20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_300X250
MARN1

Central America

Maribel Gordón, the leftist economist who aspires to the Executive of Panama with a feminist plan

The leftist Maribel Gordón, a professor and economist by profession, aspires to the Presidency of Panama in the elections of next May 5 with a government plan based on social proposals for a “dignified life”, being the only candidate with a plan focused on equality policies.

“That is our approach, which incorporates women in decision-making and my main proposal is a national budget with a gender perspective,” he said in an interview with EFE Gordón, an independent candidate and who is among the last places in all the polls, which he does not recognize and in which he borders on 2% of voting intention.

In the opinion of the candidate, the State approves “dead (and) empty laws” with a gender focus, because they do not have sufficient resources to put them into practice, they only serve to wash the international image, “without any responsibility or will to be executed.”

Gordón, 62 years old and popularly known as ‘La Profe’, is the only candidate with openly socialist ideas and supported by the feminist movement of the Central American country by having a public discourse against sexist violence and equality gaps.

She considered herself part of the feminist revolution from a very early age, when it was still officially chosen who represented the movement. “I joined a group of 14 women who carry out these flags because the gender inequality gaps in Panama are deep.”

He explained that in the country there are “low wages” for women because they are “placed in economic activities where the minimum wage predominates” because “the system does not generate decent employment for women.”

“We are also proposing an institutional policy that guarantees the elimination of violence against women (because) violence begins from the institutional with a State that does not protect and that thinks that if a woman or a teenager is raped is something common or private life,” he said.

The presidential candidate has a long history within the social movements in Panama. He jumped to the public spotlight in the protests against the increase in the price of life in 2021. The prices of gasoline and other commodities skyrocketed due to global inflation.

His interventions – as if he were teaching a university class – during a frustrated dialogue table between the Government and the demonstrations to seek a solution were popularly applauded, thus forging his candidacy with the participation in last year’s anti-mining protests, before which he maintains his resounding “no” to mining in the country.

This is the third time that Gordon tries to reach the spheres of the Executive Power. The previous two times –2014 and 2019 – she was a running mate with the leftist Frente Amplio por la Democracia (FAD). The political arm of the most powerful union in the country and the one that its spectacular failure in the last elections dissolved the party.

Gordón is related to the socio-political movements of the Latin American left. A reflection of this is his Government project baptized as the ‘plan for a dignified life’, which is based on “human well-being”, “real democracy”, the “rescue of identity” and a constitutional reform through the constituent route, one of the two options that the current Magna Carta allows.

“If the left is a failure, why are there economic sanctions against those left-wing countries? (…) (For) the fear of a system that effectively works without blockades (…), at least, on issues of national and social development,” says Gordón.

Thus, he proposes to create in Panama, a country “with its specific characteristics,” a project of “national and social development, that is of the Panamanians and Panamanians for the Panamanians” to which some “examples of other latitudes” can be incorporated.

He also defends that socialism, “that phase of transition between capitalism and communism” that adapts to every historical moment, has tried to “develop” in different ways, so the governments in China, Cuba and Venezuela as well as what “tried to do in Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, even today in Colombia and Uruguay” are not alike.

For the elections on May 5, just over 3 million Panamanians are called to the polls.

The main candidates are José Raúl Mulino, the running mate of the disabled former President Ricardo Martinelli, for the Realizing Goals (RM) and Alianza parties. Former President Martín Torrijos (2004-2009), for the Popular Party (PP) and Ricardo Lombana for the Otro Camino Movement.

Continue Reading

Central America

Former president of Honduras found guilty of drug trafficking by U.S. justice

The prosecution, alleging that the former president created a narco-state during his presidency (2014-2022), accused him of conspiring to traffic drugs to the United States, as well as conspiring to traffic arms, offenses that carry potential life sentences.

Former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, was declared guilty of drug trafficking and arms trafficking by a federal jury in New York on Friday, concluding a landmark trial that could see him spend the rest of his life in prison.

On its second day of deliberations, the 12-member jury announced its unanimous verdict shortly before 13:30 local time, finding Hernández guilty on all three charges brought by the prosecution.

“I am innocent, tell the world, I love you,” Hernández said as he left the court, addressing his family, including two sisters-in-law, and the three generals who came to testify on his behalf in this trial.

Flanked by his lawyers, moments before Judge Kevin Castel called the parties to hear the verdict, 55-year-old Hernández appeared to be praying.

Afterwards, he reacted to the verdict by shaking his head in disbelief as the jury spokesperson responded to each of the judge’s questions to establish his guilt.

The prosecution, asserting that the former president created a narco-state during his presidency (2014-2022), accused him of conspiring to traffic drugs to the United States, as well as conspiring to traffic arms, offenses that carry potential life sentences.

The judge is yet to announce the former president’s sentence in the coming weeks or months.

According to the U.S. prosecution, Hernández participated in and protected a network that sent over 500 tons of cocaine to the United States between 2004 and 2022, while he was a congressman, president of the Congress, and later president of the Republic. In exchange, he allegedly received millions of dollars from cartels, including Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was sentenced to life in prison in the United States.

Extradited in April 2022 to the United States, three months after handing over the presidency to leftist successor Xiomara Castro, the convicted individual is known for the infamous phrase “We are going to put the drugs in their noses (to the Americans) and they won’t even notice,” according to a witness.

Asked by AFP, defense attorney Renato Stabile, with tears in his eyes, said that “obviously the verdict is harsh, but mentally, he is very strong.”

This staunch ally of Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021) once boasted about Washington’s praise for his government’s efforts in the fight against drug trafficking.

Prosecutor Jacob H. Gutwillig reminded the jury that while the accused publicly promoted laws against drug trafficking and the extradition of drug lords to the United States, he also met with U.S. officials behind closed doors. However, “none of this undoes what the accused did behind closed doors.”

“He is a drug trafficker,” Gutwillig concluded.

Since 2014, Honduras has extradited 38 people accused of drug trafficking to the United States. Others surrendered to U.S. authorities or were arrested outside the country.

Former police chief Juan Carlos “Tigre” Bonilla and former police officer Mauricio Hernández, who were to be tried with the former president, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking a few days before the trial began. Their sentences will be announced in the coming months.

Many of the dozen witnesses presented by the prosecution highlighted the corruption and close ties between politics and drug trafficking.

“The political elite, which is also the economic elite, has operated in complete impunity” over the past 15 years, since the 2009 coup, emboldened by “the support it received from foreign governments despite knowing that it was heavily involved in drug trafficking,” says American activist Karen Spring of the Honduras Solidarity Network to AFP.

“All state institutions are heavily penetrated by drug trafficking, particularly the police and the military,” she asserts.

Extradited in April 2022, three months after leaving office, the former president will follow in the footsteps of his brother Tony Hernández and Geovanny Fuentes, a close associate of his brother, who are serving life sentences in the United States, as well as Fabio Lobo, son of former President Porfirio Lobo (2010-2014), and lawmaker Fredy Renán Nájera, all convicted of drug trafficking.

Continue Reading

Central America

El Salvador marks fifth consecutive homicide-free day in march

El Salvador has achieved its fifth day without homicides in March, continuing a trend of reduced violence under President Nayib Bukele’s administration. The country has seen 571 days without homicides due to a public security strategy, including the implementation of a state of exception.

According to official statistics from the National Civil Police, Thursday, March 8, ended with zero homicides nationwide. This marks the fifth day this month without any reported deaths due to violence, as confirmed by police figures.

These positive results are attributed to the Territorial Control Plan and the state of exception, during which the country has experienced 458 homicide-free days. Under this regime, there have been at least two months with 23 days without killings (July and November 2023) and two months with 24 days without murders (April 2023 and January 2024).

Since President Nayib Bukele took office in 2019, El Salvador has recorded 571 days without homicides due to the implementation of a comprehensive public security strategy.

The historically high homicide rates, which averaged 18.2 per day in 2015, have drastically reduced in El Salvador. In 2024, the daily average has dropped to less than 0.25, positioning the country as one of the safest in the Latin American region.

Last year marked the safest year in El Salvador’s history, with significant reductions in homicides and other crimes. The country has moved away from being among the world’s most violent nations, with murder rates dropping from 53.31 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018 to between 1.9 and 2.4, the lowest in decades.

Continue Reading

Trending

Central News