Central America
China reopens embassy in Nicaragua after diplomatic switch
AFP
China reopened its embassy in Nicaragua on Friday, a few weeks after the Central American country switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing.
That change was a political win for China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up pressure to isolate the self-ruled island on the international stage.
The announcement three weeks ago leaves Taiwan with just 14 diplomatic allies, even as Taipei strengthens ties with multiple unofficial Western friends including the United States.
Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada, speaking at a ceremony marking the reopening of the embassy, said: “You are welcome in our Nicaragua… with the certainty that both countries have ahead of us a future of successes and victories in our brotherly relations.”
The new Chinese embassy will be under the orders of Yu Bu, who inaugurated it at the ceremony with Moncada and other officials including Laureano Ortega, a son of and advisor to President Daniel Ortega.
China has spent decades encouraging Taiwan’s dwindling diplomatic allies to switch sides, including three others in Latin America in recent years — Panama, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.
On December 9, the Ortega administration announced that Nicaragua was following suit.
“The People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing all of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory,” Moncada said at the time.
A firebrand Marxist in his youth, Ortega ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990. He previously changed recognition to China in 1985 but a successor, Violeta Chamorro, switched it back five years later.
The restoration of ties with China comes as the United States and the European Union intensify sanctions against Nicaragua. Ortega won a fourth term in office in November in elections in which his main rivals were in jail.
Central America
Bukele warns crime can become a ‘parallel government’ during visit to Costa Rica
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, accompanied by his official delegation, arrived at the site where the new facilities of the Center for the High Containment of Organized Crime (CACCO) are being built. Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves welcomed Bukele, marking the start of the cornerstone-laying ceremony.
“Thank you very much to President Rodrigo Chaves and his cabinet for this invitation,” Bukele said, noting that this was his fourth meeting with the Costa Rican leader in the past two years.
In his address, Bukele stressed that insecurity is a problem that undermines all aspects of society. “When insecurity advances, jobs collapse, education becomes more difficult, and the economy slows down. People stop going out, businesses close early, investment leaves, and tourism disappears,” he said.
The Salvadoran president warned that if crime continues to grow, it can turn into a parallel government—“the dictatorship of gangs, criminals, and drug traffickers.” He added that this situation has not yet occurred in Costa Rica and that the country is still in time to prevent it.
Central America
U.S. and El Salvador maintain close partnership, embassy says
The Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy in El Salvador, Naomi Fellows, said on Monday that relations between the two countries remain “very close” and that both governments continue to work together in several areas of shared interest.
Speaking at a press conference, Fellows highlighted the longstanding friendship between the United States and El Salvador, as well as the achievements reached through bilateral agreements.
“In terms of our relationship with El Salvador, it continues to be very strong, very close. We are partners on security issues, on economic development; partners on migration, and on many other matters,” she said.
Fellows added that the relationship remains solid and is expected to continue strengthening through joint actions and cooperation initiatives.
On security, she noted that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has underscored the results of the measures implemented by the government of President Nayib Bukele to improve public safety in the country.
Senior U.S. officials have visited El Salvador to observe firsthand the impact of the Territorial Control Plan, including tours of the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
Fellows also emphasized the strong personal ties between the two nations, pointing to family and friendship connections that link Salvadorans and Americans.
Central America
Taiwan’s $10 million donation after 2001 earthquakes allegedly diverted in El Salvador
Amid the national tragedy left by the earthquakes of January 13 and February 13, 2001, a controversial corruption scandal emerged that later implicated former presidents Francisco Flores and Elías Antonio Saca, as well as senior executives of the ARENA party.
Although there were efforts to conceal a scheme involving the misuse of public funds, subsequent investigations revealed that between October 2003 and April 2004 the government of Taiwan, led at the time by President Chen Shui-bian, delivered at least three checks totaling $10 million in donations to El Salvador. The funds were diverted and never recorded by the Technical Secretariat for External Financing, the government body responsible for coordinating and monitoring international cooperation resources.
The plight of more than 1.5 million earthquake victims prompted an outpouring of international solidarity. However, it also fueled ambitions among sectors that allegedly took advantage of the emergency to improperly appropriate resources intended to ease the suffering of those affected.
Part of the $10 million donation was earmarked for the construction of housing for residents of Las Colinas, one of the communities hardest hit by the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck on January 13, 2001, at 11:35 a.m. Plans also included the creation of a memorial park to honor the 525 victims buried by landslides.
At a press conference in January 2014, Alejandro Flores, president of the Las Colinas community board, stated that residents received some assistance from Taiwanese cooperation funds. However, he clarified that this support came from different resources and that the destination of the $10 million donation was never known to them.
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