Central America
Fists fly in Honduran Congress ahead of new president’s inauguration
AFP
Lawmakers exchanged blows in the Honduran Congress Friday as a dispute among members of president-elect Xiomara Castro’s party turned violent.
Legislators from her leftist Libre party protested after 20 rebel members proposed Jorge Calix, one of their cohorts, as provisional congress president.
Castro loyalists claimed this violated a pact with Libre’s coalition partner.
Amid cries of “traitors” and “Xiomara!”, angry Libre legislators forced their way to the podium while Calix was being sworn in, causing him to flee under a hail of punches and much pushing and shoving.
It was the first sitting of the 128-member Congress since elections last November.
Following an emergency party meeting later on Friday, the president-elect announced that the 20 members had been expelled from Libre, calling them “traitors” and “corrupt”.
The crisis began late Thursday when Castro called her party’s 50 legislators to a meeting to ask them to support Luis Redondo of the Savior Party of Honduras (PSH) as congress president.
The 20 rebel members did not attend.
On Friday, Libre leader Gilberto Rios told AFP that the 20 are backed by groups that wish to stop Castro’s promised anti-corruption campaign, including people in “organized crime” and “drug trafficking.”
Castro won elections on November 28 to become Honduras’ first woman president and end 12 years of National Party rule.
She won as part of an alliance between Libre and the PSH, to which the presidency of Congress was promised.
Castro accused the dissidents of “betraying the constitutional agreement” and “making alliances with representatives of organized crime, corruption and drug trafficking.”
Her husband Manuel Zelaya, a former president who was deposed in a 2009 coup supported by the military, business elites and the political right, is a senior Libre party official.
Castro is to be sworn in on January 27 along with other senior officials, including the congress president, at a ceremony attended by international guests including US Vice President Kamala Harris.
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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