Central America
Honduras lawmaker crisis heads to court
AFP
The crisis in Honduras’s Congress — where rival factions of new President Xiomara Castro’s left-wing Libre party have elected separate leaders — headed to the country’s Supreme Court on Friday, with both sides asking justices to settle the dispute.
Castro ally Luis Redondo, who belongs to Libre’s coalition partner Savior Party of Honduras (PSH), and Jorge Calix, who represents Libre’s rebel faction and has opposition backing, each claim to be the rightful leader of Congress.
The crisis, which initially saw lawmakers come to blows, erupted last week when a group of Libre dissidents ignored an agreement with the PSH, whose support was key to Castro winning the November elections and which had been promised the Congress leadership post.
The Libre dissidents argued that Congress should be led by the party with the most members — Libre has 50 deputies compared to just 10 for the PSH.
The ruckus was an embarrassing distraction for Castro, who was sworn in Thursday as the Central American nation’s first woman president.
Control of the legislature is key to Castro’s anti-corruption and political reform platform in a country battered by poverty, migration and drug trafficking.
Redondo was operating out of the official seat of Congress, while Calix was operating virtually.
Calix has been joined by more than 70 of the body’s 128 deputies while only around 40 were in the Congress building, but the Redondo faction achieved a quorum as substitute lawmakers stood in for those that were absent.
Castro offered Calix a position in her government team, but he has not so far responded.
“I believe in dialogue to find a political solution to this conflict. However, I respect the right of those who oppose us to go” to the Supreme Court, Calix said on Twitter Friday. “Let’s talk.”
On Thursday, both sides went separately before the Supreme Court’s constitutional chamber to ask for a ruling on the situation.
The lawyer representing Calix, Jose Rodriguez, has filed a writ of amparo, which can be invoked when someone believes their constitutional rights are being violated.
The attorney told AFP that if successful, his motion would strip Redondo of his functions and install Calix as the rightful leader of Congress while the situation plays out.
Earlier, lawmaker Jose Lagos, leader of a minority party, went to the court to file a motion against Calix for “violating the constitutional rights of millions of Hondurans.”
Rodriguez said the court must respond within a week.
Four of the five judges in the court’s constitutional chamber were named to their posts by the previous Congress, which was dominated by the right-wing National Party of former president Juan Orlando Hernandez, which is now aligned with Calix.
On Friday, the Congress building was closed, with workers prevented from entering.
Central America
Guatemala Court Voids List of Candidates for Top Prosecutor Position
Constitutional Court of Guatemala on Thursday annulled the shortlist of six candidates for attorney general and head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, ordering authorities to repeat the evaluation phase of the selection process.
The ruling came in response to a legal appeal filed by Raúl Amílcar Falla Ovalle, who challenged the way professional experience had been assessed for some applicants, particularly those with careers in the judiciary.
As a result of the decision, the selection process has been suspended, and the Postulation Commission must return to the stage in which the original 48 applicants were evaluated.
According to the ruling, the commission must reapply the grading criteria without automatically counting years served as judges as equivalent to the professional experience required for the position.
“The Postulation Commission for the election of the Attorney General and Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is ordered to reassess the applicants by strictly applying the approved grading table,” the resolution states.
The Constitutional Court also stressed that the process must guarantee merit, competence, and suitability, while ensuring greater transparency in the assignment of scores.
Central America
U.S. extradites Iranian man over alleged sanctions evasion scheme
The United States has extradited from Panama an Iranian national accused of evading economic sanctions against Iran by illegally exporting U.S. technology. He is scheduled to appear this Monday before a court in Seattle.
Reza Dindar, 44, was extradited on April 17 after being detained in Panama since July 2025 on charges related to export control violations between 2011 and 2012, allegedly carried out through companies based in China.
The defendant appeared before a U.S. district court in Seattle, where he faces charges of violating sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran in 1995 during the administration of Bill Clinton. These sanctions prohibit the unauthorized export, re-export, or supply—directly or indirectly—of U.S. goods, technology, or services to Iran or its government.
According to the indictment, between 2010 and 2014, Dindar led the company New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, which allegedly concealed the procurement of U.S. products for shipment to clients in Iran.
Central America
Bukele administration surpasses 1,100 homicide-free days amid ongoing crackdown
On Saturday, April 18, the Policía Nacional Civil (PNC) reported that no homicides were recorded in El Salvador, bringing the total to 17 days without murders.
With this update, the country has accumulated 91 homicide-free days so far in 2026. January closed with 27 such days, followed by 24 in February and 23 in March, according to police data.
During the administration of President Nayib Bukele, a total of 1,193 days without homicides have been registered. Of those, 1,079 have occurred since the implementation of the state of exception.
This extraordinary security measure has been extended 49 times by the Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador, with the latest extension in effect from April 1 to April 30, 2026. Under the measure, more than 91,700 gang members and collaborators have been detained and prosecuted for illicit association.
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