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.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

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.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

“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.”

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

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

Panama Will Not Be Threatened, President Says Amid Rising Tensions With China

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino warned on Thursday that his country “will not allow itself to be threatened,” while expressing hope that tensions with China will ease following the cancellation of a contract allowing a Hong Kong-based company to operate ports along the Panama Canal.

Earlier this week, China, through its Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said Panama would pay “a high price” for annulling the concession that has allowed a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings to manage two ports on the interoceanic waterway since 1997.

The decision has angered Beijing, which, according to Bloomberg, has urged its state-owned companies to suspend negotiations on new projects with the Central American country.

“Panama is a dignified country and will not allow itself to be threatened by any nation on Earth,” Mulino said during a press conference when asked about China’s warnings.

However, the president added that he hopes the situation will not escalate. “I hope this does not spiral further; there is no reason for it to do so,” he said.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

The ruling by Panama’s Supreme Court came amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to reclaim the Panama Canal—built by the United States—arguing that it is “under Beijing’s control.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian warned on Wednesday that Beijing “will firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies.”

Central America

Bukele’s Approval Rating Climbs to 91.9% in El Salvador, Survey Shows

Approval of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele reached 91.9% at the end of 2025, up from 85.2% recorded in midyear, according to a survey conducted by the research unit of La Prensa Gráfica (LPG Datos) and published on Thursday.

According to the newspaper, the high approval rating is “mainly driven by improvements in security.” Of those surveyed, 62.8% said they “strongly approve” of Bukele’s performance, while 29.1% said they “somewhat approve.”

The main reasons cited for approving the president were the perception that security in the country has improved (33%), followed by the belief that the government has delivered changes and overall improvements (14.3%), and the view that Bukele has done a good job in general (11%), the report said.

Meanwhile, 5.9% of respondents said they disapprove of Bukele’s administration. Among them, 25.4% said that improvements have been limited solely to security, 5.6% cited a lack of transparency, and 2.8% pointed to arbitrary detentions.

“The approval of President Nayib Bukele stands at one of the highest levels since the start of his administration,” La Prensa Gráfica noted. According to the survey’s historical data, Bukele’s peak popularity was recorded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when his annual average approval reached 92.5%, a figure even higher than that seen during the state of emergency.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Regarding campaign promises, 64.2% of Salvadorans believe that Bukele “is fulfilling the promises he made,” while 22.9% say he has “partially fulfilled” them, and 6.6% say he has “not fulfilled his commitments.”

When asked about the main “failure” of the president’s administration, 37% said there were none, while 10% pointed to the economy.

Central America

Laura Fernández Says She Will ‘Never’ Allow Authoritarianism in Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s president-elect, right-wing leader Laura Fernández, said she will “never” allow authoritarianism under her government, in her first speech after winning Sunday’s presidential election.

Fernández, the political heir of outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves, has been accused by her opponents of seeking to steer the country toward authoritarian rule through her hardline proposals against drug trafficking and plans to reform state institutions.

“I, as the new president of the Republic, will never allow authoritarianism or arbitrariness—things that no one wants in Costa Rica,” Fernández said to cheers from her supporters gathered at a hotel in the capital.

The 39-year-old political scientist criticized her rivals for centering their campaign on what she described as a narrative of “authoritarianism and dictatorship.”

“They tried to scare voters, but the electorate did not fall into the trap,” she said.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Without offering details, Fernández acknowledged that her administration will seek to change the country’s “political rules of the game,” in what she described as a necessary step for Costa Rica, one of Latin America’s most stable democracies.