Central America

Guatemala’s leader to skip Americas Summit after US sanctions

AFP

Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei said Tuesday he will skip next month’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, after Washington sanctioned his top prosecutor over allegations of corruption.

The United States officially designated Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras for “significant corruption” Monday, just hours after she was reappointed for a second four-year term.

Speaking on Tuesday during an event at the Mexican embassy in Guatemala, Giammattei said he did not expect to be invited to the summit.

“In any case, I sent word that I’m not going,” he said.

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“As long as I am president this country will be respected and its sovereignty will be respected.”

Earlier in the day, Porras blasted the US move, saying she will not bow to pressure from Washington.

“The attorney general and head of the public ministry does not accept any kind of interference nor pressure and will continue working in an objective and impartial manner ensuring strict compliance with the law,” her office said on Twitter.

It added that the “public ministry is an autonomous institution that is not subordinate to any international entity.”

Last year, the US said it had “lost confidence” in Porras after she sacked Guatemala’s top anti-corruption prosecutor Francisco Sandoval.

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Sandoval, who fled to the United States after being fired, claimed he had encountered numerous obstacles in his work and had been prevented from investigating Giammattei without Porras’s permission.

Critics say Sandoval’s replacement is a defender of corruption and persecutor of the opposition.

Porras has had at least six anti-corruption prosecutors arrested on charges ranging from obstruction of justice to abuse of authority.

The prosecutors were fired amid ongoing investigations of politicians charged with graft, and claimed their treatment was revenge from those in power.

Giammattei said on Monday that Porras’s reappointment was supported unanimously by the commission tasked with vetting candidates for the position of attorney general.

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The European Union said in a statement that the reappointment of Porras “raises concerns about the commitment of the Guatemalan authorities to tackle corruption and safeguard the independence of the judiciary.”

The EU said the Public Ministry’s legal action against judges, lawyers and prosecutors involved in investigating corruption “forms part of a wider pattern of intimidation and harassment that has led over 20 justice operators to leave the country.”

Participation in the Summit of Americans has already caused some controversy.

Rumors have been swirling that Washington will not invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to the conference, with the presidents of Mexico and Bolivia announcing they would only attend as long as there are no exclusions.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.