Central America
Nicaraguan opposition leader Suazo sentenced to 10 years in jail: group
AFP
Nicaraguan opposition leader Yubrank Suazo, who took part in protests against President Daniel Ortega’s government in 2018, was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in prison, his group said.
A court in the capital Managua sentenced Suazo to five years in jail for “conspiring to undermine national integrity” and another five years for spreading fake news, according to the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, where he served as a director.
Suazo was “prosecuted and sentenced without having committed any crime, nor having any link with criminal structures,” the group said in a statement.
The 31-year-old hails from the southern city of Masaya, which was shaken by large anti-government protests in 2018.
The city had declared itself in rebellion against ex-guerrilla Ortega’s government as part of massive nationwide street protests.
The government’s crackdown on the demonstrations left 355 dead.
Suazo was detained in 2018 but released in 2019 as part of an agreement with the government mediated by the Catholic Church, which also saw several hundred other opposition figures freed.
But in May Suazo was arrested again and put on trial.
A Nicaraguan NGO campaigning for political prisoners says about 190 opposition figures have been detained.
About 45 opposition figures, including seven presidential hopefuls, were arrested last year ahead of elections in which Ortega benefitted from the lack of credible opposition to win a fourth successive term.
They were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison for allegedly undermining national security.
Ortega accuses his opponents of trying to oust him with help from the United States, which has hit him and his inner circle with sanctions.
Central America
Arévalo warns of ‘Dark Interests’ targeting human rights defenders in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de León warned on Thursday that human rights defenders are facing serious threats, aggression, and criminalization by “dark interests” embedded within the structures of the State.
“Today we are facing serious levels of threats, aggression, and criminalization against people who promote respect for human rights, coming from actors and criminal networks—sometimes embedded in State institutions—that refuse to accept that Guatemala is changing,” Arévalo said during a public event held at the former Government Palace.
During the event, authorities presented the Public Policy for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders 2025–2035, an initiative developed in compliance with a 2014 resolution from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), issued in response to the killing of activist Florentín Gudiel Ramos in 2004.
Central America
Newborn found in Costa Rican dump survives two days in unsanitary conditions
Costa Rican media outlets report that a newborn baby was found in a garbage dump, where he had reportedly spent two days in unsanitary conditions.
Police located the infant after a resident alerted authorities upon hearing crying coming from a clandestine dumping site in the Rancho Guanacaste area. The newborn was discovered alive inside a drainage channel, covered in waste. He was immediately taken to the National Children’s Hospital, where he received medical care and is now in stable condition.
“The National Children’s Hospital confirms that we indeed received a newborn approximately four or five days old who was found in a wooded area near the Alajuelita roundabout. He was first taken to the Solón Núñez Clinic and then transferred to this hospital. As of now, the baby is in the emergency department in good condition. He arrived a bit cold, but he has been warmed, fed, and his initial physical exam is completely normal,” explained hospital director Carlos Jiménez Herrera, according to CR Hoy.
Central America
Arévalo accuses Porras and judge of undermining democracy in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo denounced a new attempt at a “coup” orchestrated by the Attorney General’s Office. He also requested an extraordinary session at the Organization of American States (OAS) to address the country’s ongoing political crisis.
The president has been at odds with Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for being “corrupt” and “anti-democratic.” Since 2023, Arévalo has accused Porras of launching investigations against his party, Semilla, and the 2023 elections as part of a scheme to prevent his inauguration in January 2024.
From the presidential office, Arévalo has said he continues to “resist” the “coup plotters,” but tensions escalated last Friday when Judge Fredy Orellana, at the request of the Attorney General’s Office, ordered the electoral court to annul the Semilla party’s promoter group. Arévalo interpreted this as an attempt to revoke the positions won by the party.
“Orellana, a hitman who distorts the law in service of Consuelo Porras, is attempting to force […] the unconstitutional removal of a mayor, 23 elected deputies […], the vice president, and the president of the country,” Arévalo said in a televised address on Sunday.
“We call on the international community not to turn a blind eye to the coup being attempted in Guatemala,” he added, speaking alongside his cabinet and congressional members at the National Palace in Guatemala City.
Arévalo requested that the Organization of American States hold an extraordinary session to present “the serious threats” to the Guatemalan Constitution and democracy perpetrated by Porras and Orellana.
Yesterday, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez reaffirmed the president’s statements, emphasizing the need “to go and expose the situation” Guatemala has been facing since last week due to the actions of the Attorney General’s Office.
Arévalo warns of ‘Dark Interests’ targeting human rights defenders in Guatemala
Colombia reaches $4.5 billion deal to acquire 17 Gripen Fighter Jets from Saab
Newborn found in Costa Rican dump survives two days in unsanitary conditions
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International4 days agoVenezuela mobilizes forces nationwide as tensions with U.S. rise
-
International5 days agoRecord cold wave freezes Eastern U.S., iguanas falling from trees in Florida
-
International4 days agoInvestigation widens after Michoacán mayor’s killer shot post-arrest
-
International4 days agoUSS Gerald R. Ford arrives in Latin America amid rising U.S. military presence
-
International3 days agoVenezuela accuses U.S. of using Naval Deployment to pressure Maduro government
-
International4 days agoJara: “Real toughness” means targeting drug money in Chile’s crime fight
-
Sin categoría3 days agoConvicted gang member challenges Guatemala’s anti-gang law, citing Human Rights Violations
-
International5 days agoPeru opens new probe into ex-president Humala over killings and forced disappearances
-
Central America1 day agoArévalo warns of ‘Dark Interests’ targeting human rights defenders in Guatemala
-
Central America2 days agoNewborn found in Costa Rican dump survives two days in unsanitary conditions
-
International1 day agoColombia reaches $4.5 billion deal to acquire 17 Gripen Fighter Jets from Saab