Central America
Netherlands condemns ‘regrettable’ Nicaragua schism
AFP
The Dutch foreign ministry on Saturday condemned Nicaragua’s decision to sever diplomatic relations over what the central American country called the Netherlands’ “neocolonialist” attitude.
Nicaragua’s government broke off ties after the Netherlands said it would not fund a hospital there over rights concerns, while President Daniel Ortega lashed out at the “interventionist” Dutch.
“The severing of diplomatic ties is an exceptional step and highly unusual. Nor is it the wish of the Netherlands,” a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman told AFP via email.
“It is regrettable that Nicaragua has chosen to respond in this disproportionate way to a critical message about democracy and human rights.”
The Netherlands said it had decided to permanently end funding for the construction of a hospital in Nicaragua — on hold since 2018 — because of the “deteriorating situation in the field of democracy and human rights.”
It said it had given Managua several warnings but now Nicaragua was “closing the door”.
The Dutch said the decision was “not in isolation”, saying Nicaragua had asked the EU’s ambassador to leave earlier this week and refused entry to the new US envoy.
“The Netherlands is discussing with the EU partners how we will respond to this move by Nicaragua,” it said.
The Dutch foreign ministry added that it would be “keeping an eye” on the situation of the estimated 100 Dutch people living in Nicaragua and “if necessary we will adjust the travel advice”.
The Nicaraguan government had on Friday blamed the “repeated meddling, interventionist and neocolonialist position of the Kingdom of the Netherlands” for the row.
Central America
El Salvador reaches 270 homicide-free days in 2025, PNC reports
El Salvador closed Wednesday, November 19, with zero homicides nationwide, according to National Civil Police (PNC) statistics released early Thursday morning.
The PNC reported that this latest day without violent deaths brings the total to 19 homicide-free days so far in November 2025, including 13 consecutive days. Throughout 2025, the country has accumulated 270 days with zero homicides.
The 270 homicide-free days recorded this year are distributed as follows: 18 in November, 24 in October, 23 in September, 27 in August, 29 in July, 25 in June, 25 in January, 26 in February, 22 in March, 25 in April, and 25 in May.
Authorities attribute these security results to the government’s public safety measures, including the Territorial Control Plan and the state of exception, implemented in March 2022 to combat gang structures.
Since President Nayib Bukele took office in 2019, El Salvador has registered 1,057 homicide-free days, of which 943 occurred under the state of exception.
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.
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