Central America
Troops deployed in San Salvador amid massive gang crackdown
| By AFP |
More than 2,000 soldiers and police surrounded two districts in El Salvador’s capital on Saturday as part of President Nayib Bukele’s war on gangs, the second such operation this month in the Central American country.
“As of this morning, the Tutunichapa district in San Salvador is totally surrounded,” Bukele posted on Twitter.
“More than 1,000 soldiers and 130 police officers will extract the criminals who still remain,” he added.
Bukele later tweeted that 1,000 more soldiers and 100 police officers had been dispatched to La Granjita, another neighborhood in the capital.
“After encircling Tutunichapa, a famous drug distribution center, we knew that many drug traffickers would take refuge in the neighborhood of La Granjita, another famous distribution center”, Bukele tweeted.
Images released Saturday by the office of the president showed heavily armed soldiers entering Tutunichapa, a populous district where small houses mostly constructed of concrete blocks stand alongside one of the many polluted streams that run through San Salvador.
Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro posted photos of members of an anti-narcotics police unit with drug-sniffing dogs.
“We are going to extract every criminal from our communities,” Villatoro said in a Twitter post.
‘Bastion on crime’
Defense Minister Rene Merino said 23 people had been arrested in Tutunichapa, without specifying whether they were accused of being gang members or drug traffickers.
“All terrorists, drug traffickers and gang members will be removed” from the area, Bukele said in another tweet, adding that until recently it was a “bastion of crime.”
“Honest citizens have nothing to fear and can continue to live their lives normally,” he wrote.
Local resident Edwin Diaz, 51, cheered the law enforcement action, saying the area has long been considered a dangerous place due to gang activity and drug sales.
“All our lives we have suffered the stigma that here there is drug dealing, gang members, bad things, and today with this security they have set up, there is nothing to fear,” Diaz told AFP by phone on Saturday.
Echoing Bukele’s remark, Diaz added: “He who owes nothing, fears nothing.”
Almost 60,000 arrests
Earlier this month, Bukele, who has declared a state of emergency to quash gang violence, sent 8,500 soldiers and 1,500 police officers to surround Soyapango, the country’s third-largest city, with a population of nearly a quarter million.
The president had announced last month a plan to use troops to surround cities while house-by-house searches are conducted for gang members. Soyapango was first on the list.
The siege there has seen armored military vehicles, some with artillery, carrying out constant patrols while heavily armed police search houses and people as they leave their neighborhoods, as well as random sweeps of public transport.
As of Saturday, some 650 suspected gang members had been arrested in Soyapango, Merino said.
“We continue working in the rest of the territory looking for terrorist criminals,” the defense minister added.
Almost 60,000 suspected gang members have been arrested since the launch of the state of emergency in March, which has prompted humanitarian groups to question what they see as heavy-handed tactics.
Despite that criticism, El Salvador’s Congress on Thursday once again extended the state of emergency for another month.
Over 75 percent of Salvadorans approve of the emergency declaration, and nine out of 10 Salvadorans say that crime “has decreased” with Bukele’s policies, according to a Central American University (UCA) poll published in October.
Central America
U.S. and Panama hold joint jungle exercises to strengthen security ties
U.S. and Panamanian security forces carried out joint exercises in Panama’s jungle on Wednesday, focusing on the exchange of specialized knowledge as part of renewed bilateral cooperation in security and defense, according to official statements.
Joint operations between the two nations—Panama, which has had no standing army since 1990, and the United States—have been frequent since the 1989 U.S. invasion. The latest drills come after both countries renewed their security cooperation last April through a memorandum of understanding, which initially sparked some controversy in Panama due to provisions allowing greater temporary and rotational U.S. military presence.
The exercises also coincide with an unprecedented U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean, part of Washington’s expanded anti-narcotics campaign, which it links to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government—currently the target of a $50 million U.S. reward offer.
“We are simply focused on creating mutual understanding and shared experiences that can be beneficial for both countries, Panama and the United States,” said U.S. Colonel Ada Cotton during a press briefing.
The U.S. contingent, composed of Marines and an Army officer, participated at the invitation of the Panamanian government, which, according to Cotton, “has clearly defined what we can and cannot do” during the training exercises.
Central America
White House targets Nicaragua over human rights and labor violations
The White House is considering imposing new tariffs of up to 100% on Nicaragua or removing the country from the benefits of the CAFTA-DR free trade agreement, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) reported Monday.
The USTR determined that Nicaragua’s policies under the Ortega-Murillo regime regarding violations of labor and human rights, as well as the dismantling of the rule of law, are “unreasonable” and constitute a burden on commerce.
The resolution follows an investigation that began on December 10, 2024, when the USTR, based on recommendations from the Section 301 Committee and other advisory bodies, started reviewing the practices of Nicaragua’s government. The process included a public hearing and more than 160 comments and testimonies, including evidence of severe human rights abuses that have been forwarded to the U.S. State Department for evaluation and follow-up.
The report published Monday extensively documents how Nicaragua’s authoritarian practices — including the repression of fundamental freedoms — create a high-risk environment for U.S. businesses and investments.
Central America
Environmental groups denounce Nicaragua’s mining deals as ‘ecocide’ in protected areas
The Nicaraguan government has granted three new open-pit mining concessions to two Chinese companies, covering a total area of 21,303.15 hectares in the departments of Nueva Segovia and Boaco, according to an announcement published Friday in the Official Gazette La Gaceta.
The company Three Gold Coins Company S.A. received two permits to extract metallic and non-metallic minerals — one for the El Parquer site, covering 6,513.15 hectares in Wiwilí, Nueva Segovia, and another for the La Virgen site, covering 1,428.94 hectares in Quilalí, also in Nueva Segovia. The second firm, Little Stone Mine S.A., obtained the third concession for the El Triunfo site, spanning 13,361.06 hectares in Boaco.
These new authorizations add to nearly 30 mining concessions granted to Chinese companies over the past two years, now encompassing approximately 600,000 hectares, including areas within the Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve, according to official data.
The environmental organization Fundación del Río, led by exiled activist Amaru Ruiz, denounced the new concessions, arguing they violate the Law on Communal Property of Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Communities. The NGO stated that the repeal of the regulation protecting natural reserves—replaced on May 6 by the new Law on Environmental Conservation and Sustainable Development Areas—has left key ecosystems without legal protection.
The group also warned about the expansion of illegal artisanal mining within the Río San Juan Reserve, claiming that these concessions effectively legalize extractive activities in protected areas.
Meanwhile, the Platform for Unity and Democracy (PUDE), a coalition of Nicaraguan opposition figures in exile, condemned the government’s massive handover of indigenous lands to Chinese companies, calling it an “ecocide.” The organization said some concessions directly threaten the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve and the Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge, both bordering Costa Rica.
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