Central America
El Salvador extends state of emergency over gang violence
January 12 | By AFP |
El Salvador’s legislature on Wednesday extended a state of emergency for 30 days, a measure taken as part of President Nayib Bukele’s “war” against gang-related violence, which has seen at least 61,000 arrests.
The measure extends “the emergency regime… (to continue) the reestablishment of order, citizen security and territorial control,” and was passed by 67 votes in favor in the 84-seat unicameral Congress.
It was the 10th extension of the state of emergency and will come into force from January 17 to February 15 to tackle gangs that Bukele says control around 80 percent of the country.
It was first introduced in late March, after a wave of murders attributed to criminal gangs that have plagued El Salvador and other countries in the region.
The state of emergency has been criticized by human rights groups, with particular concern expressed about the powers it grants authorities to make arrests without warrants.
“You (pro-government deputies) can fight crime without taking innocent people (to jail),” said Marleni Funes, a deputy with the leftist ex-guerrilla Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN).
Suecy Callejas, vice-president of the assembly, said the measures were needed to “save the lives of Salvadorans”.
According to official statistics, more than 61,000 alleged gang members have been arrested under the state of emergency, including 900 leaders, mostly from Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18.
Central America
Arévalo calls corruption the “fuel of inequality” and reaffirms commitment to public transparency
Guatemala’s President, Bernardo Arévalo, stated on Friday that corruption is “the food of misery” in his country and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to continuing to strengthen public spending transparency.
During the first anniversary of the National Commission Against Corruption (CNC) established by his administration, the president expressed his satisfaction with the progress made.
“The road has been difficult,” he said, “but I am greatly satisfied with the fight against corruption, which is the fuel of inequality and the food of misery,” the president declared before members of the international community and government officials.
Arévalo also mentioned that the people who elected him in 2023 for a four-year term that began on January 14, 2024, “demand that we combat corruption.”
Central America
Zúñiga hopes CIDH experts can help investigate intellectual authors of Berta Cáceres’ murder
Bertha Zúñiga, daughter of the murdered Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres, expressed her hope on Friday to EFE that the expert group appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) will help investigate the authorship of the crime to “heal the wounds” and rebuild the social fabric in indigenous communities affected by the hydroelectric project her mother opposed.
The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) represents an “effort to exhaust the investigations” into the responsibilities of all individuals involved in Cáceres’ murder, as well as in the “violence suffered” from the implementation of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, led by the company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA), emphasized Zúñiga.
“We hope that, with the collaboration of the prosecutorial entities, (the experts) will effectively collaborate to move forward on what we have proposed and demanded for many years: formally requiring the intellectual authors of this crime and analyzing the related crimes,” including corruption and other violations, as well as proposing a comprehensive reparation plan for the victims of the hydroelectric project,” Zúñiga explained.
The CIDH appointed a group of four experts from Argentina, Chile, the United States, and Guatemala on Friday to provide technical assistance to Honduras in investigating the intellectual authorship of Cáceres’ murder, which occurred on March 2, 2016, while she was sleeping in her home in La Esperanza, despite the multiple death threats she had reported due to her opposition to the Agua Zarca project.
Central America
Nicaragua’s family confinement program: 7.18% of released prisoners reoffend
Nicaraguan authorities have released a total of 48,964 common prisoners under the family confinement regime over the past ten years, with 7.18% of them reoffending by committing at least one crime, according to the country’s vice president, Rosario Murillo.
Murillo, who is also the wife of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and appointed “co-president” in a reform to the Constitution, stated through official media that “7.18% are individuals who have reoffended in criminal activity from 2015 to today, February 14, 2025.”
This means that 3,515 out of the 48,964 common prisoners with final sentences who have been granted family confinement privileges have returned to criminal activity, according to the report.
The early release of common prisoners has faced criticism, particularly from feminist organizations, who argue that these benefits have contributed to an increase in femicides and general crime in Nicaragua.
The AP agency sues the Trump Government after being banned for writing Gulf of Mexico
Buenos Aires advances legislative elections to May 18 and suspends the primaries
Trump threatens to impose tariffs on governments that apply digital fees to US companies
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
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
International5 days agoTrump goes to the Supreme Court for the first time to defend his attack on the public administration
-
International4 days agoNoboa assures that Ecuador will not have any more blackouts in 2025 and 2026
-
International5 days agoA Ukrainian drone attacks the largest Russian pumping station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium
-
International4 days agoZelenski asks for “guarantees” from the US, the EU and Turkey for a possible peace agreement with Russia
-
International2 days agoGuantánamo expresses criticize its use to detain migrants: “It’s a black hole”
-
International5 days agoSouth Korea suspends DeepSeek service in the country due to security risks
-
International5 days agoAn attack by armed gangs causes at least three deaths in Haiti
-
International2 days agoEuropol warns of the increase in groups on the Internet to radicalize minors
-
International4 days agoThe Sudanese government accuses the paramilitaries of killing more than 430 civilians in the south-central part of the country
-
International4 days agoThe pope suffers from “bilateral pneumonia” and his clinical picture remains “complex”
-
International4 days agoHamas will deliver six hostages on Saturday and four bodies on Thursday, including the Bibas
-
International4 days agoBoric, Lula, Petro and Peña will be in the assumption of Yamandú Orsi as president of Uruguay
-
International3 days agoEurope and Canada close ranks to count on Ukraine in the peace negotiation
-
International3 days agoThe constitutional reform that gives full power to Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua comes into force
-
International2 days agoMexico announces reforms against “external interference”, after the US designated the cartels as terrorists
-
International4 days agoTrump’s annexation threats return to Canada at the end of the 19th century
-
International5 days agoMacron brings together European leaders and NATO in response to Trump’s plan for Ukraine
-
International5 days agoTrump says he will meet with Putin “very soon” to end the war in Ukraine
-
International3 days agoMexico has 20 of the 50 most violent cities in the world
-
International3 days agoVon der Leyen urges Caricom to defend peace in Ukraine in the face of “an unpredictable world”
-
International3 days agoFor the Government of Argentina, the scandal over the $LIBRA case is a “finished topic”
-
International2 days agoImmigrants in Denver are afraid to take their children to school because of the raids
-
International3 days ago109 migrants deported from the US are referred from a hotel in Panama to the Darién
-
International4 days agoThe White House denies that Elon Musk is the legal manager of the Department of Efficiency
-
International5 days agoThe Chinese say “yes I do” to singleness
-
International2 days agoThe United States urges Ukraine to “lower the tone” and accept Trump’s proposal on its minerals
-
International3 days agoTrumpism embraces the European far-right at its annual convention
-
International4 days agoMigrants, more vulnerable to organized crime in southern Mexico after Trump’s return
-
International2 days agoEven in the Nido de las Águilas, a section without a wall, border crossings in the United States go down
-
International2 days agoAn attack with explosives leaves five injured and destroys a toll booth on the border of Colombia and Venezuela
-
International3 days agoThe Government of Ecuador proposes the temporary entry of foreign forces to combat insecurity
-
International4 days agoXiomara Castro reaches an “agreement” with the United States for Honduras to continue the extradition treaty
-
International2 days agoEvo Morales announces his presidential candidacy in Bolivia with a new party and moves away from the ruling party
-
Internacionales19 hours agoNetanyahu vows Hamas will pay for violating ceasefire after mix-up over hostage bodies
-
International4 days agoThe famous ‘stone of the 12 angles’ of the Incas is damaged by a stranger in the city of Cuzco
-
International19 hours agoTrump says Zelensky’s presence in peace talks makes it “difficult” to reach agreements
-
International2 days agoMore than 21,000 tharks have shaken the Cyclades Islands in the last three weeks
-
International2 days agoCanada declares Mexican drug cartels terrorists as well as the United States
-
International19 hours agoIICA to strengthen prevention efforts against cattle tick disease with $250K investment
-
International2 days agoLula da Silva: Bolsonaro “will know that in this country the law is for everyone”