Central America

Ortega to declare April 19 as “National Peace Day” in Nicaragua

Photo: Reuters

April 14 |

The government of Daniel Ortega will declare April 19 as “National Day of Peace”, on the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the protests against the president, which were violently repressed, leaving at least 300 dead and thousands of exiled, according to human rights organizations.

Ortega’s wife and also vice-president, Rosario Murillo, announced in the pro-government media that the decree will be issued by the National Assembly in the coming days during a special session and said that with it “they seek to safeguard peace in all its forms”.

“We have decreed this month of April as the month of peace, harmony, tranquility, security, stability and progress against poverty,” said the official who was sanctioned by the United States, which accuses her of having led the repression in Nicaragua in April 2018.

The opposition has scheduled a series of demonstrations next weekend precisely in remembrance of the date. In doing so, they assure that they will demand justice for the victims of state repression in the Central American country.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

In Miami, the diaspora announced at least two demonstrations on Sunday, as well as in San José, Costa Rica. In Mexico, Canada and Spain there will also be vigils and concerts alluding to April 2018.

Ortega, who has been in power for more than 15 consecutive years, has branded the protests that erupted in Nicaragua as a coup attempt and has said without evidence that they were sponsored by the United States and the international community.

The president has also launched a crusade against critics and 222 Nicaraguan opponents were banished to the United States and had their citizenship revoked, including seven people who aspired to run in the 2021 presidential elections, which have been labeled as “a farce” by a large part of the international community.

Nicaragua is experiencing its worst political and social crisis in the last 30 years as a consequence of Ortega’s repression. The US has imposed sanctions on a dozen officials close to Ortega for this reason and maintains Nicaragua as “a threat to national security”.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

Central America

Guatemala’s president denounces MP raids during Constitutional Court election

The president of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, on Thursday accused the Ministerio Público (MP) of interfering in the process to select magistrates for the country’s highest court, the Corte de Constitucionalidad (CC).

Arévalo has been locked in an ongoing dispute with Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union and labeled by critics as “corrupt” and “anti-democratic” after efforts to block the president from taking office two years ago.

Earlier on Thursday, the MP said it was investigating alleged irregularities in the voting process and carried out raids at polling sites set up at Club La Aurora and Parque Erick Barrondo, in Guatemala City, where the Colegio de Abogados y Notarios de Guatemala (CANG) was electing its principal and alternate representatives to the CC.

In posts on X, the president described the operation as a “spurious” action aimed at “interfering” in the election and “intimidating” voters in order to “alter” the outcome.

Voting was temporarily disrupted by the searches, the frisking of the CANG president, and a power outage caused by the explosion of a nearby transformer. Once the process resumed and concluded, the association elected Astrid Jeannette Lemus Rodríguez as one of the five members of the Constitutional Court, with Luis Fernando Bermejo Quiñónez chosen as her alternate.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

“They failed in their attempt to hijack the elections (…). Honest lawyers won,” Arévalo wrote in a subsequent message.

Central America

Guatemala to Phase Out Longstanding Medical Cooperation Agreement with Cuba

Guatemala’s government announced on Tuesday that it will end this year a cooperation agreement with Cuba that has brought doctors from the Caribbean nation to work in the Central American country.

Guatemala’s Health Ministry told EFE that the program, which has been in place for nearly three decades, will be phased out progressively throughout 2026.

According to the same source, there are currently 412 Cubans in Guatemala under the agreement, including 333 physicians.

Cuban medical brigades assigned to Guatemala have traditionally been deployed to various regions of the country to provide primary health care to local communities.

“The decision follows a technical assessment aimed at strengthening the sustainability of the national workforce and consolidating the public health system’s own capacities,” the Guatemalan ministry said.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

Earlier this week, lawmaker Sonia Gutiérrez, from the left-wing Winaq party, warned that the move “could be an inhumane act that threatens the health and lives of the country’s most vulnerable populations,” given the historic importance of Cuban doctors in providing medical care.

For that reason, the legislator summoned Health Ministry authorities to Congress, as permitted by law, to provide further details about the decision.

Former human rights ombudsman Jordán Rodas Andrade also weighed in on social media, recalling that “for 27 years Cuban doctors have been the backbone of health care in Guatemala’s most neglected areas,” and stressing that “ending this agreement is an act of ingratitude that leaves the most vulnerable unprotected.”

President Bernardo Arévalo’s government told EFE that, in order to guarantee continued care, it will implement a gradual replacement plan that includes hiring national personnel.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

Central America

Guatemala isolates Barrio 18 leader after attacks that killed 11 police

Guatemalan authorities have placed a leader of the Barrio 18 gang in an isolated cell without الكهرباء or “privileges” after he was accused of triggering a recent wave of violence that left 11 police officers dead, the government said on Sunday.

Members of Barrio 18, which is designated as a “terrorist” organization by both the United States and Guatemala, carried out the killings on January 18 in retaliation for the government’s takeover of three prisons that had been under the control of inmates linked to the group.

In response to the attacks, President Bernardo Arévalo declared a month-long state of siege, arguing that gang members were seeking better conditions in prison or transfers to lower-security facilities.

In a message posted on X alongside photographs, Arévalo announced the isolation of Aldo Dupie, also known as “El Lobo,” one of the gang leaders who allegedly directed the uprisings.

Images released by the government show Dupie inside a small cell with narrow windows, built from metal containers, in a secured area of the Renovación I prison in southern Guatemala — the same facility where the hostage-taking riot took place.

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

With a shaved head and a stern expression, the gang leader appears alone and in handcuffs, according to the photographs.

Guatemala’s prison system said the “new area,” protected by metal fencing and barbed wire, will house high-risk inmates who will remain without privileges or electricity.