Central America
Witness details how weapons entered prisons during the truce
May 2 |
Today, this public hearing continued with the appearance of the first six of 42 witnesses, the Specialized Sentencing Court C, in San Salvador, continued, this Tuesday, with the public hearing against former President Mauricio Funes and former Minister of Security, David Munguía Payés, in the case “Truce between gangs”, through which the FMLN government granted benefits to the gangs in exchange, allegedly, to stop attacking the Salvadoran population.
Among the first six witnesses are the heads of the monitoring and intelligence center, and the deputy directors of security at the Izalco prison in Sonsonate and the Zacatecoluca prison in La Paz. All the witnesses are part of a group of 30 people summoned by the Attorney General’s Office.
The six witnesses confirmed the granting of benefits for gang members held in both prisons and meetings to plan, together with the leaders in prison, the actions of the gang members who were on the street, all of which were endorsed by Munguia Payes and the former president.
“I want to denounce seven illegal acts committed by the authorities of the prisons, the Ministry of Security and the government during the period of the truce: One was the entry of mediators without registration; the departure of gang members, clique leaders, to other prisons to meet with other leaders; intimate visits without due permission and procedure; the entry of discos to entertain parties inside the prison; the entry of scantily clad dancers; the simulation of searches and the removal of machines that had information on everything carried out in the prison,” said the former deputy director of security at the Izalco prison.
According to the witness, all of these actions were endorsed by the director of the prison, Juan José Zepeda, and the director of prisons, Nelson Rauda, who received orders from both defendants.
“These people asked the so-called mediators of the truce, who at the beginning were Monsignor Fabio Colindres, Raul Mijango, Roberto Diaz and various street gang leaders, to enter without going through the three security rings,” the witness said.
As well as the deputy director of security at the Izalco prison, one of the people in charge of the monitoring and intelligence center at the prison also pointed out how the mediators, and those who met with the gang members, brought food and objects to Fabio Colindres, Raul Mijango, Roberto Diaz and Father Toño, as Antonio Rodriguez Tercero, a Passionist priest, is known.
In addition to detailing how these weapons would have been brought into the Izalco prison, through the punching bag, both said that the supposed mediators always arrived with briefcases and bags and that when they tried to be searched, they always made calls so that the security guards in charge of the prisons would be ordered to let them pass without any procedure or review.
“On one occasion a simulated search was carried out, these were not programmed, on that occasion 50 cell phones were located in sectors 1 and 2 of the Izalco prison, however, none of these were reported, and at the end of the search all were returned to the gang members,” said the deputy director of security at the Izalco prison.
The Specialized Sentencing Court C of San Salvador expects the public hearing to last five days. During this period, 30 witnesses are expected to appear, and one of Munguia Payes’ defense attorneys has reported that they will present between 10 and 12 witnesses to refute the accusation.
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.
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