Central America

Congress of El Salvador approves extension of emergency regime

Photo: @AsambleaSV

May 17 |

The Congress of El Salvador approved this Tuesday the request presented by President Nayib Bukele to extend, for the fourteenth consecutive time, the emergency regime, with 67 votes in favor, six against and four abstentions according to the Legislative Assembly.

The measure will suspend constitutional rights until June 15. This was adopted at the end of March last year as part of President Bukele’s security strategy to confront the crisis of violence caused by gangs.

“I know that this extension of the exception regime is not to the liking of some people in this country and it is logical, it is understandable that these people were benefiting from the pain of our people. Since the first day of the President’s administration, we have accompanied the National Civil Police, we began to look for criminals and in less than four years we have achieved 365 days with zero homicides”, highlighted the Minister of Defense, René Francis Merino Monroy.

The Minister of Security, Gustavo Villatoro, affirmed that more than 6.3 million Salvadorans support the exception regime and at least 3 million Salvadorans are satisfied with the transformation of the country in terms of security.

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The president of the Legislative Assembly, Ernesto Castro, will extend the security measure “as many times as necessary” until the country is free of gang members.

The Central Government’s work to combat gangs is internationally recognized. Local media affirmed that the mayoral candidate of Cali, Colombia, Jaime Arizabaleta, said that the Salvadoran president had the capacity to turn El Salvador into the safest country in Latin America.

Central America

Guatemala seizes over a ton of cocaine hidden in flour at Pacific port

Guatemalan security forces seized more than one metric ton of cocaine on Sunday after discovering the drug hidden inside containers filled with flour at a Pacific port, police said.

The cocaine was found inside two shipping containers at Puerto Quetzal, located about 85 kilometers south of Guatemala City in the southern department of Escuintla, according to a police statement.

Authorities reported that 1,039 rectangular packages of cocaine were concealed inside bags of flour, with a total weight of 1,240 kilograms. No arrests were reported in connection with the operation.

Police said the shipment’s country of origin was not disclosed, and the seized drugs were airlifted to secure storage facilities in the capital for safekeeping.

International drug cartels frequently use Central America as a transit route for cocaine shipments bound for the United States, the world’s largest consumer of the drug.

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Central America

Guatemala’s president rules out negotiations with inmates after prison riots

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo stressed that his administration will not negotiate with inmates nor restore concessions granted under previous governments, insisting that the Executive’s priority is to maintain control of the prison system and restore order in detention centers.

Arévalo said one of the key measures implemented by authorities was the blocking of mobile phone signals inside prisons, an action he described as decisive in regaining control of the Renovación 1 penitentiary.

The riots reported at Renovación 1, Fraijanes 2, and the Preventive Detention Center for Men in Zone 18 of Guatemala City were aimed at pressuring the state to recover privileges that had been recently revoked, Arévalo said during a press conference held Wednesday at the National Palace of Culture.

The president explained that inmates were seeking to reinstate special detention conditions, including air conditioning, king-size beds, and internet access, benefits that he said were eliminated by the current administration.

“They attempted to extort the state in order to return to that system of privileges, but they failed,” Arévalo emphasized.

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Central America

Mazatenango Carnival cancelled amid State of Siege in Guatemala

The municipal government of Mazatenango, in the department of Suchitepéquez, Guatemala, has cancelled the city’s traditional Carnival as a security measure aimed at protecting visitors and residents.

The decision was announced on Tuesday through the municipality’s official Facebook page and comes as a preventive action amid the state of siege declared by the national government last Sunday.

The Mazatenango Carnival, one of the country’s most emblematic festivities, boasts more than 140 years of traditionand typically draws large crowds from across Guatemala and neighboring regions. Its program usually includes parades of floats, the traditional “Rabbit Race,” street dancing and live music, concerts, and cultural events in the Central Plaza.

According to the official statement, the cancellation responds to the current security context and the restrictions associated with the state of siege, prioritizing public safety.

Municipal authorities clarified that the scheduled concert by La Arrolladora Banda El Limón will still take place separately and will be the sole responsibility of the private production company, independent of the cancelled carnival activities.