Central America

Environmentalists advance in closing copper mine in Panama

December 15 |

The formation of a technical committee to supervise the closure of the largest copper mine in Panama is moving forward in that Central American nation, according to the Panamanian Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last Tuesday.

This technical roundtable, which so far incorporates 101 people from different professional fields, has the purpose of “informing, accompanying, monitoring and being vigilant to the processes of closure of metal mining activity in the country in compliance with the legal provisions”, detailed the IUCN in a statement.

The formation of this oversight group was convened by IUCN last November 22. As it has been adding specialists, working groups were formed on specific topics.

The president of the IUCN, Ricardo Wong, explained during an interview that the technical committee is overseeing “that we have a closure that is as environmentally friendly as possible and that avoids harm to the population”.

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He pointed out that the copper mine is currently paralyzed and awaiting a technical plan to deactivate it little by little without causing an environmental disaster.

He stated that closing the mine “is going to be complicated and will take years, effort by many and a lot of money to recover that area”, since now “the metal is exposed and reacts with the water turning it into acid, which if it reaches other areas has great impacts”.

The mine in question is the largest open-pit copper producer in Central America, and one of the largest in the world. It was operated by Minera Panama, a subsidiary of the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals.

It occupies some 13,600 hectares in the middle of the Panamanian forest, within the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, an area of high biodiversity through which species travel from South America to North America. After months of massive protests, the Panamanian people forced its closure.

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Related Topics:Central America Mina Cobre Panamá

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Central America

Teens visit ETESAL substation to learn about responsible energy use

Within the framework of World Energy Day, teenagers from the institutional care center Ciudad Niñez y Adolescencia (CNA), run by the Consejo Nacional de la Primera Infancia, Niñez y Adolescencia (Conapina), took part in an educational visit to a substation operated by Empresa Transmisora de El Salvador (ETESAL) in Santa Ana.

The aim of the activity was to give participants first-hand knowledge of how the country’s electricity transmission system works and to highlight the importance of responsible energy use.

During the tour, the group learned about the process that delivers electricity to homes, businesses, and industries. They were also introduced to specialized technical equipment and the safety measures required to ensure an efficient and reliable service.

Before the guided visit, the teenagers attended two informative talks and an environmental awareness session focused on the relevance of responsible energy consumption and its impact on the environment.

According to Nelson Menjívar, head of Conapina’s programs unit, the initiative serves a dual purpose. “It has two objectives: a recreational component and an educational one, so that adolescents can learn about the work carried out by ETESAL and how some of the resources they use at home are generated. This is in keeping with the guarantees established under the Crecer Juntos law; we ensure those rights for children,” he said.

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Menjívar stressed that these activities help young people better understand how essential services function in their daily lives while promoting efficient consumption habits and a culture of environmental respect and care.

The event is part of the principle of shared responsibility set out in the Crecer Juntos law, promoted by the administration of Nayib Bukele, which states that families, society, private companies, and the State must work together to safeguard the comprehensive well-being of children and adolescents.

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.

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“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.

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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.