Central America

Maribel Gordón, the leftist economist who aspires to the Executive of Panama with a feminist plan

The leftist Maribel Gordón, a professor and economist by profession, aspires to the Presidency of Panama in the elections of next May 5 with a government plan based on social proposals for a “dignified life”, being the only candidate with a plan focused on equality policies.

“That is our approach, which incorporates women in decision-making and my main proposal is a national budget with a gender perspective,” he said in an interview with EFE Gordón, an independent candidate and who is among the last places in all the polls, which he does not recognize and in which he borders on 2% of voting intention.

In the opinion of the candidate, the State approves “dead (and) empty laws” with a gender focus, because they do not have sufficient resources to put them into practice, they only serve to wash the international image, “without any responsibility or will to be executed.”

Gordón, 62 years old and popularly known as ‘La Profe’, is the only candidate with openly socialist ideas and supported by the feminist movement of the Central American country by having a public discourse against sexist violence and equality gaps.

She considered herself part of the feminist revolution from a very early age, when it was still officially chosen who represented the movement. “I joined a group of 14 women who carry out these flags because the gender inequality gaps in Panama are deep.”

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He explained that in the country there are “low wages” for women because they are “placed in economic activities where the minimum wage predominates” because “the system does not generate decent employment for women.”

“We are also proposing an institutional policy that guarantees the elimination of violence against women (because) violence begins from the institutional with a State that does not protect and that thinks that if a woman or a teenager is raped is something common or private life,” he said.

The presidential candidate has a long history within the social movements in Panama. He jumped to the public spotlight in the protests against the increase in the price of life in 2021. The prices of gasoline and other commodities skyrocketed due to global inflation.

His interventions – as if he were teaching a university class – during a frustrated dialogue table between the Government and the demonstrations to seek a solution were popularly applauded, thus forging his candidacy with the participation in last year’s anti-mining protests, before which he maintains his resounding “no” to mining in the country.

This is the third time that Gordon tries to reach the spheres of the Executive Power. The previous two times –2014 and 2019 – she was a running mate with the leftist Frente Amplio por la Democracia (FAD). The political arm of the most powerful union in the country and the one that its spectacular failure in the last elections dissolved the party.

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Gordón is related to the socio-political movements of the Latin American left. A reflection of this is his Government project baptized as the ‘plan for a dignified life’, which is based on “human well-being”, “real democracy”, the “rescue of identity” and a constitutional reform through the constituent route, one of the two options that the current Magna Carta allows.

“If the left is a failure, why are there economic sanctions against those left-wing countries? (…) (For) the fear of a system that effectively works without blockades (…), at least, on issues of national and social development,” says Gordón.

Thus, he proposes to create in Panama, a country “with its specific characteristics,” a project of “national and social development, that is of the Panamanians and Panamanians for the Panamanians” to which some “examples of other latitudes” can be incorporated.

He also defends that socialism, “that phase of transition between capitalism and communism” that adapts to every historical moment, has tried to “develop” in different ways, so the governments in China, Cuba and Venezuela as well as what “tried to do in Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, even today in Colombia and Uruguay” are not alike.

For the elections on May 5, just over 3 million Panamanians are called to the polls.

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The main candidates are José Raúl Mulino, the running mate of the disabled former President Ricardo Martinelli, for the Realizing Goals (RM) and Alianza parties. Former President Martín Torrijos (2004-2009), for the Popular Party (PP) and Ricardo Lombana for the Otro Camino Movement.

Central America

Guatemala Court Voids List of Candidates for Top Prosecutor Position

President of Guatemala cannot remove attorney general from office

Constitutional Court of Guatemala on Thursday annulled the shortlist of six candidates for attorney general and head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, ordering authorities to repeat the evaluation phase of the selection process.

The ruling came in response to a legal appeal filed by Raúl Amílcar Falla Ovalle, who challenged the way professional experience had been assessed for some applicants, particularly those with careers in the judiciary.

As a result of the decision, the selection process has been suspended, and the Postulation Commission must return to the stage in which the original 48 applicants were evaluated.

According to the ruling, the commission must reapply the grading criteria without automatically counting years served as judges as equivalent to the professional experience required for the position.

“The Postulation Commission for the election of the Attorney General and Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is ordered to reassess the applicants by strictly applying the approved grading table,” the resolution states.

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The Constitutional Court also stressed that the process must guarantee merit, competence, and suitability, while ensuring greater transparency in the assignment of scores.

Central America

U.S. extradites Iranian man over alleged sanctions evasion scheme

The United States has extradited from Panama an Iranian national accused of evading economic sanctions against Iran by illegally exporting U.S. technology. He is scheduled to appear this Monday before a court in Seattle.

Reza Dindar, 44, was extradited on April 17 after being detained in Panama since July 2025 on charges related to export control violations between 2011 and 2012, allegedly carried out through companies based in China.

The defendant appeared before a U.S. district court in Seattle, where he faces charges of violating sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran in 1995 during the administration of Bill Clinton. These sanctions prohibit the unauthorized export, re-export, or supply—directly or indirectly—of U.S. goods, technology, or services to Iran or its government.

According to the indictment, between 2010 and 2014, Dindar led the company New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, which allegedly concealed the procurement of U.S. products for shipment to clients in Iran.

Central America

Bukele administration surpasses 1,100 homicide-free days amid ongoing crackdown

El Salvador's PNC adds 85 days without murders and April is on track to be the safest in Salvadoran history

On Saturday, April 18, the Policía Nacional Civil (PNC) reported that no homicides were recorded in El Salvador, bringing the total to 17 days without murders.

With this update, the country has accumulated 91 homicide-free days so far in 2026. January closed with 27 such days, followed by 24 in February and 23 in March, according to police data.

During the administration of President Nayib Bukele, a total of 1,193 days without homicides have been registered. Of those, 1,079 have occurred since the implementation of the state of exception.

This extraordinary security measure has been extended 49 times by the Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador, with the latest extension in effect from April 1 to April 30, 2026. Under the measure, more than 91,700 gang members and collaborators have been detained and prosecuted for illicit association.