Central America
The situation of Guatemalan journalists exiled in the last four years is “very critical”
Journalist and defender of freedom of expression Evelyn Blanck warns that the reporters who have been forced to leave Guatemala are in a “very critical” situation and that there are still no conditions for them to return to the country, despite the positive turn in the press that has been given with the Government of the new President Bernardo Arévalo de León.
Blanck is the coordinator of the Civitas Center, an organization that seeks to ensure the freedom of the press in the Central American country and that has coordinated support for more than twenty journalists who have had to go into exile, after denouncing political persecution against her in the last four years.
“Colleagues in exile are in a critical situation,” the journalist warns in an interview with EFE and assures that among the twenty colleagues who were forced to leave Guatemala in recent years, there are three mothers who are separated from their children and many others who struggle to find conditions to continue practicing journalism.
Several of them “are struggling to survive because they came out with emergency funds, with financing for three months and they never have anything guaranteed,” says this journalist with more than 30 years of experience.
According to an analysis by the social organization Red Rompe El Silencio, 44% of Guatemalan journalists exiled have had to stop exercising their profession and most are refugees in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and seven other countries.
This crisis of “political persecution” against the press in several Central American countries revealed that there is no comprehensive system of care for journalists who are forced to leave their country, says the activist.
“The only thing we have left is to try to work with the Central American network of journalism solutions so that colleagues have conditions to stay outside because today Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Nicaraguan exiles cannot return,” Blanck concludes.
Journalists Juan Luis Font, director of the radio program Con Criterio and Michelle Mendoza, who was a correspondent for the CNN network in Guatemala, top the list of Guatemalan communicators who have had to go into exile.
In Blanck’s opinion, the Government of the new president of Guatemala exhibits “an institutional discourse that recognizes the work of the press, although its ability to maneuver is very little because the State is still co-opted.”
“Of course there is tension, but it is different from the administrations of Alejandro Giammattei (2020-2024) and Jimmy Morales (2016-2020), where there was an absolute public contempt for the press and that is over,” says the journalist.
According to the Association of Journalists of Guatemala (APG), during the administration of Giammattei there were more than 400 attacks on the press by public officials, and the vast majority of these were dismissed and not investigated by the authorities.
That is why Blanck refers to the Government of Arévalo de León as “a respite that we do not know how long it will last,” and warns that there are no conditions for journalists who left the country under persecution to return while the co-optation of the Judicial Body and the Public Ministry (Public Prosecutor’s Office) persists.
“Doing journalism in Guatemala has always been facing a country of censorship, it is facing power. This is one of the most difficult countries to do quality journalism,” says Blanck.
The Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Consuelo Porras Argueta, has led several cases against communicators in recent years and the most emblematic is that of José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, an internationally recognized journalist who was arrested on July 29, 2022, a few days after launching criticism against the close circle of the then president, Alejandro Giammattei.
Zamora Marroquín, who recently served 600 days in prison, is still waiting for the repetition of the trial against him for an alleged money laundering case and indicated that since the arrival of Arévalo de León to power in January, he has been guaranteed decent conditions in his arrest.
Central America
Honduras Could Lose All Its Forests by 2045 if Current Deforestation Rate Continues, Study Warns
Honduras marked National Tree Day on Saturday amid growing concerns over the future of its forests, as a new study warned that the country’s woodland cover could disappear within the next 21 years if current rates of deforestation continue.
The report, released by the Institute for Justice in partnership with the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ), projects that Honduras could lose all of its forests by 2045 if the average annual forest loss recorded between 2022 and 2024, estimated at 2.25%, remains unchanged.
“If we continue with the same forest loss trend observed from 2022 to 2024, Honduran forests will disappear in 21 years, by 2045,” the study states. It adds that if the longer-term trend recorded since 2013, averaging 0.66% annually, persists, the country’s forests could vanish by 2094.
Illegal and legal logging, forest fires, and pest infestations were identified as some of the main factors contributing to the degradation of thousands of hectares of forest across the Central American nation.
According to various sources cited in the report, between 60,000 and 80,000 hectares are affected by forest fires each year. Many of these blazes are believed to be human-caused, with the study estimating that eight out of every ten forest fires in Honduras result from deliberate actions.
The departments of Francisco Morazán, Olancho, and Colón were highlighted as the areas with the highest levels of logging activity. Large trucks transporting pine logs to sawmills are a common sight on major highways in these regions, while the harvesting of valuable hardwood species also continues to put pressure on forest resources.
The report comes as Honduras experiences one of its most severe wildfire seasons in recent years. Authorities attribute part of the increase in fires to extreme heat linked to climate change, with temperatures reaching as high as 42 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country.
Honduras covers approximately 112,492 square kilometers, with more than half of its territory classified as forested land, making forest conservation a critical environmental challenge for the nation.
Central America
Guatemala Dismantles Largest Cocaine Lab Found in 15 Years Near Mexico Border
Security forces in Guatemala discovered what authorities described as the largest cocaine laboratory dismantled in the country in the last 15 years, located in the southwest near the border with Mexico, officials announced on Wednesday.
Guatemalan Defense Minister Henry Sáenz said during a press conference that the operation was carried out as part of “Operation Ring of Fire,” a large-scale security initiative launched by the Guatemalan government and military to reinforce border controls and combat organized crime, particularly along the Mexican border.
The operation focused on the community of Zanjón San Lorenzo, in the municipality of Ayutla, San Marcos department, where authorities uncovered a sophisticated criminal compound made up of three interconnected buildings equipped to carry out the full cocaine production process.
“What we can preliminarily observe in these facilities is the complete production cycle used to produce cocaine ready for consumption,” Sáenz stated, adding that the investigation remains ongoing and additional findings could emerge.
The minister highlighted the scale and complexity of the laboratory, comparing it to previous major drug seizures in the country.
“The last major laboratory we found was in El Estor, Izabal, in 2019, and that facility only processed coca paste,” he explained.
Authorities arrested eight individuals during the raid and seized a cache of weapons that included 14 military-style assault rifles, three 9mm pistols, and 1,306 rounds of ammunition.
Security forces also confiscated cash totaling 74,461 quetzales (approximately $9,600), $26,787 in U.S. currency, and 118,000 Mexican pesos.
Central America
Opposition leader highlights migration crisis in Panama speech
Opposition leader María Corina Machado recalled on Monday, during her final day in Panama, the thousands of Venezuelan migrants who crossed the dangerous Darién Gap jungle on their journey toward North America in search of better living conditions.
Speaking before Panama’s National Assembly, Machado stated that “more than 500,000 Venezuelans have crossed the Darién in search of freedom,” adding that many did not survive the journey.
Her remarks highlighted the Darién Gap as a central route in the recent regional migration crisis, where thousands of migrants—mostly Venezuelans—have attempted to travel north through one of the most dangerous jungle passages in the Americas.
According to migration data cited in recent years, the Darién route has seen daily flows of over a thousand migrants at its peak, reflecting the scale of the humanitarian challenge in the region.
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