Central America
US Congressman Gaetz praises El Salvador’s transformation under President Bukele
Matthew Louis Gaetz, a Republican Congressman from the United States, highlighted in an interview how El Salvador, under the presidency of Nayib Bukele, has transitioned from a “failed state” to positioning itself as the Singapore of the Western Hemisphere.
The American official recalled his recent visit to the country for President Bukele’s inauguration ceremony, marking the beginning of his second term on June 1st.
“I just returned from El Salvador. I was at Bukele’s inauguration. He is one of the most impressive people I’ve ever met. I saw a country that was basically a failed state and now is positioned to be the Singapore of the Western Hemisphere,” Gaetz said.
He added that if El Salvador, with a population of 6 million, has managed to reach this position “by simply imprisoning 70,000 people, then I’m not convinced that Canada is so dominated by globalists that it can’t overcome them.”
President Bukele’s security strategy, implementing the Territorial Control Plan, reinforced by the state of emergency, is the most successful in the country’s history and an example to the world. Last year, the homicide rate closed at 2.4 per 100,000 inhabitants; there was also a decline in crimes such as extortion, robbery, theft, and assaults nationwide. By the end of the first quarter of 2024 (January-March), it was 1.5.
In response to the interviewer’s comments about the need for countries to choose leaders “who believe in their citizens and want to support them,” Congressman Gaetz noted, “That’s right, although it must be more enduring than that. It has to last longer than just one person, but I think in every great movement, there are people who become the vanguard.”
“I saw people in the congress [Legislative Assembly], in the government, in the diplomatic corps, for whom Bukelism is emerging as a concept […] and I think that’s what attracts the younger generation,” the congressman reflected.
He mentioned that President Bukele showed him a photo depicting how students in a public school no longer aspire to be gang members or thieves but rather police officers, chefs, and entrepreneurs. “Compare that with our situation,” he said, expressing his admiration for discovering in a Salvadoran karaoke that Father’s Day is celebrated throughout June.
Central America
Arévalo calls corruption the “fuel of inequality” and reaffirms commitment to public transparency
Guatemala’s President, Bernardo Arévalo, stated on Friday that corruption is “the food of misery” in his country and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to continuing to strengthen public spending transparency.
During the first anniversary of the National Commission Against Corruption (CNC) established by his administration, the president expressed his satisfaction with the progress made.
“The road has been difficult,” he said, “but I am greatly satisfied with the fight against corruption, which is the fuel of inequality and the food of misery,” the president declared before members of the international community and government officials.
Arévalo also mentioned that the people who elected him in 2023 for a four-year term that began on January 14, 2024, “demand that we combat corruption.”
Central America
Zúñiga hopes CIDH experts can help investigate intellectual authors of Berta Cáceres’ murder
Bertha Zúñiga, daughter of the murdered Honduran environmentalist Berta Cáceres, expressed her hope on Friday to EFE that the expert group appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) will help investigate the authorship of the crime to “heal the wounds” and rebuild the social fabric in indigenous communities affected by the hydroelectric project her mother opposed.
The Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) represents an “effort to exhaust the investigations” into the responsibilities of all individuals involved in Cáceres’ murder, as well as in the “violence suffered” from the implementation of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, led by the company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA), emphasized Zúñiga.
“We hope that, with the collaboration of the prosecutorial entities, (the experts) will effectively collaborate to move forward on what we have proposed and demanded for many years: formally requiring the intellectual authors of this crime and analyzing the related crimes,” including corruption and other violations, as well as proposing a comprehensive reparation plan for the victims of the hydroelectric project,” Zúñiga explained.
The CIDH appointed a group of four experts from Argentina, Chile, the United States, and Guatemala on Friday to provide technical assistance to Honduras in investigating the intellectual authorship of Cáceres’ murder, which occurred on March 2, 2016, while she was sleeping in her home in La Esperanza, despite the multiple death threats she had reported due to her opposition to the Agua Zarca project.
Central America
Nicaragua’s family confinement program: 7.18% of released prisoners reoffend
Nicaraguan authorities have released a total of 48,964 common prisoners under the family confinement regime over the past ten years, with 7.18% of them reoffending by committing at least one crime, according to the country’s vice president, Rosario Murillo.
Murillo, who is also the wife of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and appointed “co-president” in a reform to the Constitution, stated through official media that “7.18% are individuals who have reoffended in criminal activity from 2015 to today, February 14, 2025.”
This means that 3,515 out of the 48,964 common prisoners with final sentences who have been granted family confinement privileges have returned to criminal activity, according to the report.
The early release of common prisoners has faced criticism, particularly from feminist organizations, who argue that these benefits have contributed to an increase in femicides and general crime in Nicaragua.
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