Central America
Nicaragua launches direct trade route with China to boost economic exchange
On Thursday, the Nicaraguan government inaugurated a direct trade route with China to enhance economic exchange between the two countries, according to official media sources.
The announcement took place at the port of Corinto, located on the Pacific coast about 150 km northwest of Managua. The cargo ship Sunny Fortune, registered under the Panamanian flag, arrived on Wednesday as the first of three monthly vessels scheduled under a commercial agreement with China.
Laureano Ortega, the presidential advisor responsible for Nicaragua-China relations and the son of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, led the event alongside Chinese and Nicaraguan officials. He described the development as “a significant milestone” for the Central American nation.
“This is a major achievement for our country, and we will continue working to ensure this is just the beginning of increased frequency and more operations,” Laureano Ortega said, according to the portal El19digital.
In addition to inaugurating the route, the Sunny Fortune delivered machinery for the construction of the Punta Huete International Airport, located north of Managua. This airport project was awarded to the Chinese company CAMC.
In December 2023, China and Nicaragua agreed to elevate their relationship to a “strategic partnership” following a call between Ortega and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In January, Nicaragua and China launched a Free Trade Agreement.
Managua established diplomatic relations with China in 2021 after severing ties with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province that must be reunified, by force if necessary.
Since then, the world’s second-largest economy has supported the Nicaraguan government, which is facing sanctions from the United States and European countries following the 2018 protests against Ortega, which resulted in over 300 deaths according to the UN.
Central America
Venezuelan opposition leader to meet Costa Rican president Rodrigo Chaves on thursday
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia will meet with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves this Thursday, the Presidential Office of Costa Rica announced today.
“We will give a warm welcome to the person who won the July elections in Venezuela, and we continue to denounce electoral fraud,” President Chaves stated during his weekly press conference.
Meanwhile, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Arnoldo André explained that González Urrutia is visiting Costa Rica to “inform the president and provide details about the situation in Venezuela, the victory he achieved with over 7 million votes on July 28, and the electoral fraud committed by Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which fraudulently swore him in as president.”
González Urrutia is currently in Guatemala, having arrived from the Dominican Republic as part of a tour through several countries ahead of the controversial inauguration on January 10, during which the Chavista leader Nicolás Maduro was sworn in as president by the National Assembly, controlled by the ruling party.
Central America
President Arévalo highlights anti-corruption and drug trafficking efforts in first year report
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de León highlighted this Tuesday the progress made in the fight against corruption and drug trafficking as cornerstones of his first year at the helm of the Guatemalan government, during a session in Congress.
“We are in a process of transformation, but the commitment must be focused on eradicating the corruption that has oppressed us for so long,” said the president during the presentation of his first government report.
Arévalo de León urged lawmakers to “work together for structural change” in the country and thanked the president of the Legislative Body, Nery Ramos, for their joint efforts in the approval of various laws and the alliances formed during 2024.
The Guatemalan president highlighted as an achievement of his administration the denunciation of dozens of corruption structures embedded in state entities, such as fraud networks involving businessmen and former officials.
Central America
Honduras arrests former military leaders over 2009 killings
Former Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Honduras, General Romeo Vásquez, was arrested on Sunday as the alleged person responsible for the 2009 killings of two individuals by military personnel, just days after leading the coup against former President Manuel Zelaya.
Along with him, the Deputy Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Venancio Cervantes, and the former commander of the Joint Operations Command were also detained, according to the Secretary of State for Security (Interior), Gustavo Sánchez, on his social media account X.
“The three arrests were made moments ago by the Honduran Police in coordination with the Public Ministry in Tegucigalpa and La Paz (west),” Sánchez said.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office had issued an arrest warrant for the three ex-military officials “on charges of homicide and aggravated assault” against Obed Murillo and Alex Zavala, who were attacked by “members of the Armed Forces,” according to the Public Ministry.
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