Central America
Panama deports 29 colombian criminals under new U.S. migration agreement
Panama deported 29 Colombians with criminal backgrounds on Tuesday who had entered the country through the remote Darién jungle, marking the first implementation of a migration agreement signed with the United States in July.
“We have the first flight of the agreement funded by the United States,” said Panama’s Deputy Minister of Security, Luis Felipe Icaza, to the press. He was accompanied by U.S. officials as the charter flight took off at dawn from Albrook Airport in Panama City, carrying the 29 deportees to Bogotá.
Before boarding the Fokker 50 aircraft, the group was assembled at the side of the runway and each individual was checked with metal detectors. The deportees, who were not carrying any luggage, were handcuffed and shackled, making their way slowly up the stairs to the plane.
Icaza mentioned that “the next flight could depart on Friday or Saturday” under the memorandum Panama signed with the United States on July 1, the same day José Raúl Mulino took office as the new President of Panama.
Under this agreement, Washington pledged to fund the deportation of migrants crossing the Darién, the inhospitable jungle on the Colombia-Panama border, with six million dollars.
“The memorandum applies to anyone, not just criminals,” said Marlene Piñeiro, the U.S. Interior Security Attaché in Central America, who observed the deportation process along with other U.S. and Panamanian officials.
“In addition to charter flights, we are also supporting commercial flights” for the return of migrants to their home countries, she added.
Central America
El Salvador’s MARN monitors ongoing seismic activity in La Unión department
Seismic activity in the Conchagua area and its surroundings, located in the department of La Unión, continues to accumulate events, surpassing 1,350 aftershocks as of Wednesday morning, according to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN).
As of 6:00 AM on December 18th, a total of 1,351 earthquakes have been recorded, of which 176 were felt, according to the data published by the Ministry of Environment. The seismic activity in this area of the eastern part of the country began on December 8th after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake was recorded at 9:50 PM. The magnitudes of the aftershocks have ranged between 2.5 and 5.0.
The Ministry of Environment continues to monitor seismic activity in this region and throughout El Salvador to take appropriate measures and ensure the safety of the Salvadoran population.
Sports
Real Madrid clinches fourth Intercontinental Cup with 3-0 victory over Pachuca
Real Madrid crowned themselves champions of their fourth Intercontinental Cup on Wednesday, defeating Mexican club Pachuca 3-0 in Doha, thanks to goals from Frenchman Kylian Mbappé and Brazilians Rodrygo and Vinicius.
The ‘Merengues’ thus capped off a spectacular 2024 year, winning five titles. Before this success in Qatar, they had already claimed the Spanish League, the UEFA Champions League, and the Super Cups of Spain and Europe.
Mbappé, who made his return after a minor muscle injury, capitalized on a pass from Brazilian Vinicius in the 37th minute, who dribbled past goalkeeper Carlos Moreno, to finish from close range. It was the first shot on target for Real Madrid.
The team doubled their lead with another brilliant goal from Rodrygo, who feigned a shot to beat his defenders and created enough space to take a strike from the edge of the area, beating Moreno in the 53rd minute.
For a few moments, the goal was under review after Venezuelan referee Jesús Valenzuela was called to check a potential offside by Jude Bellingham.
However, the referee concluded that the Englishman did not interfere with the play and the goal was allowed.
Five minutes later, Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had to use his hand to stop a dangerous ball, which Salomón Rondón almost put into the net.
Mbappé, who had scored a hat-trick in the 2022 World Cup final that was lost to Argentina’s Lionel Messi in the same Lusail stadium, left the pitch in the 62nd minute on the decision of Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, who lifted his 15th title with the club—one more than the legendary Miguel Muñoz.
When it seemed like the players of Uruguayan Guillermo Almada had gained some initiative, Oussama Idrissi fouled Lucas Vázquez inside the area, and the penalty was reviewed via VAR.
Vinicius converted the spot-kick in the 84th minute with a low, powerful shot that Moreno touched but could not save.
The newly named FIFA Player of the Year had another chance to score, while Ángel Mena managed to head the ball into the net before the 90-minute mark, but his goal was ruled offside.
Central America
Amnesty International condemns Nicaragua’s unprecedented repression of dissent
On Tuesday, Amnesty International (AI) stated that no one in Nicaragua is safe from the “repressive model” imposed by the government of Daniel Ortega, which threatens human rights in an “unprecedented” manner.
“Nicaragua’s repression leaves no one safe,” said Ana Piquer, AI’s Americas director, in a statement.
“From indigenous leaders, journalists, human rights defenders, and anyone seen as a risk to the government’s policies, the authorities continue to solidify the climate of fear in which dissent is punished with imprisonment, exile, or disappearance,” she added.
Since the anti-government protests in 2018, which Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, consider an attempted coup promoted by the United States, hundreds of people have been “unjustly imprisoned” and many have been forced into exile, according to AI.
At least 300 people died in the protests, according to the United Nations.
The human rights organization urged Ortega’s government to “immediately halt all repressive practices,” ensure human rights, and end the “criminalization of dissent.”
Recently, the NGO Colectivo Nicaragua Nunca Más reported over 2,000 arbitrary arrests and at least 229 cases of torture of detainees since 2018.
Additionally, Amnesty labeled imprisoned Miskito indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera as a “prisoner of conscience” and demanded his release along with dozens of other detainees.
The Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners in Nicaragua currently lists 45 people detained for political reasons in the country.
Since February 2023, Ortega’s government has stripped about 450 politicians, businessmen, journalists, intellectuals, human rights activists, and religious figures of their Nicaraguan nationality after they were exiled or expelled from the country.
Amnesty demanded “an end to the practice of arbitrary deprivation of nationality, as well as the full restoration of the rights of those deprived of it,” and urged the international community not to remain “indifferent” to the situation in Nicaragua.
Ortega, a 79-year-old former guerrilla fighter who ruled Nicaragua in the 1980s and has been in power again since 2007, enacted a broad constitutional reform in November that stipulates that “traitors to the homeland” lose their Nicaraguan nationality, a charge leveled against most of the exiled individuals.
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