Central America
Mulino warns Trump: Darién is U.S.’s ‘other border’ in call for bilateral solutions to migration
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino reiterated on Thursday that the Darién region is “the other border” of the United States and that President-elect Donald Trump must understand this, given his announcement to toughen U.S. immigration policy.
“And I repeat what I have said: he (Trump) must know that his other border, the U.S. border, is in Darién, and we need to begin solving this issue bilaterally or together with a group of countries that contribute people to the migratory flow,” Mulino stated during his weekly press conference.
The Panamanian leader added that the United States “needs to be more aware that this (the flow of irregular migrants through Darién) is their problem. These people are not coming to stay in Panama… they want to go to the United States for whatever reasons they may have.”
In 2023, more than 520,000 irregular migrants crossed the Darién jungle into Panama, a historic figure. This year, the flow has decreased, with more than 281,000 travelers making the journey by October 31, mostly Venezuelans (over 196,000), according to Panama’s National Migration Service.
“Panama is doing what it can,” Mulino said, emphasizing the country’s significant financial investment in security, medical care, and food for migrants. However, he noted, “As long as the crisis in Venezuela persists, all signs point to this continuing, with the human drama that it involves.”
He emphasized that Venezuelans make up the majority of those crossing the jungle, with 69% according to Panamanian statistics, followed by Colombians (6%), Ecuadorians (5%), Chinese (4%), and Haitians (4%). The rest come from over fifty countries worldwide.
On July 1, when Mulino began his five-year term, Panama and the United States signed an agreement under which the U.S. government covers the costs of repatriating migrants who entered through Darién. Under this program, which is funded with $6 million, more than 1,000 people have already been deported, mostly Colombians.
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.
The AP agency sues the Trump Government after being banned for writing Gulf of Mexico
Buenos Aires advances legislative elections to May 18 and suspends the primaries
Trump threatens to impose tariffs on governments that apply digital fees to US companies
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Ecuador prison riot leaves at least 43 dead
-
International5 days agoNoboa assures that Ecuador will not have any more blackouts in 2025 and 2026
-
International5 days agoZelenski asks for “guarantees” from the US, the EU and Turkey for a possible peace agreement with Russia
-
International3 days agoGuantánamo expresses criticize its use to detain migrants: “It’s a black hole”
-
International5 days agoThe Sudanese government accuses the paramilitaries of killing more than 430 civilians in the south-central part of the country
-
International5 days agoThe pope suffers from “bilateral pneumonia” and his clinical picture remains “complex”
-
International3 days agoEuropol warns of the increase in groups on the Internet to radicalize minors
-
International5 days agoBoric, Lula, Petro and Peña will be in the assumption of Yamandú Orsi as president of Uruguay
-
International5 days agoHamas will deliver six hostages on Saturday and four bodies on Thursday, including the Bibas
-
International3 days agoMexico announces reforms against “external interference”, after the US designated the cartels as terrorists
-
International4 days agoMexico has 20 of the 50 most violent cities in the world
-
International4 days agoEurope and Canada close ranks to count on Ukraine in the peace negotiation
-
International5 days agoTrump’s annexation threats return to Canada at the end of the 19th century
-
International4 days agoThe constitutional reform that gives full power to Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua comes into force
-
International4 days agoVon der Leyen urges Caricom to defend peace in Ukraine in the face of “an unpredictable world”
-
International4 days agoFor the Government of Argentina, the scandal over the $LIBRA case is a “finished topic”
-
International3 days agoImmigrants in Denver are afraid to take their children to school because of the raids
-
International4 days ago109 migrants deported from the US are referred from a hotel in Panama to the Darién
-
International5 days agoThe White House denies that Elon Musk is the legal manager of the Department of Efficiency
-
International3 days agoThe United States urges Ukraine to “lower the tone” and accept Trump’s proposal on its minerals
-
International4 days agoTrumpism embraces the European far-right at its annual convention
-
International5 days agoMigrants, more vulnerable to organized crime in southern Mexico after Trump’s return
-
International3 days agoAn attack with explosives leaves five injured and destroys a toll booth on the border of Colombia and Venezuela
-
International3 days agoEven in the Nido de las Águilas, a section without a wall, border crossings in the United States go down
-
International1 day agoThe AP agency sues the Trump Government after being banned for writing Gulf of Mexico
-
Internacionales2 days agoNetanyahu vows Hamas will pay for violating ceasefire after mix-up over hostage bodies
-
International2 days agoTrump says Zelensky’s presence in peace talks makes it “difficult” to reach agreements
-
International4 days agoThe Government of Ecuador proposes the temporary entry of foreign forces to combat insecurity
-
International3 days agoEvo Morales announces his presidential candidacy in Bolivia with a new party and moves away from the ruling party
-
International5 days agoXiomara Castro reaches an “agreement” with the United States for Honduras to continue the extradition treaty
-
International3 days agoMore than 21,000 tharks have shaken the Cyclades Islands in the last three weeks
-
International3 days agoCanada declares Mexican drug cartels terrorists as well as the United States
-
International5 days agoThe famous ‘stone of the 12 angles’ of the Incas is damaged by a stranger in the city of Cuzco
-
International2 days agoIICA to strengthen prevention efforts against cattle tick disease with $250K investment
-
International2 days agoMilei: Social justice promotes hostility, incompatible with progress
-
International1 day agoBuenos Aires advances legislative elections to May 18 and suspends the primaries
-
International3 days agoLula da Silva: Bolsonaro “will know that in this country the law is for everyone”
-
International1 day agoWhat are the six Mexican cartels designated as terrorist groups by the United States?
-
International1 day agoTrump threatens to impose tariffs on governments that apply digital fees to US companies
-
International1 day agoBolivia’s ruling party meets to choose candidates without the participation of Evo Morales
-
International1 day agoThe Los Angeles fires caused losses of more than 30 billion in real estate