Central America
Nicaragua threatens Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and R. Dominican Republic for impasse in the SICA
Nicaragua threatened Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic with taking “some measures” against them for opposing the election of former Nicaraguan Chancellor Denis Moncada as the new secretary general of the Central American Integration System (SICA), according to an official statement released this Friday.
“We have received your disrespectful and taxing Joint Note of today, November 28, 2024, which highlights its continuous, illegal and inappropriate blockade of Nicaragua, according to all the Treaties and Regulations governing the Central American Integration System,” said Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Valdrack Jaentschke, in a note addressed to his colleagues from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic, and to all SICA Governments.
“In the face of this unusual insubordination of Governments and Foreign Ministrys that do not respond to the Law that governs us according to the Jurisprudence of our System, Nicaragua is considering some measures that we will communicate in a timely manner, on the contempt in which the countries subscribing to the Note have shamefully fallen, which also deny, absolutely and insanely, the power of our country to designate our own candidates,” he continued.
According to Jaentschke, former Chancellor and retired general Denis Moncada “has had and has the recognition of Governments, peoples and countries of the World, recognition and respect that cannot be ignored and / or denied by those who subscribe to this absurd communication.”
They invite you to reconsider
“We call for reconsideration of what we consider to contravene all the Presidential Agreements that have governed and govern the SICA, including the national sovereignty of our countries,” urged the Nicaraguan Foreign Minister.
Referring to the note from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic, Jaentschke indicated that it “exhibits a denialist, exclusionary and discriminatory position, which is unacceptable from all points of view and that we are forced to denounce.”
Three weeks ago, the Government chaired by Daniel Ortega proposed a new tern of candidates as the new general secretary of the SICA, headed by former Chancellor Moncada, and also integrated by the Sandinista deputy Arling Patricia Alonso Gómez, and the Minister of the Family, Johana Flores, after two previous ternas presented did not reach consensus.
The previous terna was composed of Deputy Alonso; the Minister of the Interior, María Amelia Coronel Kinloch, and the presidential advisor for health issues and former Minister of Health, Sonia Castro, all sanctioned by the United States and in Castro’s case also by Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, for violation of human rights.
The first terna, presented on November 16, 2023, was headed by Jaentschke himself and included Violeta Irías Nelson, from the Attorney General’s Office for the Defense of Human Rights, and the official deputy Irís Marina Montenegro Blandón.
One year without the General Secretary of the SICA
Nicaragua, which holds the temporary presidency of that body, had convened an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the SICA for last November 15 “in order to advance in this process”, present the new terna and interview the candidates proposed by Managua, which was not held due to lack of consensus.
The General Secretariat of the SICA has been vacant since in mid-November 2023 the Nicaraguan lawyer Werner Vargas resigned from the position for the period 2022-2026, for which he was appointed as a proposal for Nicaragua.
Nicaragua has also denounced and rejected the “usurpation” of the General Secretariat of the SICA by an “Executive Directorate” of that body, which according to Managua has asked the governments of the region “to analyze a proposal for a work agenda and a draft budget of a General Secretariat that does not exist because it is unbrainering.”
The SICA, created in Tegucigalpa in 1991, is integrated by Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic as full members, while Mexico, the United States and other countries have the category of regional observers.
Central America
Xiomara Castro calls for investigation after electoral materials arrive late in Honduras’ largest cities
Honduran President Xiomara Castro said on Wednesday that the logistical failures in the distribution of electoral materials in some voting centers in the country’s two most important cities during the primary and internal elections held last Sunday must be investigated.
“The causes or reasons behind the problems in those areas, both in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, need to be investigated,” Castro told journalists during a working visit to the city of Siguatepeque in central Honduras.
For reasons that have not yet been fully clarified but are under investigation by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office), hundreds of electoral ballots were delivered with more than a twelve-hour delay in the two major cities, which caused widespread discontent and outrage, and led many people to end up voting until the early hours of Monday.
What was most surprising was that the materials – the distribution, oversight, and custody of which are the responsibility of the Armed Forces at the national level – did not reach many voting centers in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula on time.
Sports
Lamine Yamal and Raphinha lead Barça to a 4-1 aggregate victory over Benfica
Young talent Lamine Yamal and Brazilian forward Raphinha secured Barcelona’s spot in the Champions League quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory over Benfica (4-1 on aggregate) on Tuesday at the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc.
Raphinha (11’) opened the scoring for Barça after a brilliant assist from Yamal. However, Benfica’s Nicolás Otamendi (13’) quickly leveled the match with a header from a corner kick. Yamal restored the lead (27’) with a stunning goal, and Raphinha sealed the victory (42’) just before halftime.
Determined to avoid any surprises, Barcelona started aggressively, with early attempts from Yamal and Lewandowskisignaling their intent to dominate. All goals came in the first half, securing a convincing win and a place in the next round.
Central America
Former First Lady of Honduras Seeks Presidential Nomination Amidst Controversy
Ana García, the former First Lady of Honduras and wife of former President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is currently serving a drug trafficking sentence in the United States, will seek the presidential candidacy of the opposition National Party in Sunday’s primary elections. If successful, she would run in the general elections scheduled for November 30.
García is one of three women, all lawyers by profession, from the country’s three major political parties participating in the Sunday’s popular consultation, in which more than half of the country’s ten million inhabitants will be eligible to vote.
The other two candidates are Rixi Moncada, the current Minister of Defense, who is aiming to be the presidential candidate for the ruling Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre), a left-wing party, and Maribel Espinoza, from the century-old and conservative Liberal Party.
The wife of ex-president Hernández leads the Avanza Movement within the National Party, also a century-old and conservative party that has alternated in power with the Liberal Party for over a century, with some interruptions due to military coups.
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