Central America

Salvadoran Navy Seizes 1.5 Tons of Cocaine in Pacific Waters

El Salvador’s naval force reported on Friday that it had seized 1.5 tons of cocaine being transported by a vessel manned by three Ecuadorians in international waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Minister of Security, Gustavo Villatoro, highlighted during a press conference that this year alone, authorities in the Central American country have seized 9.2 tons of drugs. He added that the recent seizure took place 600 nautical miles southeast of Bocana El Cordoncillo.

U.S. Ambassador William H. Duncan praised the Salvadoran Armed Forces on social media for their “effective” efforts against drug trafficking, stating that their work “continues to yield results.”

“These seizures make El Salvador, the region, and the United States safer, strengthening hemispheric stability and prosperity,” the diplomat stated.

Central America

Guatemalan authorities arrest salvadoran gang member for mayor’s murder

Guatemalan authorities announced on Sunday the arrest of a suspected Salvadoran gang member accused of involvement in the murder of a mayor from a predominantly Indigenous town. This marks the second arrest related to the killing, which took place in February.

“Investigators” from the National Civil Police (PNC) “captured the second suspect involved in the armed attack that resulted in the death of the mayor of Chuarrancho,” the PNC stated on its X account.

The arrested individual has been identified as Óscar Alfredo Martínez, a 31-year-old Salvadoran allegedly affiliated with the Barrio 18 gang and known by the alias “El Guanaco”, according to the PNC.

Authorities believe Martínez was involved in the February 26 killing of Gerson Saul Ajcúc Xot, mayor of Chuarrancho, a farming municipality located approximately 30 km from Guatemala City.

The 49-year-old mayor was shot dead while driving on one of the main roads leading to the capital.

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Central America

Over 8,000 Hondurans Deported in 2025, Including 389 Children

More than 8,000 Hondurans, 11.7% of whom are minors, have been deported to their home country in 2025, marking a 1.6% increase compared to 2024, according to figures from the Honduran National Migration Institute (INM), reported on Friday by EFE.

Official statistics show that last year, 133 fewer people were deported than the 8,174 returned between January 1 and March 13, 2025.

Of these deportations, the United States has sent back 3,375 Hondurans, of which 389 are children, including some unaccompanied minors, according to the INM report.

Guatemalan authorities have also returned 3,308 Hondurans who were living illegally, with 707 minors among them, the report added.

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.