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Gangs
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
26/09/2023
On August 15, 2005, the Mara Salvatrucha set off nine simultaneous prison riots across Guatemala that left 36 people dead. But they didn’t do so out of hate: The eruption of violence that broke El Sur —a long-standing non-aggression pact between MS-13, 18th Street and other gangs— was a strategic move seven years in the making, with one cold motive: business.
José Luis Sanz and Carlos Martínez
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Historical Memory
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
19/09/2023
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Politics
Thursday, September 14, 2023
14/09/2023
Less than five months before the Salvadoran elections, the diplomatic corps has gone silent regarding presidential reelection. The US, which two years ago condemned consecutive periods, now takes cover behind voters’ “right to determine their own future.” Amid doubts about a fair playing field, it is unclear what real impact OAS and EU monitors can have.
Roman Gressier and José Luis Sanz
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Politics
Friday, September 8, 2023
08/09/2023
The selection of the next Honduran attorney general, a critical partner of the eventual UN-backed anti-corruption commission CICIH, has hit congressional gridlock. The ruling party Libre, which promised an independent CICIH, has pushed for the appointment of a 2021 ruling-party mayoral candidate, in violation of non-partisan rules.
Roman Gressier
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Impunity
Monday, September 4, 2023
04/09/2023
The National Civil Police of El Salvador profiled ruling-party legislator Bladimir Barahona in June 2021 as part of a human trafficking ring. That November, Interpol El Salvador alerted its Washington office that a company owned by Barahona, who sits on the Financial Committee of the Legislative Assembly, funnels “money from unknown sources,” which could constitute money laundering.
Efren Lemus
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Politics
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
29/08/2023
On Monday the Supreme Electoral Tribunal both certified the victory of President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo and temporarily suspended his Semilla party, the latest in a chain of protracted legal battles leading up to inauguration on January 14. The party says it will follow every route of appeal including, if necessary, to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Roman Gressier
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Historical Memory
Monday, September 11, 2023
11/09/2023
The last president of El Salvador to be reelected was dictator Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, in 1944. The tradition of constitutional prohibition on reelection dates back practically to independence in 1821, based on painful episodes from history. An interpretation in 2021 allowing President Nayib Bukele to be reelected returns the Central American nation to a time when democracy existed only on paper.
Nelson Rauda Zablah
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Inequality
Thursday, August 3, 2023
03/08/2023
Undocumented immigrants in the state can own and register their vehicles, but they aren’t allowed to drive them, forcing many farm workers to risk fines and arrest. “It’s a Catch-22 for a lot of folks,” advocates say.
Melissa Sanchez and Maryam Jameel / ProPublica
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Politics
Friday, August 18, 2023
18/08/2023
A euphoric closing campaign rally in the center of Guatemala City evokes the Guatemalan Revolution of 1944 and the mass protests against corruption of 2015. But the untrusting electorate is still getting to know the man who presents himself as the heir. In the height of the country’s democratic crisis, candidate Bernardo Arévalo promises a “new springtime.”
Roman Gressier / Guatemala City
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Politics
Monday, August 14, 2023
14/08/2023
Bernardo Arévalo, presidential candidate of the Semilla party, favored to win the Guatemalan runoff on Sunday, knows that the election will usher in a new political battle. His anti-corruption agenda and no-strings-attached candidacy put him at odds with traditional powers. He perceives signs of a realignment of forces and trusts in his ability to seize fissures in the ranks of the rest of the parties and private sector to negotiate a minimum democratic consensus.
José Luis Sanz / Guatemala City
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Politics
Thursday, September 14, 2023
14/09/2023
Less than five months before the Salvadoran elections, the diplomatic corps has gone silent regarding presidential reelection. The US, which two years ago condemned consecutive periods, now takes cover behind voters’ “right to determine their own future.” Amid doubts about a fair playing field, it is unclear what real impact OAS and EU monitors can have.
Roman Gressier and José Luis Sanz
/
Politics
Friday, September 8, 2023
08/09/2023
The selection of the next Honduran attorney general, a critical partner of the eventual UN-backed anti-corruption commission CICIH, has hit congressional gridlock. The ruling party Libre, which promised an independent CICIH, has pushed for the appointment of a 2021 ruling-party mayoral candidate, in violation of non-partisan rules.
Roman Gressier
/
Impunity
Monday, September 4, 2023
04/09/2023
The National Civil Police of El Salvador profiled ruling-party legislator Bladimir Barahona in June 2021 as part of a human trafficking ring. That November, Interpol El Salvador alerted its Washington office that a company owned by Barahona, who sits on the Financial Committee of the Legislative Assembly, funnels “money from unknown sources,” which could constitute money laundering.
Efren Lemus
/
Politics
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
29/08/2023
On Monday the Supreme Electoral Tribunal both certified the victory of President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo and temporarily suspended his Semilla party, the latest in a chain of protracted legal battles leading up to inauguration on January 14. The party says it will follow every route of appeal including, if necessary, to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Roman Gressier
/
Historical Memory
Monday, September 11, 2023
11/09/2023
The last president of El Salvador to be reelected was dictator Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, in 1944. The tradition of constitutional prohibition on reelection dates back practically to independence in 1821, based on painful episodes from history. An interpretation in 2021 allowing President Nayib Bukele to be reelected returns the Central American nation to a time when democracy existed only on paper.
Nelson Rauda Zablah
Our newsletter
Friday, August 18, 2023
Widely Favored in Polls, Arévalo Faces Long Path to Presidency 48 Hours before Vote
Guatemalan prosecutors insist on expanding the criminal probe of Semilla as polling predicts a landslide in favor of the party’s presidential candidate, Bernardo Arévalo. Talks of politically motivated “raids, arrest orders, and impeachment proceedings” against Semilla leaders have already surfaced within 48 hours of a possible Arévalo win on Sunday.
Monday, June 26, 2023
Arévalo Breaks into Presidential Runoff for Center-Left Surprise in Guatemala
Left-of-center opposition legislator Bernardo Arévalo shattered all forecasts in seizing second place in the presidential elections on Sunday and advancing to an August runoff. Arévalo will face political boss Sandra Torres in a test of whether Guatemalan voters can achieve political change via the ballot despite the profound suspicions of presidential efforts to contaminate the election.
Friday, June 2, 2023
Bukele Cuts 30% of Assembly Seats and 83% of Mayors Months Before Elections
Eight months before the elections, President Nayib Bukele announced last night that the 262 Salvadoran municipalities will be cut to 44 and the 84-seat legislature to 60. In his prime-time speech marking four years in power, he also announced the seizure of ex-president Alfredo Cristiani’s assets on unknown charges.
Thursday, June 1, 2023
List of Presidential Candidates Unclear 24 Days before Guatemalan Elections
Suspicions of cooptation of electoral arbiters and a narco-cloud over the June 25 elections are aggravating Guatemala’s political and institutional crisis. Three excluded presidential candidates are calling for a boycott as hostilities increase. Some observers even worry that authorities could suspend the election altogether.
Monday, May 1, 2023
Where Does Central America Fit in a Multipolar World?
Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador’s nods to Russia and China are often read as a jealousy game in the U.S. bilateral relationship. Regional leaders claim sovereignty and multipolarity as their mantra. Experts say that non-ideological short-term calculus and a search for impunity are instead guiding their actions.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Bukele Blocks Release of IMF Annual Report on El Salvador Economy
The Bukele administration barred the IMF from publishing its yearly Article IV report on the “economic situation and policy strategy” of El Salvador. It was striking, given that the country is looking to spur the negotiation of a debt program and this year, to that end, hired a former top IMF official as an advisor.
Friday, March 31, 2023
Jilted by Honduras, Taiwan Shores Up Ties with Guatemala
The president of Taiwan will travel today to Guatemala and Belize to shore up its last allies in the isthmus after Honduras’ decision to shift to China earlier this month. While the U.S. and Japan warn of the dangers of Beijing’s growing influence in Central America, the region is not buying the stale neo-Cold War framing. Tegucigalpa admits the move boiled down to debt and trade.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Costa Rican Government Proposes Spouse Permission for Abortion
As the Inter-American Court prepares for a challenge to El Salvador’s abortion ban that will set a regional precedent, just down the street Rodrigo Chaves is looking to revoke a 2019 decree compelling Costa Rican medical centers to no longer deny certain legal therapeutic abortions. Xiomara Castro headed in the opposite direction last week, approving the sale of morning-after contraceptives in Honduras.
Monday, January 30, 2023
El Salvador Obtained Three New Spyware Tools in 2020 from Israeli Intermediary
In October 2020, the Bukele administration obtained three spyware tools from an intermediary firm of an Israeli ex-special operations official close to the Salvadoran president. The first registered deployment of Pegasus in the country occurred four months prior.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Guatemala, Colombia in Diplomatic Crisis over Retaliation against Ex-CICIG Commissioner
The Giammattei administration is locked in a diplomatic skirmish with Colombia over the news that former CICIG commissioner Iván Velásquez, now Petro’s minister of defense, will be criminally investigated. Anti-corruption organizations and the U.S. government assert that the move is yet another example of lawfare in the country.
Friday, December 9, 2022
Honduran State of Exception Expands Bukele’s Echo in the Region
The same day Nayib Bukele staged a military siege of the gang bastion Soyapango, Xiomara Castro decreed a state of exception before deploying police and military in 162 of Honduras’ most marginalized urban communities. The suspension of constitutional guarantees goes even further than in the Salvadoran model.
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
Argentina Seeks Justice for Crimes during 2018 Repression in Nicaragua
Complaints before Argentinian justice have resulted in a case accusing Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo, and a dozen other top officials of crimes against humanity. One of the lawyers behind the probe concedes that the prospect of any verdict is far-flung, but it has made enough noise for a top U.S. diplomat to meet with the prosecution.
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