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Friday, September 29, 2023
29/09/2023

Virginia Judge Rejects Deportation of Salvadoran Colonel Tied to El Mozote Massacre

After a five-month process, an immigration judge has concluded that there is not “clear and convincing” evidence of the participation of retired Colonel Roberto Antonio Garay Saravia in the El Mozote massacre, perpetrated by the Salvadoran Army in 1981. The U.S. government, which has requested deportation for his alleged ties to this and two other massacres at the start of the Salvadoran civil war, is expected to appeal.
Roman Gressier
US Arrests One of the Army Officers Accused of the El Mozote Massacre
Top Former Military Officers Arrested for 1982 Murder of Four Dutch Journalists

The Day MS-13 Betrayed the Guatemalan Sur

José Luis Sanz and Carlos Martínez
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Tuesday, September 26, 2023
26/09/2023

The Day MS-13 Betrayed the Guatemalan Sur

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
How Los Angeles Taught the Mara Salvatrucha to Hate
The Tradition of Death in Honduran Prisons
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Tuesday, September 19, 2023
19/09/2023

“Release everything! The Jesuits were killed in 1989, for Christ’s sake”

As the 34th anniversary of the Jesuit massacre in El Salvador approaches, US Congressman Jim McGovern recalls the Bush Sr. administration’s obstruction of the congressional inquiry on the crime, in protection of the Salvadoran army and government. He announces he will push for Biden to crack wide open the trove of still-secret US documents: “There is no national security reason not to release [them].”
Roman Gressier
U.S. Government Hid Presence of U.S. Advisor in El Mozote Massacre, Expert Says
Breadcrumbs of Justice
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Friday, September 8, 2023
08/09/2023

Partisan Log Jam Paralyzes Selection of New Honduran Attorney General

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
CICIH Talks Test Xiomara Castro’s Anti-Corruption Commitment
Former President Manuel Zelaya Is Back on Stage in Honduras
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Thursday, September 14, 2023
14/09/2023

International Community Places No Hurdles to Reelection for Bukele

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
Central America and US Avoid Condemning Bukele’s 2024 Candidacy
State of Exception Confirms Divide between US Dems and GOP over Bukele
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Tuesday, August 29, 2023
29/08/2023

Guatemala Electoral Tribunal Certifies Arévalo Victory but Suspends His Party

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
Widely Favored in Polls, Arévalo Faces Long Path to Presidency 48 Hours before Vote
Criminal Court Intervenes in Guatemalan Election Five Weeks before Run-Off
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Monday, September 4, 2023
04/09/2023

Interpol Tied Nuevas Ideas Legislator to Money Laundering and Human Trafficking

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
Nuevas Ideas Legislator Took Office despite Accusations of Human Trafficking
Salvadoran Prosecutors Accuse Top Prison Bureau Aide of Selling Benefits to Narcos
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Monday, September 11, 2023
11/09/2023

Reelection in El Salvador Rhymes with Dictatorship

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
Bukele Announces He Will Seek Reelection in 2024 despite Constitutional Ban
Central America and US Avoid Condemning Bukele’s 2024 Candidacy
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Tuesday, September 19, 2023
19/09/2023

“Release everything! The Jesuits were killed in 1989, for Christ’s sake”

As the 34th anniversary of the Jesuit massacre in El Salvador approaches, US Congressman Jim McGovern recalls the Bush Sr. administration’s obstruction of the congressional inquiry on the crime, in protection of the Salvadoran army and government. He announces he will push for Biden to crack wide open the trove of still-secret US documents: “There is no national security reason not to release [them].”
Roman Gressier
U.S. Government Hid Presence of U.S. Advisor in El Mozote Massacre, Expert Says
Breadcrumbs of Justice
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Friday, September 8, 2023
08/09/2023

Partisan Log Jam Paralyzes Selection of New Honduran Attorney General

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
CICIH Talks Test Xiomara Castro’s Anti-Corruption Commitment
Former President Manuel Zelaya Is Back on Stage in Honduras
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Thursday, September 14, 2023
14/09/2023

International Community Places No Hurdles to Reelection for Bukele

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
Central America and US Avoid Condemning Bukele’s 2024 Candidacy
State of Exception Confirms Divide between US Dems and GOP over Bukele
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Tuesday, August 29, 2023
29/08/2023

Guatemala Electoral Tribunal Certifies Arévalo Victory but Suspends His Party

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
Widely Favored in Polls, Arévalo Faces Long Path to Presidency 48 Hours before Vote
Criminal Court Intervenes in Guatemalan Election Five Weeks before Run-Off

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Friday, August 18, 2023
18/08/2023

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.
Roman Gressier and José Luis Sanz
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Monday, June 26, 2023
26/06/2023

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.
Roman Gressier
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Friday, June 2, 2023
02/06/2023

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.
Nelson Rauda Zablah
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Thursday, June 1, 2023
01/06/2023

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.
Roman Gressier
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Monday, May 1, 2023
01/05/2023

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.
Roman Gressier
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Wednesday, April 19, 2023
19/04/2023

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.
Nelson Rauda Zablah
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Friday, March 31, 2023
31/03/2023

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.
Nelson Rauda Zablah
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Wednesday, March 15, 2023
15/03/2023

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.
Roman Gressier and Nelson Rauda Zablah
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Monday, January 30, 2023
30/01/2023

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.
Roman Gressier
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Wednesday, January 18, 2023
18/01/2023

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.
Roman Gressier and José Luis Sanz
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