Caribbean & Central America - February 2026

Nasry Asfura of the right-wing Partido Nacional (PN) has been sworn in as Honduras’ new president following an electoral process mired in controversy.... Read More

Nasry Asfura of the right-wing Partido Nacional (PN) has been sworn in as Honduras’ new president following an electoral process mired in controversy, and now has the task of dealing with complex issues around security and international relations.... Read More

Honduras’ new President Nasry Asfura, of the right-wing Partido Nacional (PN), is throwing in his lot with US President Donald Trump and plans to leverage public-private partnerships to boost growth and prosperity, a sharp departure from his predecessor.... Read More

Costa Rica’s outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves is set to pass on the office to his hand-picked successor Laura Fernández following the latter’s election victory on 1 February, and he leaves with a mixed record on the economy.... Read More

There were 873 homicides in Costa Rica in 2025, down only slightly from 876 in 2024 and a peak of 905 in 2023, according to figures from the judicial investigation agency (OIJ), underlining the scale of the public security challenge facing the next government, which will be led by continuity candidate Laura Fernández following the 1 February elections.... Read More

Just days after claiming in a state of the nation address that his administration had made significant progress in improving public security, Guatemala’s left-of-centre reformist President Bernardo Arévalo was forced to declare a national state of siege over a wave of violence linked to gang activity.... Read More

Cuba faces multiple crises: oil imports have halted, following the US’ removal of Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026) and subsequent threat of tariffs on other oil suppliers; the power grid only operates at half its capacity; and there are food and foreign currency shortages.... Read More

The continued pressure on Cuba by the US administration led by President Donald Trump, in the wake of the 3 January military raid in Venezuela and capture of former president Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026), a key ally of Havana, comes amid mounting concerns that the island, already suffering economic collapse [EB-12-25], could be facing a deepening humanitarian crisis.... Read More

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on 16 January that it had approved a disbursement of US$415m to Jamaica “to address the impact of Hurricane Melissa” which is estimated by the World Bank to have caused US$8.75bn of direct damage to infrastructure and to residential, non-residential, and agricultural assets.... Read More

Like much of the Western world, the countries of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) have been grappling with the challenge of how to deal with US President Donald Trump’s administration.... Read More

PANAMA | Gov’t hails record exports.... Read More