Caribbean & Central America - September 2021

The dismissal of Juan Francisco Sandoval, the head of the attorney general’s (AG) special unit against corruption (Feci) in Guatemala, has sparked major outrage.... Read More

The dismissal of Juan Francisco Sandoval, the head of the attorney general’s (AG) special unit against corruption (Feci) in Guatemala, has sparked major outrage.... Read More

On 19 July President Nayib Bukele announced that 1,046 soldiers would be incorporated into his Plan Control Territorial (PCT) security initiative and revealed plans to double the military (FAES) from 20,000 troops to 40,000, a process which he said would take “five years to implement totally”.... Read More

In July Costa Rica’s security minister Michael Soto confirmed that the country’s authorities had seized 4.3 tonnes (t) of cocaine in a single seizure.... Read More

While much attention has been focussed on the crackdown by the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) government led by President Daniel Ortega on its political opponents ahead of the 7 November general election, human rights groups have also decried repression targeting those critical of the government’s handling of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

Gold became Nicaragua’s most valuable export in 2020 thanks to production growth and rising prices, but experts worry about the effects on the economy when commodities enter a downward cycle.... Read More

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play an important role in developing economies, and a series of regional initiatives in Central America are seeking to improve their prospects following the shock of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.... Read More

On 26 July, the opposition St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) under Philip Pierre routed the incumbent United Workers Party (UWP) led by then-prime minister Allen Chastanet, taking 13 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly.... Read More

The countries of the Caribbean have fared reasonably well with regard to the public-health consequences of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, with persistently much lower death rates in the Caribbean than, for instance, in the Andean and Southern Cone regions, and generally lower rates than in the Mexico and Central America regions.... Read More

*** GUYANA’S DIVISIONS LAID BARE.... Read More

PANAMA | Exports surge.... Read More