The 26 July 2012 draft legislation for a new elite military-police unit called ‘Tigres’ (Tropa de Inteligencia y Grupos de Respuesta Especial de Seguridad - Intelligence Troop and Special Security Response Troop) is to be taken up for a second time by congress, prompting fresh concern about the militarisation of internal security in Honduras. The new elite unit is the brainchild of the national police chief, Juan Carlos ‘El Tigre’ Bonilla as part of the reform and overhaul of the widely discredited national police force. Back in July 2012 the plan was to fire around 4,000 of the 12,000-strong national…

Foreign debt rises: Last month, Nicaragua’s central bank released a report which showed that at the end of 2012, the country’s foreign debt reached US$8.66bn, 11.2% up on the previous year. Of the US$870.8m increase, US$654m corresponded to the private sector. The ratio of total external debt to GDP was 82.5%, up from 80.9% in 2011. Slowing growth: According to another report issued by the central bank, the monthly economic activity index (Imae) registered a 4.1% year-on-year increase in February, led by construction (21.1%), agriculture (20.1%), and financial services (11.5%). Real annual GDP growth was 5.2% in 2012, down from…

Energy crisis: On 7 May the government of President Ricardo Martinelli declared a state of emergency in four regions - Coclé, Veraguas, Los Santos and Herrera - and ordered several energy-saving measures to avoid the imposition of scheduled blackouts. This as a result of power shortages caused by a lack of rain which saw water levels in the reservoirs of Bayano and Fortuna, the country’s largest, fall to just one metre above their minimum level. According to the latest figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), “hydroelectric power accounted for almost 60 percent of Panama's electricity generation in 2010,…

OAS contract cancelled: On 23 April President Laura Chinchilla announced she was cancelling the concession granted to OAS for the upgrade and expansion of the San José-San Ramón national highway between the capital and the north central province of Alajuela. Her announcement followed allegations of irregularities surrounding the contract. Earlier that month, a State prosecutor’s office opened an investigation in response to a complaint filed by a local lawyer alleging negligence on the part of the officials who authorised the contract, as well as possible influence-trafficking which took place during the tender process. Civil society groups, who have staged protests…

President Laura Chinchilla this month claimed a key victory after her Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) recovered control of congress for the first time in two years. The election of PLN deputy, Luis Fernando Mendoza, as congress president comes at a crucial point for the government, ahead of the February 2014 general elections. It could help Chinchilla address what has been a major criticism of her unpopular administration; the lack of progress on the legislative front. On 1 May Mendoza took 31 of the 57 votes up for grabs in the national assembly, to replace Víctor Emilio Granados of the smaller…

In a remarkable reversal of fortunes, the right-wing opposition Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Arena) has not only managed to lose its position as the largest party in El Salvador’s 84-seat legislative assembly but has also lost its power to block legislation that requires a two-thirds majority, with six deputies leaving the fold in the past six months. Four deputies were given their marching orders by the Arena national executive committee (Coena) last November for failing to toe the party line; two more have left on their own accord in recent weeks because of insuperable differences with Coena. Arena is undergoing a…