As Guatemala makes history by obliging its elected president to resign under the weight of corruption allegations, pressure is intensifying in neighbouring Honduras and El Salvador for international commissions against impunity similar to the United Nations(UN)-backed Cicig that has proven itself to the citizens of Guatemala. The campaign for an international commission against impunity in Honduras (Cicih) continues to be led by the ousted former president, Manuel Zelaya (2006-2009), who now leads up the main opposition bench in congress at the helm of his new party, Libertad y Refundación (Libre). Zelaya has been a prominent supporter of ‘Los Indignados’ (roughly,…
A strike by workers on the project to expand the Panama Canal, planned for 12 August, was called off a day beforehand after the construction workers' union Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de Construcción y Similares (Suntracs) reached an agreement with the Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC), the multinational consortium carrying out construction work on the waterway. While the agreement was a significant relief for the government of President Juan Carlos Varela and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), there are still significant obstacles to the completion date of the canal upgrade, scheduled for April 2016. Suntracs demanded an 8 to…
On 1 September, the Costa Rican government unveiled its proposed budget for the next fiscal year. The 2016 budget will see the smallest percentage increase in ten years: 0.5% more than the C$7.9tr (US$14.5bn) 2015 budget, the largest in the country’s history. The administration of President Luis Guillermo Solís proposes cutting spending by US$726m, with almost 99% of the cuts falling on the executive branch. But with the fiscal deficit expected to reach 6.9% of GDP during the next budget cycle – 0.5% higher than in 2015 – the government needs congress to support its earlier proposals for tax reform…
For all of President Daniel Ortega’s anti-US rhetoric, which echoes that of his left-wing ‘Bolivarian’ peers like Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, cooperation with the US remains strong. The US government led by President Barack Obama recently lifted longstanding restrictions that had made it mandatory for the Nicaraguan government to seek an annual waiver in order to access international credit and bilateral assistance. Under the conditions of this waiver, Nicaragua was required to resolve scores of outstanding property ownership claims by US citizens; this is now well in process, according to the Managua government. The Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) administration…
El Salvador’s violent conflict with mara street gangs took a significant twist in August, the bloodiest month since the compilation of murder statistics began after the civil war (1980-1992). The constitutional chamber of the supreme court issued a seminal ruling proclaiming that maras can be legally defined as terrorists and to all intents and purposes rendering gang membership a crime. The government led by President Salvador Sánchez Cerén celebrated the ruling; the ombudsman was joined by human rights groups in expressing fear that it could result in more abuses by the security forces. The government can see only short-term gains…