Caribbean & Central America - May 2026

In April the first 25 migrants from third countries arrived in Costa Rica under a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed the previous month with Washington, whereby Costa Rica would accept up to 25 third country nationals deported from the US per week. The MoU follows a similar deal struck last year which proved very controversial [SSR-25-04]. It was one of the final efforts of right-wing former president Rodrigo Chaves (2022-2026), who was replaced on 8 May by his ally, President Laura Fernández, to shore up ties with the US administration, as the first piece in this May 2026 edition of the Latin American Regional Report: Caribbean & Central America explores.

We then consider the continued dire situation regarding gender-based violence in Central America, before turning to Nicaragua where human rights organisations marked the eighth anniversary of the brutal crackdown on dissent which began on 18 April 2018 by the authoritarian government led by President Daniel Ortega and his wife, now co-president, Rosario Murillo.

The next piece focuses on El Salvador where, on 14 April, President Nayib Bukele announced the expansion of the DoctorSV AI-assisted telemedicine service, with the second phase focusing on diagnosing and treating chronic illnesses. We then return to Nicaragua where on 16 April the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) sanctioned seven individuals and seven companies in a marked expansion of its sanctions regime against Nicaragua's gold mining sector. The final focus piece on Central America ends in Panama where the continued conflict in the Middle East, which has severely restricted shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, has increased the prices shipping firms pay to transit the Panama Canal, creating a significant windfall for the public purse.

Turning to the Caribbean, we focus on relations between Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana whose leaders Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and President Irfaan Ali reaffirmed ties last month at the Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Port of Spain.

The next piece takes a look at the 12th UK-Caribbean Ministerial Forum which took place in March. We then consider the economic effects of the war in Iran on the sub-region, before turning to Cuba where US President Donald Trump recently extended economic sanctions against the island. This edition ends in the Dominican Republic where, after protests against the Romero gold, copper and silver mine on 3 May, President Luis Abinader ordered a halt to all development at the project, which is owned by Canada’s GoldQuest.