Caribbean & Central America - July 2026

On 8 June international press lobbies hailed the decision under Guatemala’s new attorney general, Gabriel Estuardo García Luna, to drop all cases against journalists from shuttered investigative outlet elPeriódico. The cases were widely considered spurious and part of the targeting of independent journalists under García Luna’s predecessor, the discredited María Consuelo Porras (2018-2026). While prospects regarding press freedom have brightened in Guatemala, they are looking increasingly ominous elsewhere in Central America as the first piece in this July 2026 edition of the Latin American Regional Report: Caribbean & Central America considers.

The second article looks at Panama where a deadly riot in La Joyita prison outside Panama City, from which 195 prisoners escaped, is fanning existing concerns over insecurity. The next piece focuses on the resumption of operations in Guatemala of the massive Fénix nickel project which has drawn concerns from indigenous groups. We then turn to Nicaragua which continues to shore up ties with Russia – as illustrated by a recent visit there by a delegation headed up by Laureano Ortega Murillo, a son of authoritarian co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo and a presidential adviser on investment.

The next article focuses on the strong growth in tourism in Central America this year – a sector forecast to keep growing, while the final piece on Central America looks at efforts by Honduras’ President Nasry Asfura to pass a bill that would reform the country’s troubled electricity sector.

Turning to the Caribbean, we begin with Haiti, where United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres paid a recent visit, during which he claimed to see “faint glimmers of hope” following the deployment of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in April. The people of Haiti, however, can be forgiven for scepticism; similar optimism expressed in the past has proven singularly misplaced.

Comparisons between Suriname and oil-booming Guyana are irresistible, but the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest report on Suriname – Post-Financing Assessment Discussions – adds some important notes of caution, as the next piece outlines. We then turn to Cuba for the final two pieces. One considers the demand by Washington that Russian and Chinese electronic espionage facilities be shut down – a demand which comes as the US is applying maximum pressure to the island as part of efforts to force its economic and political opening. The final piece looks at the package of 176 sweeping economic reforms, unveiled by the Cuban government in a clear bid to appease the US.