Caribbean & Central America - August 2026

PANAMA | Further signs of revival for Panama’s banana sector. On 9 July Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino announced that Chiquita Panamá, the local subsidiary of multinational banana company Chiquita Brands International, is preparing to export some 11m boxes of bananas over the coming months, and around 15m boxes next year. The announcement is the latest sign of the revival of Panama’s banana sector following a major strike by banana workers which began in April 2025 amid more general protests over new reforms to the social security system, among other things. The banana workers’ strike, which lasted until 11 June last year when a deal was reached between the various sides, completely paralysed productive activity in the banana-producing region of Bocas del Toro, and led Chiquita Panamá to halt operations and lay off workers. Mulino made the announcement regarding the planned exports during a visit to a 200-hectare banana farm in Bocas del Toro, one of 20 farms currently in operation, accompanied by Chiquita CEO Carlos López Flores, and the ministers of trade and industry, Julio Moltó, and agricultural development, Roberto Linares. In May Moltó reported that 5,065 formal jobs in the banana sector had been recovered since the resumption of production in December 2025-January 2026 and approximately 5,000 hectares of farmland reactivated.

GUATEMALA | Remittances up. On 7 July Guatemala’s central bank (Banguat) released new figures showing that remittances to the country totalled US$2.32bn in June, up from US$2.22bn in both May 2026 and June 2025. This brings total remittances for January-June 2026 to US$12.97bn, up from US$12.13bn in the first half of 2025. Remittances closed last year at a record US$25.53bn, up from US$21.51bn in 2024.

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