Caribbean & Central America - September 2026

We begin this September 2026 edition of the Latin American Regional Report: Caribbean & Central America in Costa Rica, where President Laura Fernández has accused top judges of an attempted coup d’état amid a deepening conflict between the executive and judiciary, which has carried over from her predecessor (2022-2026) and political mentor Rodrigo Chaves’ time in office.

The next piece considers a recent report on contraband and smuggling in Central America by US-based non-profit Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (Tracit), which, in particular, identifies Panama’s Colón free trade zone (FTZ) as a “central vulnerability” in Central America’s efforts to address these crimes. We then turn to Nicaragua where authoritarian co-president Daniel Ortega made international headlines in July, declaring that elections would no longer take place in the country, sparking international outrage.

The following article looks at new legislation approved in Guatemala which creates a new autonomous national port authority (APN) as part of efforts to attract investment, overhaul the country’s logistics sector and improve competitiveness. The final focus piece on Central America ends in Panama where government officials have visited the controversial Cobre Panamá mine, which was shuttered in 2023 amid widespread unrest over a new contract, as speculation around its potential reopening continues to grow.

Turning to the Caribbean we begin in Haiti, where from 16-19 August, Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Albert Ramdin and Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General Carla Barnett led a high-level delegation to discuss, inter alia, improving security and preparations for Haiti’s first general elections since 2016, which are due to be held on 13 December. Just days after the conclusion of the visit, in a reminder of how far Haiti is from establishing a secure environment for elections, at least 47 people were killed in a gang attack on Kenscoff commune in the hills above the capital Port-au-Prince.

We then look at recent updates from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) and the World Bank underlining different rates of growth between those Caribbean countries exporting energy and those bringing in tourists.

This edition ends in Trinidad & Tobago where UK-based oil major Shell and Trinidad’s state-owned National Gas Company (NGC) have failed to reach an agreement on developing the Aphrodite offshore gas concession.