Central America

A roundup of the week’s top Latino news from around the world, written by Latino Rebels senior editor Hector Luis Alamo.

Senior editor Hector Luis Alamo gives a rundown of some of the facts, bits of news, real histories, and actual lies he came across during the past week.

Why is military-grade spyware being used against journalists? Latino Rebels Radio host Julio Ricardo Varela searches for answers by speaking with El Faro reporter Nelson Rauda to discuss the use of Pegasus spyware in El Salvador and why it should matter to journalists in the United States.

The same day that Nayib Bukele staged a military siege of the gang bastion Soyapango, Xiomara Castro deployed police and military in 162 of Honduras’ most marginalized urban communities after decreeing a state of exception. The suspension of constitutional guarantees goes even further than in the Salvadoran model.

This week’s wrap-up comes to you from the cozy confines of quarantine, as senior editor Hector Luis Alamo has managed to catch COVID for only the second time this year.

A group of 16 municipalities filed a lawsuit on November 22 against multiple Big Oil companies for downplaying the risks of their fossil-fuel products on climate change.

Honduras is the only country in Latin America where access to emergency contraception is banned and one of the few countries in the region where abortion is prohibited under any circumstances, including in cases of rape or incest.

Founded in 2017, the Latin American Movement of Mothers of LGTB+ Children lobbies governments to eliminate prejudicial laws and better enforce existing bans on violence and discrimination.

A striking line of red paint approximately eight inches wide and spanning a kilometer in length appeared on Friday in parts of downtown San José. Part of a project called Kilometer Downtown, its intent is to guide tourists to hotels and safe spots where they can ask for information.

The Network of Central American Journalists hopes to protect independent news media from state-sponsored attacks, spur regional collaboration, and increase the international visibility of press freedom strained by criminalization and public and private-sector censorship.

The announcement, made on Friday, is part of the Biden administration’s effort to directly address the disproportionate impacts of pollution that have existed for decades in many low-income communities and communities of color.

A violent showdown at a Bolsonaro rally on Sunday left two wounded, and political tensions remain heightened leading up to the October 30 runoff election between right-wing incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro and left-wing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

My grandma votes Republican because she believes in three things: money, strength, and the rule of law. Whether the Republican Party stands for any of those things is beside the point because, to her, and to a lot of other people still, the Republicans represent those values more than the Democrats.

A judge on Wednesday ordered Iván-Santell Velázquez, a former student at the University of Puerto Rico, to serve 13 months in federal prison and two years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to cyberstalking.

The Government of Mexico plans to file a second lawsuit against U.S. companies it alleges are responsible for the flow of illegal weapons into the country, Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard announced last Wednesday.

Former Hurricane Julia has dissipated, but was still drenching Guatemala and El Salvador with torrential rains Monday after it reemerged in the Pacific following a pounding of Nicaragua. Floods and mudslides were possible across Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday.

Nine months before the presidential election, the country’s right-wing regime is fracturing into rivaling projects as progressive groups discuss the elusive idea of a united candidacy. Meanwhile, electoral authorities are indulging the pre-campaigning by the ruling party and top conservative Zury Ríos.

On Thursday, El Salvador’s Independence Day, President Nayib Bukele announced that he will seek re-election when his five-year term ends in 2024, defying a constitutional ban on consecutive re-election. Earlier that day, as the government held a military parade, thousands marched in the capital against Bukele and his policies.

A defining moment has come for President Xiomara Castro, who must decide how much free rein to grant a future U.N.-backed anti-corruption commission that could end up investigating her own government.

Nicaraguans living in the United States filled the stands in Pennsylvania to cheer on the players of 14 de Septiembre Little League from Managua after travel restrictions prevented their family members from attending the World Series games.

Ana Guadalupe Robles last spoke to loved ones on June 10. Three days later, they received a photo supposedly showing the 29-year-old Salvadoran nurse and mother lying dead in the Texas desert. But more than two months later and still no body, friends and family members are left with questions.