Left-of-center opposition legislator Bernardo Arévalo shattered all forecasts, seizing second place in Guatemala’s presidential elections on Sunday and advancing to an August runoff. Arévalo will face political boss Sandra Torres.

A wrap-up of the most important and interesting Latino news items from the past week

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.

Central America, in Brief: After the no-show of the Northern Triangle presidents at the Summit of the Americas, their foreign ministers gave strident speeches defying Joe Biden and named their countries’ terms for U.S. and regional engagement.

Guatemala, in Brief: The persecution of independent judges and prosecutors pressed onward with the order to put former top state attorney Virginia Laparra on trial. The shady Foundation against Terrorism, lead architect of the legal attacks that have already pushed two-dozen anti-corruption operators into exile, has named among its next targets the human rights ombudsman and three of the country’s most influential judges.

Truckers in the north of Chile on Friday set up roadblocks to protest insecurity they attribute to undocumented migration in the region.

As of Monday afternoon, Honduras still had two parallel Congressional leaderships, both under suspicion of illegality, a sign that does not bode well for the stability for the first days of Castro’s presidency. 

Central America, in Brief: Persecution of judges and prosecutors, expulsion of international anti-corruption monitors, and cooptation of courts have spread in the region.

The firing of an anti-corruption prosecutor has sparked an angry reaction from civil society and demands for the resignations of President Alejandro Giammattei and Attorney General María Consuelo Porras.

In her first visit to the region this week, Vice President Kamala Harris’ blunt message to Central American migrants (“Do not come”) triggered a backlash among human rights defenders and Central America experts for contradicting international asylum laws and appearing insensitive to the reality driving migration.

“Throw them in jail, take their cell phones!” yelled Nicaraguan riot police in a Managua office building complex last Thursday morning as they chased down reporters from international and local outlets.

Ricardo Zúñiga has spent the past several days fielding the same question with diplomatic stoicism and a poker smile.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s Congress began reshaping the country’s highest court Tuesday, selecting a new magistrate and an alternate in decisions that could have grave consequences for the battle against corruption and impunity.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Erika Lorena Aifán is used to threats after more than a decade as a judge in Guatemala, but she says the tone has intensified in recent months, such as the text message to her cellphone saying that she and her family “should be dead.”

Sounds of what may be automatic weapon fire were widespread on social media.

Thousands of Mexicans cross the border each week on temporary visas designed to allow people to shop or engage in transactions that don’t equate to “gainful employment,” according to ProPublica.

The current political crisis in the United States shares similarities with political issues in Latin America.

The deal would prevent asylum seekers traveling through Central America from entering the United States.

The majority of cases came during the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance policy” last year.

More than 2 million people have been told to evacuate the region.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Former Guatemalan first lady and presidential runner-up Sandra Torres was arrested Monday on charges of campaign finance violations, the latest high-profile political figure to face allegations of malfeasance even as a U.N. anti-graft commission is set to shut down.