Central America

Gang shootout leaves at least five dead in Honduran prison

AFP

Rival gangs staged a gunfight Thursday in a maximum security prison in Honduras, leaving at least five people dead, authorities said.

Authorities have not been able to enter the prison because the situation is still too dangerous, said Yuri Mora, a spokesman for the justice department.

The gunfight between members of the Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha street gangs was unfolding in the prison in La Tolva, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the capital Tegucigalpa.

A hospital in the capital said it had admitted 15 wounded people from the prison.

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Hundreds of distraught relatives of prisoners gathered at the hospital and outside the prison seeking information on their loved ones, press reports said.

On social media, audio of gunfire and explosions inside the prison circulated.

Members of Barrio 18 and MS-13 control large areas on the outskirts of some cities in Honduras and even rural areas, and fight each other over territory for drug trafficking, weapons, auto theft and other crimes, police say.

The country’s 28 overcrowded prisons housing some 22,000 people have been described by experts as being essentially crime schools, from which murder, extortion, kidnappings and other crimes are ordered, allegedly with help from prison staff.

The country’s worst prison tragedy came in 2012 when a fire killed 362 people at a prison in Comayagua, 50 km north of Tegucigalpa.

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The government has built three new prisons including the one in La Tolva in an effort to ease overcrowding in the poor Central American country’s aging and decrepit penal facilities.

Central America

Guatemala Court Voids List of Candidates for Top Prosecutor Position

President of Guatemala cannot remove attorney general from office

Constitutional Court of Guatemala on Thursday annulled the shortlist of six candidates for attorney general and head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, ordering authorities to repeat the evaluation phase of the selection process.

The ruling came in response to a legal appeal filed by Raúl Amílcar Falla Ovalle, who challenged the way professional experience had been assessed for some applicants, particularly those with careers in the judiciary.

As a result of the decision, the selection process has been suspended, and the Postulation Commission must return to the stage in which the original 48 applicants were evaluated.

According to the ruling, the commission must reapply the grading criteria without automatically counting years served as judges as equivalent to the professional experience required for the position.

“The Postulation Commission for the election of the Attorney General and Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is ordered to reassess the applicants by strictly applying the approved grading table,” the resolution states.

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The Constitutional Court also stressed that the process must guarantee merit, competence, and suitability, while ensuring greater transparency in the assignment of scores.

Central America

U.S. extradites Iranian man over alleged sanctions evasion scheme

The United States has extradited from Panama an Iranian national accused of evading economic sanctions against Iran by illegally exporting U.S. technology. He is scheduled to appear this Monday before a court in Seattle.

Reza Dindar, 44, was extradited on April 17 after being detained in Panama since July 2025 on charges related to export control violations between 2011 and 2012, allegedly carried out through companies based in China.

The defendant appeared before a U.S. district court in Seattle, where he faces charges of violating sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran in 1995 during the administration of Bill Clinton. These sanctions prohibit the unauthorized export, re-export, or supply—directly or indirectly—of U.S. goods, technology, or services to Iran or its government.

According to the indictment, between 2010 and 2014, Dindar led the company New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, which allegedly concealed the procurement of U.S. products for shipment to clients in Iran.

Central America

Bukele administration surpasses 1,100 homicide-free days amid ongoing crackdown

El Salvador's PNC adds 85 days without murders and April is on track to be the safest in Salvadoran history

On Saturday, April 18, the Policía Nacional Civil (PNC) reported that no homicides were recorded in El Salvador, bringing the total to 17 days without murders.

With this update, the country has accumulated 91 homicide-free days so far in 2026. January closed with 27 such days, followed by 24 in February and 23 in March, according to police data.

During the administration of President Nayib Bukele, a total of 1,193 days without homicides have been registered. Of those, 1,079 have occurred since the implementation of the state of exception.

This extraordinary security measure has been extended 49 times by the Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador, with the latest extension in effect from April 1 to April 30, 2026. Under the measure, more than 91,700 gang members and collaborators have been detained and prosecuted for illicit association.