Central America
Panama’s indigenous people compete to preserve traditional way of life
AFP
Climaco Dogirama wanted to honor his grandfather when he took part in the spear-throwing competition at Panama’s Indigenous Ancestral Games, which seek to preserve age-old customs.
“My grandfather used the spear to hunt. We only use it for sport … but we’re representing him,” he told AFP.
Dogirama, 37, from the Embera community, is one of 250 competitors from Panama’s seven recognized Indigenous ethnicities taking part in traditional athletic feats at the Games.
The major cultural festival transcends the simple quest for sporting success by helping to preserve a way of life.
“Many of us have lost (our traditions) and we’re recovering them again, we’re rescuing (our ancestors’) culture,” said Dogirama.
It is the third edition of the event that resembles the Scottish Highland Games and Basque rural sports competitions.
In Panama, contestants compete in archery, spear throwing, log carrying, tug-of-war, running, swimming and canoeing in Ngabe-Bugle, the largest of Panama’s five traditional Indigenous regions.
Cesar Cires, from the Ngabe tribe and president of the Indigenous Ancestral Games said the event “was born with the idea of disseminating, preserving and promoting our Indigenous cultures through ancestral sporting activities.”
“Our ancestors were warriors. We try to teach the new generations that once upon a time this was important.”
David Mezua, 18, who won the open water swimming event in the Caribbean Sea, said he was “proud to be Embera.”
“I’m happy … My grandfather was too and I don’t want to lose our culture, I want to keep it going,” said Mezua.
Kasey Shields, 16, who has a British father and Guna mother, won the women’s swimming discipline.
“I love swimming and even more so my Indigenous culture. I want to learn much more” about it, she said.
Cires said Panama competed in the last two editions of the World Indigenous Games in Brazil in 2015 and Canada two years later.
He said they will send a delegation to the third edition in Brazil next year,
The seven recognized Indigenous ethnicities in Panama are the Ngabe, Bugle, Guna, Embera, Wounaan, Bri bri and Naso Tjerdi.
Altogether they represent 12 percent of Panama’s 4.3 million population, according to the last official census in 2010.
According to the Denmark-based International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs, these communities “are facing a number of challenges, especially in relation to recognition of and rights to territories as well as forcible eviction.”
Central America
Guatemala cracks down on prison corruption with over 20 raids in recent weeks
The Guatemalan government warned on Monday that it will not tolerate corruption within the prison system, highlighting that more than 20 raids conducted in recent weeks have helped regain control over its penitentiaries.
“We will not tolerate any acts of corruption from our personnel,” said José Portillo, Deputy Minister of Security at the Ministry of the Interior, during a press conference.
According to Portillo, 21 raids were carried out in the last 15 days with support from security forces across the penitentiary system, and a total of 140 raids have been conducted so far in 2025.
These operations have resulted in the confiscation of dozens of household appliances and cell phones, as well as weapons and other prohibited items inside the prisons.
“We are firmly controlling bribery and corruption,” emphasized the recently appointed deputy minister, adding that “we will be strong and decisive within the penitentiary system.”
Portillo explained that the purpose of these raids is to tackle structural causes within prisons, which are the origin of much of the violence affecting the Central American country, including contract killings and extortions.
He stated that the recent operations have helped reduce crime and identify “hot spots” in the country.
“We are impacting criminal structures,” the official said.
Data released on June 6 by the Director of the National Civil Police, David Custodio Boteo, reported 1,385 homicides in the first five months of the year, representing a 15 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Experts on the subject point out that thousands of Guatemalan merchants fall victim to extortions that originate precisely within the prisons.
Central America
First woman elected president in the Americas, Violeta Chamorro, dead at 95
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, former president of Nicaragua and the first woman in the Americas to be democratically elected head of state, passed away this Saturday in Costa Rica at the age of 95. A pivotal figure in Nicaragua’s transition to democracy, Chamorro achieved a historic victory over Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega in the 1990 elections, heading a broad opposition coalition.
The Chamorro Barrios family confirmed her death in a statement:
“Our mother, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, former president of Nicaragua, passed away today, June 14, 2025, at 2:21 a.m. (08:21 GMT) in San José, Costa Rica, at the age of 95, after a long illness.”
“Doña Violeta died peacefully, surrounded by the love and affection of her children and the extraordinary care of those who looked after her. She is now in the peace of the Lord,” her children Pedro Joaquín, Claudia Lucía, Cristiana, and Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios wrote.
Chamorro’s victory in 1990 marked a significant turning point in Central American politics, ending more than a decade of Sandinista rule and initiating a fragile but hopeful democratic chapter in Nicaragua’s history.
Central America
Nicaraguan exile coalition urges Costa Rica to receive U.S. deportees fleeing Ortega regime
The Coalition of Nicaraguans in Exile urged Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves on Sunday to receive opponents and critics of the Ortega-Murillo regime currently residing in the United States who may be deported by the administration of Donald Trump.
“We appeal to you, Mr. President, to kindly consider, as an act of humanity and in accordance with the principles of international refugee law, the reopening of entry and temporary reception pathways for Nicaraguan citizens deported from the United States,” the coalition stated in a letter addressed to Chaves.
They specifically requested the reopening of entry for those Nicaraguans who had previously sought asylum or refugee status in Costa Rica and who express a well-founded fear for their lives and personal safety if returned to Nicaragua.
The organization, which identifies itself as committed to defending and promoting the human rights of Nicaraguans “forced into exile by the repression of the Sandinista dictatorship,” expressed its appeal with “urgency and deep concern.”
In the letter, the coalition emphasized the dramatic situation faced by thousands of Nicaraguans who fled political persecution under Daniel Ortega’s regime and are now at risk of deportation from the United States.
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