Central America
Sex abuse trial starts for Guatemalan ex-paramilitaries
AFP
A trial started in Guatemala Wednesday for five former paramilitary soldiers accused of sexually abusing 36 indigenous Mayan women some 40 years ago during the country’s civil war.
The five are former members of Guatemala’s Civil Self-Defense Patrols (PAC) blamed for several atrocities during the 1960-1996 war in which an estimated 200,000 people were killed or disappeared.
They will take part via videoconference from the Mariscal Zavala jail where they are being detained for crimes committed between 1981 and 1985 around the town of Rabinal, north of the capital Guatemala City.
The population of Rabinal was particularly hard hit by the war. A mass grave with the bodies of more than 3,000 people was discovered in the area.
Thirty-six women have come forward in the last decade with accusations of sexual violence committed against them during that time.
The identities of most of the women are being withheld for their own security, said their lawyer Lucia Xiloj.
Some have already given recorded evidence to investigators, which will be played in court.
Only five of the victims have opted to be present for the trial before Judge Jazmin Barrios in the Supreme Court of Justice.
According to Xiloj, many Mayan women “were raped after the (forced) disappearance of their husbands” by paramilitaries and soldiers.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu told reporters at the court that Guatemala had failed to “fulfill its obligation to defend these sisters who were raped, tortured, humiliated and subjected to (sexual) slavery during so many years of armed conflict.”
A United Nations truth commission documented 669 massacres committed during Guatemala’s civil war, of which 93 percent were attributed to government forces.
Central America
Panama confirms drug contamination of El Salvador coffee shipment occurred on its territory
A container originating from El Salvador and carrying coffee for export was contaminated with more than 1,152 packages of drugs while in transit through Panama, according to official information confirmed by the Panamanian government this Tuesday.
The case, which had previously generated political controversy in April 2025 after opposition sectors attempted to link the Salvadoran government to drug trafficking, has now been clarified through renewed investigations.
Authorities confirmed that the container departed from the port of Acajutla after being properly inspected, with no illicit substances detected at the time of export.
According to statements previously provided by El Salvador’s Minister of Defense, René Merino Monroy, the shipment traveled first to the port of Balboa in Panama, where it remained stored for several days before being transferred to another vessel bound for Manzanillo in Colón.
It was at that terminal that Panamanian authorities discovered the drugs and identified tampering with the container seals, indicating that the illicit alteration occurred during its transit in Panama rather than in Salvadoran territory.
The findings align with earlier explanations provided by Salvadoran officials and confirm that the contamination of the cargo took place outside of El Salvador’s jurisdiction.
Central America
Uber Eats adds Puntarenas and Turrialba to growing Costa Rica network
Uber Eats announced that it is continuing to expand its presence in Costa Rica with the launch of operations in the cities of Puntarenas and Turrialba, further strengthening the company’s growth in the country.
With this expansion, the delivery platform is now available across all seven Costa Rican provinces and works with more than 6,000 partner businesses. Its offerings include prepared food, supermarkets, pharmacies, pet stores, and other specialty retailers.
As part of the announcement, Uber Eats also introduced Marco Nannipieri as its new Regional General Manager for the Andean Region, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Nannipieri will oversee the company’s operations in Costa Rica along with seven other countries in the region.
“Costa Rica is a key market for Uber Eats in the region, with growing adoption of technology among users and businesses. Over the past five years, more than 1,000 restaurants and merchants have joined the app, and today we are entering a new stage of expansion that will allow us to reach more cities outside the Greater Metropolitan Area, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs across the country,” Nannipieri said.
Central America
Report questions direction of Nasry Asfura after 100 days in office
The Center for the Study of Democracy warned Tuesday that the government of Nasry Asfura, which marks its first 100 days in office on Wednesday, has failed to show a “significant change in direction” and continues to follow a model characterized by exclusion, inequality, and external dependence.
In its report titled “100 Days of the Nasry Asfura Government: Concerns and Demands,” Cespad stated that the administration has maintained an economic and political model that prioritizes debt payments, the promotion of extractive projects, and the strengthening of the security apparatus over social investment.
The organization argued that the current policies have not addressed structural problems affecting large sectors of the Honduran population and warned that inequality and economic dependence remain key challenges for the country.
Nasry Asfura won the general elections held on November 30, 2025, in a process marked by allegations of fraud and delays in the vote count that lasted nearly a month due to a series of technological failures.
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