Central America
Ex-leader ahead as Costa Ricans elect new president
AFP
Costa Ricans voted for a new president Sunday from a crowded field of candidates, with a center-left former leader ahead of the pack with about 60 percent of ballots counted in one of Latin America’s stablest democracies.
Twelve hours of voting closed at 6 pm (midnight GMT) in what is frequently rated the region’s “happiest” country, a tourist mecca and a leading green economy.
However, polls show unemployment, corruption and creeping living costs topping the concerns of 3.5 million eligible voters in the country of five million people.
Jose Maria Figueres, 67, of the center-left National Liberation Party (PLN), had roughly 27 percent of the vote with 63 percent of ballots counted, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said.
To win in the first round, one candidate must take 40 percent of the vote — otherwise the two leading contenders will face each other in an April 3 run-off.
The eventual winner will be expected to tackle a worsening economy where unemployment has been steadily rising for more than a decade and reached 14.4 percent in 2021.
The poverty rate stood at 23 percent last year while the public debt was 70 percent of GDP.
Costa Rica’s problems have worsened with the coronavirus pandemic dealing a hard blow to its critical tourism sector.
On Sunday, Figueres, who led the country from 1994 to 1998, condemned the levels of poverty as well as housing shortages.
“We have never experienced these things in this magnitude,” he said.
For Francisco Zeledon, the first voter in line at one polling station, “voting is the most important weapon we have to solve problems.”
“We have to solve poverty and create jobs for people,” the 35-year-old said.
Polls have showed about a third of voters are undecided, faced with a choice of 25 presidential candidates.
But one outcome looked likely: the ruling Citizens’ Action Party (PAC) appeared set for a bruising defeat with anti-government sentiment sky-high.
– Record unpopularity –
“The ruling party is completely weakened and has no chance” after two successive terms in office, said political analyst Eugenia Aguirre.
“The presidential unpopularity figure of 72 percent is the highest since the number was first recorded in 2013,” she added.
This means the country’s traditional political heavyweights — the PLN and the Social Christian Unity Party — could return to the fore after decades of a near political duopoly only recently broken by the PAC.
With results trickling in around 0600 GMT, second place remained closely contested between the economist Rodrigo Chaves (16 percent) and conservative evangelical preacher Fabricio Alvarado Munoz (15 percent).
Munoz commands support from the evangelical community, which makes up about 20 percent of Costa Rica’s population.
Meanwhile, center-right Lineth Saborio of the PUSC garnered 12 percent.
Presidents in Costa Rica cannot seek immediate re-election, leaving incumbent Carlos Alvarado Quesada out of the running.
– Problems ‘worsened’ –
Costa Rica is known for its eco-tourism and green policies, with its energy grid run entirely on renewable sources.
Unlike many of its volatile Central American neighbors, Costa Rica has no army, has had no armed conflicts since 1948 and no dictator since 1919.
But the worsening economic situation has hit confidence in the political class.
Voters under 40 have only known “periods in which not only problems have not been resolved, but they have worsened,” university student Edgardo Soto, an undecided voter, told AFP.
Apathy and abstentionism are features of Costa Rican elections.
In 2018, 34 percent of voters stayed away, though participation is technically obligatory.
Eugenia Zamora, president of Costa Rica’s electoral tribunal, said Sunday’s vote kicked off with high turnout in the morning, and proceeded without incident.
“This is a country with a robust democracy… It offers lessons for other countries,” added Isabel de Saint Malo, head of the Organization of American States observer mission.
Outgoing president Alvarado said the vote was an affirmation of Costa Rica’s place among “the world’s strongest democracies.”
Costa Ricans also cast their vote Sunday for the 57-member Congress.
“I hope that whoever wins really thinks of the people,” said 77-year-old Mayra Sanchez after voting in Moravia, “and not of themselves.”
Central America
International leaders congratulate Honduras’ president-elect Asfura
The United States government was among the first to congratulate the president-elect, through Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press briefing that Beijing “is willing to work with Honduras to jointly promote the continued development of bilateral relations.”
The European Union also expressed its commitment and interest in working with Asfura to advance “shared priorities aimed at deepening bilateral ties.”
In addition, the foreign ministries of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay issued messages congratulating the president-elect.
Presidents from Panama and Paraguay, as well as the government of Chile, also extended their congratulations to Asfura. Furthermore, the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and the Dominican Republic released a joint statement saying: “We reaffirm our solidarity with the Honduran people and express our hope that the transition will take place in a peaceful and orderly manner.”
Central America
Guatemala arrests 92 salvadoran gang members in 2025
Between January 1 and December 25, 2025, a total of 92 Salvadoran gang members were arrested in Guatemala, according to a report released by that country’s National Civil Police (PNC).
The arrests were carried out as part of border control operations and efforts to combat transnational crime, aimed at preventing members of terrorist criminal structures from entering or remaining in Guatemala after fleeing El Salvador’s state of emergency, which has been in force since March 27, 2022.
The Guatemalan PNC reported that 46 of those detained were expelled and handed over to Salvadoran authorities at the four land border crossings between the two countries.
According to official information, Guatemala’s Interpol National Central Office (NCB) and the Salvadoran National Civil Police maintain close coordination and information-sharing mechanisms to verify the criminal records of gang members.
The 46 individuals expelled to El Salvador were wanted on charges including illicit association, extortion, homicide, drug trafficking, illegal restriction of freedom of movement, and other forms of organized and complex crime.
Guatemalan police transferred the suspects to their Salvadoran counterparts, who then referred them to the courts seeking their arrest. The most recent detainee was Melvin Antonio Mejía Rivas, alias “Porky,” a member of the 18th Street gang, who was apprehended in Zone 16 of Guatemala City. He has been wanted for illicit association since November 4, 2019.
Another arrest involved Judith Cristina Cáceres de Rivera, originally from Ahuachapán, who was detained in Zone 3 of San José Pinula on extortion charges. Authorities said she demanded 7,000 quetzales per week from a local व्याप merchant.
Guatemalan police also reported that 46 Salvadorans have been arrested in the country for committing various criminal offenses.
Central America
Arrests and clashes in Tegucigalpa as vote count continues after Honduras election
Protesters affiliated with the ruling Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre) gathered in a demonstration that led to several arrests, disturbances, the burning of tires, and left at least 15 people injured outside the center where votes from Honduras’ November 30 general election are still being counted.
The group assembled on Monday outside the National Institute for Professional Training (INFOP) in Tegucigalpa, after President Xiomara Castro called on supporters through social media, claiming that a “new coup d’état” was being plotted in Honduras.
“I call on the people, social movements, grassroots organizations, party militants and citizens to urgently and peacefully gather in Tegucigalpa to defend the popular mandate, reject any coup attempt and make it clear to the world that a new coup is taking shape here,” the president said.
Castro has stated that she does not recognize the partial election results, which currently place right-wing candidate Nasry Asfura in the lead with 40.54% of the vote, followed closely by liberal candidate Salvador Nasralla with 39.20%. The ruling party’s candidate, Rixi Moncada, remains in a distant third place with 19.30%, with no realistic chance of a comeback.
Both the Libre Party and the Liberal Party, led by Castro and Nasralla respectively, have alleged electoral fraud. On Tuesday, the two parties agreed to participate in the special review panels that the National Electoral Council (CNE) says will finalize the count by reexamining 1,081 polling records flagged for irregularities.
Former president Manuel Zelaya, Castro’s husband and a senior figure within Libre, said last week that according to his party’s own nationwide tally of presidential ballots, Nasralla—a former Libre member—won the election.
International leaders congratulate Honduras’ president-elect Asfura
Guatemala arrests 92 salvadoran gang members in 2025
At Least Eight Dead and 19 Injured in Deadly Bus Crash in Veracruz, Mexico
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International2 days agoAt Least Eight Dead and 19 Injured in Deadly Bus Crash in Veracruz, Mexico
-
International5 days agoU.S. Judge Blocks ICE from Re-detaining Salvadoran Erroneously Deported Under Trump Administration
-
International5 days agoTrump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
-
Central America1 day agoGuatemala arrests 92 salvadoran gang members in 2025
-
Central America1 day agoInternational leaders congratulate Honduras’ president-elect Asfura
-
International2 days agoJair Bolsonaro Hospitalized for Inguinal Hernia Surgery While Serving Sentence for Attempted Coup