Central America
Amparo of the Constitutional Court of Guatemala annuls the suspension of Semilla’s legal status
July 15 |
The Constitutional Court of Guatemala informed Thursday that it granted a provisional protection to Movimiento Semilla, which was requested by the party after the Seventh Court of Criminal Instance ordered the suspension of its legal status.
In a statement published in social networks, the Court explained that the protection opens the way for “the second electoral round (presidential) to take place on the indicated date and with the participation of the officialized candidates”.
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Earlier, Bernardo Arévalo, presidential candidate of Semilla, said that the injunction had been filed “in defense of democracy, institutionality and constitutionality”.
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On the other hand, the director of the Registry of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, José Ramiro Muñoz, made known that they filed a constitutional action of amparo against the decision of the Seventh Court to suspend the legal status of Semilla, alleging that only the Tribunal can take this type of legal action.
“(It is the) only entity in constitutional material, as the law states, to be able, suspend or cancel any political organization. That is why we have filed this constitutional action of amparo”, he said this Thursday in a press conference.
On Wednesday night, the head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity, Rafael Curruchiche, informed about this suspension against Semilla for the alleged falsification of citizens’ signatures for the party’s authorization process; the party rejected the accusation.
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The decision unleashed several reactions, including the suspension of the electoral campaign of Sandra Torres, candidate of Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza (UNE), who would compete with Arévalo in the August 20 runoff.
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office is respectful of the resolutions of the Constitutional Court. However, as stated in the resolution, the same is “without prejudice to the powers of criminal prosecution that fall under the jurisdiction of the Public Ministry and regulated in Articles 251 of the Constitution of the Republic and 251 of the Electoral Law and Political Parties,” the Prosecutor’s Office told CNN about this decision of the Court.
Central America
El Salvador to host World Cup qualifiers vs. Guatemala and Panama at Estadio Cuscatlán
El Salvador’s national football team will host its final round World Cup qualifying matches against Guatemala and Panama at Estadio Cuscatlán, the honorary president of the National Sports Institute (INDES), Yamil Bukele, announced Thursday via a statement on his X account.
The official explained that this decision comes after the American rock band Guns N’ Roses, originally scheduled to perform at Estadio Cuscatlán on Saturday, October 4, will now hold their concert at Estadio Jorge “El Mágico” González. This change allows both of La Selecta’s qualifying matches to be played at the “Coloso de Monserrat.”
“After a series of efforts and in response to popular demand, we are pleased to announce that our senior national team’s CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches next October (Oct. 10 vs. Panama and Oct. 14 vs. Guatemala) will take place at Estadio Cuscatlán,” the statement reads.
Bukele also thanked the event promoters and the band for agreeing to the stadium change. “We sincerely thank Guns N’ Roses and StarTicket for agreeing to move the concert originally scheduled for October 4 at Estadio Cuscatlán,” the statement adds.
Additionally, Bukele expressed gratitude to the FESFUT Regularization Commission for their efforts with CONCACAF to make this possible, and he urged fans to stay tuned to official channels to purchase tickets and support La Selecta in their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Central America
Honduran president Xiomara Castro suspends activities due to influenza
Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced on Thursday that she has “temporarily” suspended her public activities due to a severe influenza virus.
“A strong influenza virus requires me to rest, trusting that I will be fully recovered for the grand celebration of our National Independence Day” next Monday, Castro stated on the social media platform X.
The president had planned to participate in several inaugurations across the northern, central, and eastern regions of the country throughout the week. She added that “these events will be rescheduled for new dates.”
Central America
Nicaragua’s government expels bishops, priests, and nuns in religious persecution
At least 261 religious figures, including the president of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference, Carlos Enrique Herrera, have been expelled as part of the persecution by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s regime against the Catholic Church, reported the NGO Colectivo Nicaragua Nunca Más in its report Faith Under Fire.
The report details that among those expelled are bishops Silvio Báez, Rolando Álvarez, Isidoro Mora, as well as the Apostolic Nuncio in Managua, Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, along with approximately 140 priests, over 90 nuns, ten seminarians, and three deacons from different dioceses in the country.
“Since the expulsion of Nuncio Sommertag in March 2022, relations between Nicaragua and the Vatican have significantly deteriorated,” the NGO noted.
The report also documents the closure of 5,609 non-profit organizations, of which 1,294 were religious, including churches, universities, schools, clinics, and humanitarian organizations. Most of these had their assets confiscated by the Sandinista government. Additionally, the telecommunications regulator TELCOR shut down 54 media outlets, including 22 religious radio stations and TV channels.
Repression has extended to other religious denominations, with forced disappearances and criminalization of evangelical pastors, control over temples, media censorship, fiscal pressure, property confiscation, and the cancellation of legal status for the Moravian Church. Pastor Rudy Palacios remains in detention as part of this pattern of persecution.
The NGO emphasized that churches, especially the Catholic Church, played a key role in the 2018 national dialogue, denouncing abuses and providing refuge to injured protesters, which fueled the government’s hostility.
In 2023, Pope Francis described Ortega’s regime as a “blatant dictatorship”, to which the Nicaraguan president responded by dissolving the Society of Jesus and labeling the Church as a “mafia” and “anti-democratic.”
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