Central America
Nicaragua detains another opposition presidential hopeful
AFP/Editor
Police in Nicaragua on Saturday took opposition politician Arturo Cruz into custody, detaining a second presidential hopeful in less than a week.
Cruz was seized at the Managua airport upon return from the United States, on accusations of acting “against Nicaraguan society and the rights of the people,” prosecutors said.
His detention came three days after opposition figure Cristiana Chamorro — a possible challenger to leftist President Daniel Ortega in November elections — was placed under house arrest, after government claims that she was guilty of money laundering.
Cruz, 67, announced his candidacy two months ago, running with the conservative Citizen Alliance for Freedom.
The National Police said it would “refer the person under investigation to the competent authorities for prosecution and to determine criminal responsibilities.”
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights called Cruz’s detention a “perverse strategy” on the part of Ortega’s government to silence people he considers political enemies.
“These are not criminal investigations, this is political persecution,” it said.
The United States called for Cruz’s “immediate release.”
“The international community has spoken: under Ortega, Nicaragua is becoming an international pariah and moving farther away from democracy,” acting undersecretary of the US State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung said on Twitter.
– ‘Dance of suppression’ –
Cruz served as Nicaragua’s ambassador to the United States between 2007 and 2009, under Ortega’s government.
His detention followed that of Chamorro, a 67-year-old journalist not aligned to any party.
The daughter of former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, a recent poll showed her to be the favorite to beat Ortega in November, though he has not confirmed he will seek a fourth term.
But Chamorro has for weeks been the subject of a judicial investigation into money-laundering, which she has denounced as a “macabre farce” set up to prevent her from standing as a candidate.
A day before his arrest, Cruz had warned via Twitter that he was considering withdrawing from the race.
If Nicaraguan authorities “continue the dance of suppression and we are left without other candidates, the logical thing is that this servant does not participate in this process,” he said on Twitter.
“We must seriously consider participating in this spurious exercise.”
Last month, Nicaragua’s legislature appointed a majority of governing party-aligned magistrates to the election body that will oversee the elections.
It has since disqualified two parties.
In December the legislature approved a law critics say is aimed at preventing opposition politicians from standing in the election. Sponsored by Ortega, it bars “those who ask for, celebrate and applaud the imposition of sanctions against the Nicaraguan state.”
Ortega, an ex-guerrilla who governed from 1979 to 1990, returned to power in 2007 and won two successive reelections.
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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