Central America

Red alert over malnutrition in Guatemala: official

AFP

Climate change and Covid-19 have sent impoverished Guatemala into one of its worst food security crises, the country’s top human rights official said Saturday.

The problems are so severe that 39 children have died of malnutrition so far this year, human rights ombudsman Jordan Rodas said in the Central American country’s capital.

“Guatemala is facing a grim outlook in terms of meeting (UN) Millennium Development Goals, especially Zero Hunger,” which seeks to reduce poverty by 2030, Rodas said at an event marking World Food Day.

Rodas also said 16 percent of the almost 17 million Guatemalans suffer from malnutrition, 18 percent live in severe food insecurity and 45 percent in a situation of moderate food insecurity.

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According to UN data, almost 50 percent of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition in Guatemala, the highest rate in Latin America.

In the first nine months of this year, 39 girls and boys under the age of five died from acute malnutrition, Rodas said.

It is “one of the biggest food and nutritional insecurity crises due to the effects caused by Covid-19 and climate phenomena such as storms Eta and Iota” last year, which left dozens of deaths, destruction of subsistence crops and damage to infrastructure, he said.

Rodas urged President Alejandro Giammattei to undertake “an aggressive and efficient policy aimed at guaranteeing the right to food of the population that is food insecure.”

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Central America

Guatemala Court Voids List of Candidates for Top Prosecutor Position

President of Guatemala cannot remove attorney general from office

Constitutional Court of Guatemala on Thursday annulled the shortlist of six candidates for attorney general and head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, ordering authorities to repeat the evaluation phase of the selection process.

The ruling came in response to a legal appeal filed by Raúl Amílcar Falla Ovalle, who challenged the way professional experience had been assessed for some applicants, particularly those with careers in the judiciary.

As a result of the decision, the selection process has been suspended, and the Postulation Commission must return to the stage in which the original 48 applicants were evaluated.

According to the ruling, the commission must reapply the grading criteria without automatically counting years served as judges as equivalent to the professional experience required for the position.

“The Postulation Commission for the election of the Attorney General and Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is ordered to reassess the applicants by strictly applying the approved grading table,” the resolution states.

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The Constitutional Court also stressed that the process must guarantee merit, competence, and suitability, while ensuring greater transparency in the assignment of scores.

Central America

U.S. extradites Iranian man over alleged sanctions evasion scheme

The United States has extradited from Panama an Iranian national accused of evading economic sanctions against Iran by illegally exporting U.S. technology. He is scheduled to appear this Monday before a court in Seattle.

Reza Dindar, 44, was extradited on April 17 after being detained in Panama since July 2025 on charges related to export control violations between 2011 and 2012, allegedly carried out through companies based in China.

The defendant appeared before a U.S. district court in Seattle, where he faces charges of violating sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran in 1995 during the administration of Bill Clinton. These sanctions prohibit the unauthorized export, re-export, or supply—directly or indirectly—of U.S. goods, technology, or services to Iran or its government.

According to the indictment, between 2010 and 2014, Dindar led the company New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, which allegedly concealed the procurement of U.S. products for shipment to clients in Iran.

Central America

Bukele administration surpasses 1,100 homicide-free days amid ongoing crackdown

El Salvador's PNC adds 85 days without murders and April is on track to be the safest in Salvadoran history

On Saturday, April 18, the Policía Nacional Civil (PNC) reported that no homicides were recorded in El Salvador, bringing the total to 17 days without murders.

With this update, the country has accumulated 91 homicide-free days so far in 2026. January closed with 27 such days, followed by 24 in February and 23 in March, according to police data.

During the administration of President Nayib Bukele, a total of 1,193 days without homicides have been registered. Of those, 1,079 have occurred since the implementation of the state of exception.

This extraordinary security measure has been extended 49 times by the Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador, with the latest extension in effect from April 1 to April 30, 2026. Under the measure, more than 91,700 gang members and collaborators have been detained and prosecuted for illicit association.