Central America
For Honduran youth, US is the only escape from poverty
AFP
Wilmer Rodriguez’s mother, Lesly Madariaga, spent a sleepless night looking for him in the streets of Nueva Suyapa, a poor neighborhood in the hills surrounding the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.
But to no avail: like thousands of other young Hondurans trying to reach the United States in search of work, Rodriguez and a friend had stolen away in secret.
It was February 2020 but a month later he was back home.
Rodriguez, then 17, only got to Mexico before he was picked up by authorities and returned to Honduras.
“I want to go again, I still have the desire and it won’t leave my head until I pull it off,” Rodriguez told AFP.
“If they catch me one, two, three, four, five times again I’ll still keep trying because my dream is to support my family.”
In a country suffering from deep economic woes and rampant violence, and where more than half the population of 10 million lives in poverty, thousands expose themselves to the many risks of migration, not least from human traffickers and extortionists.
It can be a costly and fruitless exercise.
According to a recent report, Central American migrants spend around $2.2 billion a year trying to reach the US, most of which is paid to traffickers.
Around 50,000 Honduran migrants have been sent back home this year alone, according to official figures.
– ‘They’re all liars’ –
Hondurans will head to the polls Sunday to elect a successor to President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
After 12 years of right-wing Nationalist Party hegemony, some see in leftist former first lady Xiomara Castro an opportunity for change.
But not Rodriguez. No matter who wins, his dream will remain resolute.
“I don’t have much faith in politicians because the truth is, they’re all liars,” he said.
Now 18, he puts his faith instead in his ability to become “one of the great” barbers of the world — in the United States.
Upon his return to Honduras, Rodriguez trained to cut hair and is now employed in his neighborhood’s La Bendicion salon.
He has already won a pair of awards for his work.
In La Bendicion, the barber capes feature the US Stars and Stripes — if ever Rodriguez needed more encouragement.
He has not told his mother as much, but she suspects he again will seek to reach the US.
“I wouldn’t want to go through that process again,” she said. “I wouldn’t want him to run that risk.”
She believes “God always provides food,” but knows that is not enough for today’s dreamers.
“The youngsters leave for a better life because there is no work here in Honduras.”
– ‘My goal is to work’ –
There are two types of homes on the steep unpaved streets of Nueva Supaya: sturdy ones built of concrete blocks, whose owners have family abroad, and flimsy ones made of wooden or metal planks.
Rodriguez’s house measures no more than 20 square meters (215 square feet) but a dozen family members are crammed into its two rooms.
In the bedroom, blankets provide makeshift dividing walls. Rodriguez sleeps atop a bunk bed, his mother and sister below.
He earns money now, but not enough.
“It’s something, but just for me — not to support 12 people,” he said.
Still, he is determined not to fall into the trap that has seduced many others: gangs.
Like many Honduran neighborhoods, Nueva Suyapa is beset by the curse of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs whose drug-trafficking and extortion-related violence force many young people to flee the country.
Local non-governmental groups run programs trying to keep youths out of harm’s way, and at home. But the lure from abroad is powerful.
“When children become youngsters they want to leave for other countries to look for better opportunities because here there are none,” said Rosa Maria Nieto, executive director of the Sharing Association.
“It creates great pain and suffering in families.”
Rodriguez says neighborhood younths are attracted to crime and “easy things” like selling drugs, although Rodriguez has always resisted.
“My goal is to work…. My house is my goal too. I know that one day I will build it.”
Central America
Arévalo accuses Porras and judge of undermining democracy in Guatemala
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo denounced a new attempt at a “coup” orchestrated by the Attorney General’s Office. He also requested an extraordinary session at the Organization of American States (OAS) to address the country’s ongoing political crisis.
The president has been at odds with Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for being “corrupt” and “anti-democratic.” Since 2023, Arévalo has accused Porras of launching investigations against his party, Semilla, and the 2023 elections as part of a scheme to prevent his inauguration in January 2024.
From the presidential office, Arévalo has said he continues to “resist” the “coup plotters,” but tensions escalated last Friday when Judge Fredy Orellana, at the request of the Attorney General’s Office, ordered the electoral court to annul the Semilla party’s promoter group. Arévalo interpreted this as an attempt to revoke the positions won by the party.
“Orellana, a hitman who distorts the law in service of Consuelo Porras, is attempting to force […] the unconstitutional removal of a mayor, 23 elected deputies […], the vice president, and the president of the country,” Arévalo said in a televised address on Sunday.
“We call on the international community not to turn a blind eye to the coup being attempted in Guatemala,” he added, speaking alongside his cabinet and congressional members at the National Palace in Guatemala City.
Arévalo requested that the Organization of American States hold an extraordinary session to present “the serious threats” to the Guatemalan Constitution and democracy perpetrated by Porras and Orellana.
Yesterday, Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Ramiro Martínez reaffirmed the president’s statements, emphasizing the need “to go and expose the situation” Guatemala has been facing since last week due to the actions of the Attorney General’s Office.
Central America
New dismembered bodies found in San Juan river days after mass killing in Palencia
On the morning of Monday, October 27, Guatemala’s Volunteer Firefighters confirmed the discovery of two bodies and two human heads inside plastic bags in the San Juan River, located in the Zacualpía village at kilometer 21 of the Atlantic Highway, in the jurisdiction of Palencia.
The remains were found by personnel from Companies 85, 50, and Central, who responded after receiving a report about suspicious bags floating in the water. The gruesome discovery was made just a few meters from the site where eight tortured bodies were found under the San Juan Bridge on Friday, October 24.
Local authorities do not rule out a connection between both incidents and suspect they may be tied to the same criminal organization. Investigators from the Public Ministry and the National Civil Police arrived at the scene to gather evidence and transfer the remains to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif).
According to data from the National Economic Research Center (CIEN), Guatemala recorded 2,154 homicides between January and August 2025, an increase compared to the 1,816 reported during the same period in 2024.
Central America
Four guatemalan soldiers arrested for stealing weapons from Northern Air Command
Four soldiers were arrested in connection with the theft of weapons from the Northern Air Command of the Ministry of Defense in Petén, Guatemala, following operations conducted by the Public Ministry (Prosecutor’s Office).
“During the operations, criminal scenes were processed, analyzed, and documented photographically, possible escape routes were identified, surveillance cameras were located, and potential witnesses were interviewed,” the Prosecutor’s Office explained in a social media post.
The detained soldiers were identified as Ludwin Jónathan Cardona Baltazar, charged with illicit association, dereliction of duty, and aggravated theft; and Josué Israel Pérez Jerónimo, Alain Omar Marroquín Soch, and Carlos Ernesto Ibarra Corrales, charged with dereliction of duty, according to Guatemala’s Prensa Libre.
The military personnel reportedly stole 55 rifles, 14,420 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, 92 magazines of 35 rounds each, 19 magazines of 20 rounds each, and three grenade launchers, “which were allegedly moved from the arms warehouse to the outside for illicit sale.”
The Ministry of Defense stated that it will keep its internal control mechanisms active to prevent similar incidents.
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