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Central America

El Salvador defends use of Bitcoin as legal tender

AFP

El Salvador’s government on Monday defended the country’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, rejecting calls from the International Monetary Fund to change course.

The IMF last Tuesday warned of “large risks” posed by the cryptocurrency’s volatility.

“No multilateral body is going to force you to do anything, absolutely nothing. States are sovereign states and make sovereign decisions about their public policies,” Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said Monday.

In September, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, alongside the US dollar.

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At the time, the cryptocurrency was trading at about $44,000.

It hit a record of $67,734 in November, but has since fallen and is now trading at about $38,000.

Last week, the IMF board, comprised of representatives of member countries, “urged” President Nayib Bukele’s government “to narrow the scope of the Bitcoin law by removing Bitcoin’s legal tender status.”

It warned of “large risks associated with the use of Bitcoin on financial stability, financial integrity, and consumer protection” and with issuing Bitcoin-backed bonds.

But Zelaya told Channel 21 on Monday the IMF had never asked El Salvador to “eliminate” Bitcoin as legal tender.

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He added plans were afoot to issue a Bitcoin bond in the first half of March with “all the safeguards” in place.

“There is regulation for this,” he said “All risks have been evaluated and we have worked on every one to minimize them.”

Zelaya added that El Salvador continued in negotiations with the IMF for a $1.3-billion financing agreement to clear its debt.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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