Central America
US homeland security chief signs Costa Rica migration deal
AFP
The United States homeland security secretary on Tuesday signed a deal to address migration in Central America during a visit to Costa Rica.
The country is one of the main transit routes for migrants making their way north in the hope of reaching the US, and the American government has tried to deter people without documents from reaching its southern border with Mexico.
According to the Costa Rican government, the agreement seeks to boost the fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking, while exploring options to “strengthen current programs for the integration of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.”
Alejandro Mayorkas, the US homeland security secretary, hailed the “historic” agreement — the first of its kind in the region — and spoke of opportunities it would bring to people “to achieve their dreams.”
“We selected Costa Rica as the first partner and friend to sign such an important agreement because of its leadership in the matters that impact the region and, quite frankly, the world,” he said after meeting President Carlos Alvarado.
“This agreement speaks of possibilities. As the president of Costa Rica has addressed and as our president of the United States has addressed, it is all about possibilities and possibilities become realities when we invest.”
Mayorkas arrived in Costa Rica’s capital San Jose after visiting Mexico, where he met with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
The Mexican authorities said there was a need to invest in Central America and generate greater opportunities that prevent migration.
In recent years, the flow of undocumented migrants has increased, while Washington has tightened its immigration policies.
Since taking office in January 2021, US President Joe Biden has pledged a more humane immigration policy and sought to dismantle a controversial Trump-era border program that denies asylum seekers entry to the United States while their case is reviewed.
Officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols, then-president Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program saw tens of thousands of non-Mexican asylum seekers — mostly from Central America — sent back over the border pending the outcome of their applications.
According to the United Nations, last year almost a million Mexicans and Central Americans fled their countries due to violence, lack of opportunities, climate change the Covid-19 pandemic.
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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