Central America

Guatemalan anti-graft judge quits over ‘pressure and threats’

AFP

Guatemalan anti-corruption judge Erika Aifan said on Monday she had resigned out of fear for her life following “pressure and threats.”

Local media said Aifan had fled to the United States.

“I have decided to present my resignation because I cannot count on sufficient protection for my life,” Aifan said in a video shared on Twitter.

“I’ve seen huge criminal organizations and corruption structures at every level of the State from where I have faced the largest amount of pressure and threats against my independence and integrity,” said Aifan.

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The former judge was one of the recipients of the US State Department’s International Women of Courage award last year.

Since 2019, Aifan had benefited from precautionary protection measures ordered by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights due to the harassment and threats against her.

But she said she no longer had faith that she would be safe.

Her resignation comes after five anti-corruption judges were arrested in recent weeks and accused of abuse of authority and obstruction of justice.

Aifan was herself facing a bid to strip her of the legal immunity she enjoyed as a judge.

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The arrests of other anti-corruption judges were ordered by the Public Ministry, headed by Consuelo Porras, who is included on a US list of “corrupt actors.”

Four of the arrested judges were members of the country’s Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI) while the fifth was from the now defunct UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).

“The political and criminal networks that are affected by advances in the judiciary have decided once again to coopt the institutions and persecute those of us who dared to fight against impunity,” said Aifan.

Central America

Panamanian farms take action to reduce jaguar attacks and promote coexistence

A growing number of farms in Panama are taking steps to reduce jaguar attacks on livestock, showing that coexistence between humans and these American felines is possible, a UN agency said on Friday.

The jaguar (Panthera onca) holds a prominent place in Mayan and Aztec mythology, but many farmers kill them after livestock attacks.

Ninety-six percent of jaguar deaths in Panama from 1989 to 2019 occurred following attacks on livestock, according to the NGO Fundación Yaguará. Additionally, the prized jaguar hide made them targets for poachers, causing the population to decline by 20 to 25% since 2000, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

“Conserving the jaguar is not just about protecting an iconic species; it also involves safeguarding and restoring critical ecosystems, and improving water management and biodiversity,” Juan Bello, Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), told AFP.

Fundación Yaguará, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and UNEP are running a program to “reduce conflicts between communities and wildlife” in Panama.

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Through this innovative project, many farms have adopted measures to reduce livestock attacks and avoid retaliatory killings of jaguars, demonstrating that coexistence is indeed possible.

Central America

Police confirm multiple victims and fire after church shooting in Grand Blanc, Michigan

A new mass shooting shook the United States this Sunday, this time at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintslocated on McCandlish Rd. in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

The Grand Blanc Township Police Department confirmed that there were multiple victims, though their identities and the extent of their injuries have not yet been disclosed. Authorities have not specified whether there are fatalities.

According to the official report, the attacker “is down” and the threat has been neutralized.

“There are multiple victims, and the shooter is down. There is NO threat to the public at this time. The church is actively on fire,” the department said in a statement.

In addition to the shooting, a fire is consuming the temple, prompting police to urge residents to avoid the area as emergency operations continue.

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Central America

Bukele and Trump highlight joint fight against gangs and terrorism

U.S. President Donald Trump thanked the Government of El Salvador for its collaboration in imprisoning criminals who had entered U.S. territory irregularly. The Republican leader acknowledged the work of his ally during his address at the 80th United Nations General Assembly taking place this week in New York.

“I want to thank El Salvador for the successful and professional work it has done in receiving and imprisoning so many criminals who entered our country. Under the previous administration [of Joe Biden], the numbers reached record levels, and now we are expelling them all,” Trump stated.

For his part, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele expressed his gratitude to the U.S. leader for his remarks and for officially designating the 18th Street gang as a terrorist group.

“In El Salvador, we had already taken that step by formally labeling them terrorists, and although some organizations have criticized us, the majority of their members are currently imprisoned at Cecot, the Terrorism Confinement Center, designed specifically to confront these threats,” Bukele said.

He added that both countries share a common vision in the fight against terrorism. “We are convinced that cooperation between our nations is key to eradicating these criminal structures and ensuring a future of peace and security for our people,” Bukele emphasized.