Central America

From target to enforcer: Honduras minister vows ‘surgical’ cartel fight

AFP

Forced into hiding after targeting a drug cartel with alleged ties to the then-government, Honduras’s hounded police chief-turned interior minister has vowed to extract criminal tentacles in the State with “surgical” precision.

Ramon Sabillon, minister in the new cabinet of leftist Xiomara Castro, told AFP he was fired from his former job as police chief after dismantling a drug cartel in 2014 without informing then-president Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Hernandez is today awaiting extradition to the United States on drug trafficking charges.

The cartel he had hit, named Valle Valle, “had penetrated the structures of State” under Hernandez, Sabillon told AFP in an interview.

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Hernandez had him fired, he said, and “threatened with death, I had to leave the country… I had to either save my life or continue in the police… I preferred life.”

Now Sabillon is back as Castro’s interior minister, and in a twist of irony one of his first tasks was to execute an arrest warrant for Hernandez.

Hernandez, who held office from 2014 to early this year, is accused of having facilitated the smuggling of some 500 tons of drugs — mainly from Colombia and Venezuela — to the United States via Honduras since 2004.

In return, he allegedly received millions of dollars in bribes as well as protection money from drug kingpins such as Mexico’s Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Hernandez’s brother, former Honduran congressman Tony Hernandez, is serving a life sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.

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– ‘A mafia’ –

“When organized crime gets embedded in the State, it becomes a mafia because it holds the power of the State. So it is a surgical job that we have to do, democratically, by enforcing the law,” Sabillon told AFP.

Extraditing a former president, he added, “sends a strong message to the entire population, to those seeking public office, that the State will not tolerate” such actions.

At least 40 Hondurans are sought by the United States on drug allegations.

The minister said a number of coca plantations and laboratories have been dismantled since the beginning of the year.

Cartels are seeking to become more autonomous, he explained, with production in Honduras itself, “so they need not depend on the point of origin” in South American countries such as Colombia and Peru.

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Hernandez, a right-wing lawyer, left office on January 27 when leftist Castro became president of the country with a poverty rate of at least 60 percent among its 10 million inhabitants.

The country’s first woman president faces an uphill struggle to reform a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world.

Tens of thousands of its citizens have tried to flee to the United States.

She has vowed to tackle deep-seated government corruption.

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Central America

Guatemala narrows emergency measures to hardest-hit gang violence areas

The government of Guatemala has narrowed the scope of its state of emergency to the areas most affected by gang violence, Interior Minister Marco Antonio Villeda announced on Thursday.

The measure comes two months after coordinated attacks attributed to the Barrio 18 left 11 police officers dead.

President Bernardo Arévalo initially imposed a state of siege in mid-January following the violence, which was reportedly in retaliation for government intervention in three prisons where gang leaders had staged uprisings.

That measure, which allowed arrests without a warrant, expired after one month. It was then replaced by a less restrictive “state of prevention,” alongside an increased security deployment in Guatemala City and surrounding areas.

According to Villeda, the state of prevention has been extended for two additional weeks but will now apply primarily to the central department of Guatemala — home to the capital — and Escuintla, which have recorded the highest levels of homicides and criminal activity.

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“We need to continue these joint operations between the police and the military to maintain control,” the minister said.

The measure will also remain in effect in border departments including Petén, San Marcos and Huehuetenango, which border Mexico, as well as Izabal, which borders Honduras and Belize, in an effort to prevent the entry of criminal groups linked to drug trafficking.

Villeda added that in the past two weeks, homicides have dropped by 25% and extortion cases by 33% compared to the same period in 2025.

Central America

Costa Rica closes embassy in Cuba, citing human rights concerns

The government of Costa Rica announced on Wednesday the closure of its embassy in Cuba, a move that signals a further deterioration in diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Foreign Minister Arnoldo André confirmed that Costa Rica has also requested the withdrawal of Cuban diplomatic personnel from San José, leaving only consular representation in place.

According to André, the decision is driven by concerns over the worsening human rights situation on the island, including increased repression against citizens and opposition figures.

He also noted that Cuba’s ongoing economic and social crisis—marked by shortages of food, medicine, and basic services—has made the operation of the embassy increasingly difficult.

President Rodrigo Chaves backed the measure, stating that his administration does not recognize the legitimacy of Cuba’s political system.

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In response, the Cuban government rejected the decision, calling it a “unilateral” move taken under pressure from United States.

“Under pressure from the United States, Costa Rica has limited its relations with Cuba to consular matters,” Cuba’s Foreign Ministry said, describing the action as “arbitrary.”

Despite the diplomatic setback, Cuban authorities stated that historical ties between the two nations would endure.

Central America

Costa Rica closes Cuba embassy as president escalates rhetoric

The president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, escalated political rhetoric on Wednesday, stating that “the hemisphere must be cleansed of communists,” following his government’s decision to close its embassy in Cuba.

The remarks come as Costa Rica moves to downgrade diplomatic relations with the island, citing a sustained deterioration in human rights. Chaves reiterated that his administration does not recognize the legitimacy of the Cuban government, accusing it of repression and of maintaining poor living conditions for its population.

“We do not recognize the legitimacy of that government. We will not maintain a consulate there; services will be handled from Panama,” Chaves said during a press conference.

The president also argued that the communist model has “failed” not only in Cuba but in every country where it has been implemented, emphasizing that freedom is essential for development.

The decision was made in coordination with president-elect Laura Fernández, who is set to take office on May 8 and is expected to maintain the same foreign policy stance.

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Foreign Minister Arnoldo André confirmed the closure of the embassy in Havana and requested that Cuba withdraw its diplomatic personnel from San José, while maintaining limited consular functions.

Costa Rican authorities justified the move by pointing to increased repression against citizens, activists, and opposition figures, as well as restrictions on fundamental freedoms.

The closure marks a new point of tension in bilateral relations and comes amid growing international pressure on Cuba.