Central America
El Salvador extends state of emergency to curb gang violence
AFP
El Salvador’s lawmakers on Sunday extended a state of emergency for another month at the request of President Nayib Bukele, after it was imposed in late March to stamp out a wave of deadly gang violence.
The measures were initially enacted March 27 after a weekend in which 87 people were killed in gang-related violence, expanding police powers so that they could arrest members without a warrant.
Since then, more than 16,000 people have been arrested, and Bukele on Sunday requested lawmakers to extend the state of emergency for another month.
After summoning members to a session, Ernesto Castro, president of the Legislative Assembly — controlled by Bukele’s ruling party — declared that they had approved the extension, by 67 out of 84 votes.
The new decree states that “security conditions persist which urgently demand the extension… due to the continuation of the circumstances which motivated it,” he said.
Once Bukele signs the decree, the extension begins on Tuesday.
Besides arrests without a warrant, the emergency measures also restrict freedom of assembly, while telephone calls and emails can be intercepted without a court order.
Also on Sunday, they approved another law to “simplify and facilitate” the acquisition of tax-free goods and render services by the government to address the emergency.
The authorities have said they are planning to build new prisons to hold the thousands of gang members they detain.
– Crackdown –
Bukele hailed the extension, calling it “the definition of democracy.”
“More than 1,000 terrorists captured on this day alone. More than 17,000 in just 30 days,” he tweeted. “We continue… #WarAgainstGangs.”
The wave of detentions is unprecedented in a country that has suffered decades of violent crime driven by powerful gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18.
The country’s gangs have about 70,000 members, of whom 32,000 are now incarcerated as a result of the crackdown, according to authorities.
Lawmakers had also approved in early April a reform to punish gang members with up to 45 years in prison — a sharp increase to the original maximum penalty of nine years.
Other legislation also approved this month criminalizes disseminating gang-related messages in the media, with penalties of up to 15 years in jail. Journalists have warned that this reform could target certain forms of reporting.
El Salvadoran NGOs asked the judiciary this week to declare that legislation unconstitutional.
Such broad and swift enactment of powers granted to the military and police has drawn alarm from local and international human rights organizations.
The 40-year-old president, elected in 2019, enjoys broad support in El Salvador over his promises to fight organized crime and improve security in the violence-wracked country.
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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