Central America
Jailed Nicaraguan opposition figures face ill treatment, relatives say
AFP
Relatives of more than 180 jailed opponents of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government on Monday denounced the ill treatment they said had been inflicted on the detainees, while Catholic leaders complained of “repression” and harassment by authorities.
Five organizations representing relatives of imprisoned opposition figures launched an “urgent appeal” for their immediate release because of their “extreme physical and mental deterioration.”
The imprisoned opponents are victims of a “policy of ill-treatment (…) in order to exhaust, exterminate or mutilate” them, said a joint press release.
More than 40 opposition figures accused of “undermining national integrity” and money laundering were arrested in the months running up to last November’s presidential election.
Seven of them were Ortega’s rivals in the presidential election, and their detention gave him an easy return to power for a fourth consecutive term.
The election was slammed as a “pantomime” in Brussels and Washington.
Since February, at least 45 opponents of the government have been sentenced to terms of up to 13 years in prison on charges of plotting to overthrow Ortega with US backing.
Relatives of the prisoners have frequently criticized conditions inside the prisons that sap the detainees’ health to the point where they need emergency hospitalization.
In February, Hugo Torres, a hero of the Sandinista guerrilla movement who fought with Ortega against the dictatorship of the Somoza dynasty but later turned against his old comrade in arms, died in hospital custody.
The organizations of prisoners’ relatives expressed particular concern over the health of Nidia Barbosa, a 66-year-old activist who suffers from “serious heart problems” and who was hospitalized last week.
The relatives also voiced solidarity with Rolando Alvarez, the bishop of Matagalpa in the north, who has been holed up in his church since Thursday and who started a hunger strike to protest the police surveillance he says he’s been the target of since denouncing the repression of the opposition.
Harvy Padilla, a parish priest in the southern city of Masaya, said that police are also preventing him from leaving his church, and that on Sunday they banned his congregation from attending mass.
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.
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.
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.
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