Central America
Panama government and protesters strike deals to clear key highway
AFP
Panama’s government and indigenous leaders reached a second deal Sunday to clear all remaining demonstrators from the Panamerican Highway in exchange for lower fuel prices, ending a two-week blockade that had stymied food deliveries.
The government released footage from the signing of an initial agreement in far-west Chiriqui province, where most of the Central American country’s food is produced, and of a blocked section of the highway being cleared.
Angered by high prices and corruption, protesters had clogged the highway linking Panama to the rest of Central America over the past two weeks. Large trucks and banner-waving demonstrators paralyzed the strategic route, making it hard for the country of 4.4 million to feed itself.
To avert the crisis, a second deal was signed later Sunday in Santiago de Veragua, a city 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Panama City, the epicenter of the negotiations and a protester stronghold.
“Many Panamanians have suffered from these stoppages,” said Vice-President Jose Gabriel Carrizo after signing the agreement. “This is a huge government effort.”
The deal establishes the fixed price of fuel for 91 and 95 octane gasoline and diesel, and is effective from July 18.
“The traffic of cars and heavy equipment in Veraguas is free,” Eduardo Cortés, who participated in the demonstrations on the highway, told AFP by phone.
The proposal of 3.25 dollars per gallon (3.78 liters), was better than the 3.30 offered in the deal made earlier in the day with the indigenous community of the Ngabe-Bugle Comarca in Chiriqui.
“This has not been easy, we have made progress with (reducing the cost of) the basic food basket,” said Luis Sanchez, a spokesman for the organizations promoting the protests.
In Panama City, a hundred people gathered on the waterfront to demonstrate. They all wore black, in contrast with the white suits worn by lawmakers during official ceremonies.
Food costs are “higher than what is earned. We have a big social problem,” lawyer Jaqueline Hurtado told AFP. “People are fed up and have taken to the streets to demonstrate for things to change.”
Retiree Iliana Arango said: “In my 68 years of life, I am tired of seeing governments that promise, go up, steal, go down, the next one follows and here we are lacking everything, medicine, education, food.”
Year-on-year inflation in Panama of 4.2 percent was recorded in May, along with an unemployment rate of about 10 percent and fuel price hikes of nearly 50 percent since January.
Despite its dollarized economy and high growth figures, the country has a high rate of social inequality.
Economic woes have led to a shortage of fuel in some parts of the country, and stalls at food markets in the capital have run out of products to sell.
Central America
First woman elected president in the Americas, Violeta Chamorro, dead at 95
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, former president of Nicaragua and the first woman in the Americas to be democratically elected head of state, passed away this Saturday in Costa Rica at the age of 95. A pivotal figure in Nicaragua’s transition to democracy, Chamorro achieved a historic victory over Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega in the 1990 elections, heading a broad opposition coalition.
The Chamorro Barrios family confirmed her death in a statement:
“Our mother, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, former president of Nicaragua, passed away today, June 14, 2025, at 2:21 a.m. (08:21 GMT) in San José, Costa Rica, at the age of 95, after a long illness.”
“Doña Violeta died peacefully, surrounded by the love and affection of her children and the extraordinary care of those who looked after her. She is now in the peace of the Lord,” her children Pedro Joaquín, Claudia Lucía, Cristiana, and Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios wrote.
Chamorro’s victory in 1990 marked a significant turning point in Central American politics, ending more than a decade of Sandinista rule and initiating a fragile but hopeful democratic chapter in Nicaragua’s history.
Central America
Nicaraguan exile coalition urges Costa Rica to receive U.S. deportees fleeing Ortega regime
The Coalition of Nicaraguans in Exile urged Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves on Sunday to receive opponents and critics of the Ortega-Murillo regime currently residing in the United States who may be deported by the administration of Donald Trump.
“We appeal to you, Mr. President, to kindly consider, as an act of humanity and in accordance with the principles of international refugee law, the reopening of entry and temporary reception pathways for Nicaraguan citizens deported from the United States,” the coalition stated in a letter addressed to Chaves.
They specifically requested the reopening of entry for those Nicaraguans who had previously sought asylum or refugee status in Costa Rica and who express a well-founded fear for their lives and personal safety if returned to Nicaragua.
The organization, which identifies itself as committed to defending and promoting the human rights of Nicaraguans “forced into exile by the repression of the Sandinista dictatorship,” expressed its appeal with “urgency and deep concern.”
In the letter, the coalition emphasized the dramatic situation faced by thousands of Nicaraguans who fled political persecution under Daniel Ortega’s regime and are now at risk of deportation from the United States.
Central America
Panama begins reverse migration by sea for 109 stranded migrants
Panamanian authorities have transported a group of 109 migrants of various nationalities by sea to La Miel, a Caribbean town on the country’s border with Colombia, to continue their return journey to South America. The move comes after the migrants failed to settle in the United States, following stricter immigration policies implemented under the administration of former President Donald Trump.
The National Migration Service (SNM) of Panama announced in a statement on Tuesday that the transfer was carried out from the Caribbean port of Colón using a vessel from Panama’s National Aeronaval Service (Senan). The operation was part of the country’s so-called “reverse flow” initiative, aimed at facilitating the safe return of migrants.
The official report noted that the group included migrants from nine different nationalities, with 75 adults and 34 minors on board. Authorities emphasized the “inter-institutional commitment to safe and humanitarian reverse migration.”
A source familiar with the process, speaking anonymously to EFE, confirmed that the vessel departed on Monday. Many of the migrants had opted into the reverse flow program after arriving at the Temporary Attention Center for Migrants (CATEM) in Costa Rica, where coordination was made with Panamanian authorities for their return.
First woman elected president in the Americas, Violeta Chamorro, dead at 95
Nicaraguan exile coalition urges Costa Rica to receive U.S. deportees fleeing Ortega regime
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