Central America
Salvadoran heroes who provided aid in Turkey return home
February 19 |
After nine days away from home, the Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR) El Salvador and the Humanitarian Rescue Unit (HRU) of the Armed Forces, made up of 111 rescuers, military and health personnel, who carried out search and rescue work in Turkey, returned to Salvadoran soil.
This nation was strongly affected last February 6 by two earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 on the Richter scale, and El Salvador was one of the first countries to send rescue support.
The Salvadoran heroes landed on their return flight on Saturday afternoon at the San Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, where they were received by the authorities of the Ministries of the Interior, Defense, Health, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and the directors of Civil Protection and Firefighters.
“Thank you, a great job, it is a pride to work with you, it is a pride to have you at home, welcome heroes”, were the words of the Minister of the Interior, Juan Carlos Bidegain.
He added that thanks to the work done, El Salvador was able to demonstrate in Turkey that it has highly prepared teams that have now been placed among the elite USAR teams around the world.
“We are the ones who are grateful to you, what you have done, what you have done is incredible, what you have done is wonderful,” said Bidegain.
For his part, Erick Vázquez, lieutenant of the USAR-EL SALVADOR group, in his report to the authorities, highlighted the rescue of two people alive.
“We have done a job with all the logistics involved, we went to put into practice everything we learned. We had the joy of performing two rescues, a minor and a woman of approximately 30 years of age, we are proud to have done it”, celebrated Vázquez.
He explained that during their stay in Turkey, from February 9 to 17, they worked in 15 buildings, in which the canine unit and the rescuers did the work they were assigned to do, earning the respect and admiration of USAR groups from the rest of the world.
“Leaders of other USAR groups around the world have told us that we have positioned ourselves among the best, along with France, Germany and Egypt, among others,” Vazquez said.
The recognition given by the leaders of other USAR groups was also shared by Defense Minister Rene Francis Merino Monroy.
“I want to highlight the level of the two search teams of El Salvador [USAR and UHR] to provide assistance to other countries,” said the official.
At the same time he added: “We have in El Salvador a response team that can highly prepared to help foreign countries”.
Merino Monroy congratulated the USAR and UHR team of the Armed Forces for putting the name of El Salvador on high and fulfilling the mission entrusted to them.
“The mission that was entrusted to them, to the USAR and UHR group of the Armed Forces, to rescue lives was fulfilled, in addition to reviewing and cleaning each of the buildings in which they worked,” said the minister.
Turkey’s ambassador to El Salvador, Gül Büyükerşen, also received the heroes and expressed her gratitude for the support of the Salvadoran teams, as well as to President Nayib Bukele’s willingness to help from the first moment.
“President Nayib Bukele was one of the first leaders who spoke with my president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, by phone (after the earthquakes),” said the diplomat.
In addition, he stressed that “El Salvador may be a small country (in territory), but it has a big heart”.
Central America
Panama’s President Mulino: “We are regaining international trust” to exit tax haven lists
Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino stated on Tuesday that the Central American country is “regaining international trust” regarding lists that label it as a tax haven, and that it hopes to be removed from these lists in the near future.
“At the international level, we are regaining confidence. Panama is taking firm steps to get off the European Union’s list, thanks to the coordinated work of various institutions,” Mulino said during his first-year report speech before the deputies.
The Panamanian president emphasized that he has “increased” his “engagement” with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) “not only with the aim of leaving these lists but also to begin our path toward joining that important group of democratic states and prosperous economies.”
Since taking office on July 1, 2024, Mulino has stressed that he will work to have Panama removed from what he calls “discriminatory” lists that consider it a tax haven. He has even focused part of his official conversations during trips to Europe on this issue.
Currently, Panama has strengthened banking regulations following the 2016 Panama Papers scandal. However, it remains on some lists, such as that of the Netherlands, while it has been removed from others, including the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list in 2023.
Additionally, the European Commission recommended in June that Panama be removed from its list of jurisdictions with a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. The European Parliament and member states still have a month (extendable to two) to review the proposal, and unless opposed, it will take effect after that period.
Central America
Castro to address FfD4 in Spain as Global Financial Reform takes center stage
Honduran President Xiomara Castro will participate in the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), to be held in Seville, Spain, from June 30 to July 3, Honduran Ambassador to Spain Marlon Brevé announced on Saturday.
The president is expected to arrive in Seville on Sunday and deliver her address on Monday, according to the diplomat.
Castro will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Javier Bu, her private secretary and son Héctor Zelaya, and Finance Minister Christian Duarte.
Spain is hosting the FfD4 conference at a critical time, as global development cooperation budgets face constraints while humanitarian needs continue to grow due to conflicts, political instability, and the climate crisis.
The conference will bring together world leaders, international organizations, private sector representatives, and civil society, aiming to review and reorient global development financing strategies.
Organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) through its Office for Financing for Sustainable Development, this high-level forum has been held since 2002 to promote structural financial reforms.
Key goals of the FfD4 include mobilizing greater volumes of capital at lower costs and reforming the international financial architecture to support the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and meet the urgent needs of developing nations.
Central America
Migrants stranded in Panama amid US Policy crackdown and Darién gap barriers
Migrants who once dreamed of reaching the United States are now forced to head back south after the arrival of President Donald Trump and stricter immigration policies. Many are stranded in Panama, caught between the Darién jungle barrier and the high costs of crossing the Caribbean Sea.
In Miramar, a small coastal town in Panama, dozens of migrants—mostly Venezuelans—wait for a chance to continue their journey to Colombia. Private boat rides to the border are out of reach for many, with fares reaching up to $260 per person.
“Here we’re stopped by the sea and the money. If it were a road, we’d already be in Colombia. But paying for three tickets for me and my children is impossible,” lamented Marielbis Eloina Campos, a 33-year-old Venezuelan traveling alone with her four young children after waiting a week in Miramar.
Campos left Brazil in 2023 and crossed the dangerous Darién jungle alone with her children, one carried on her back. The journey took six days, and she recalls one child nearly drowning while crossing a river. Despite the risks, she reached Mexico City, where she stayed over a year waiting for an asylum appointment via the CBP-One app. However, its cancellation under the Trump administration forced her to give up and return to Brazil.
“Mexico is torture for us migrants. I feared my children would be kidnapped,” said Campos, who pleaded for help to continue without being chased as if immigration authorities were “a mafia.”
Due to the high cost of private transport, Panama organized a humanitarian trip that transported 109 migrants from nine nationalities from Colón to the Colombian border aboard an official boat of the National Aeronaval Service (Senan). Another similar operation is expected soon.
Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, expressed concern about this reverse migration flow:
“I am worried that the number of people moving from north to south is increasing,” he said this month.
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