Central America
Honduras chairs Coalition of Rainforest Nations
September 22 |
The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, received on Thursday the pro tempore presidency of the Coalition of Rainforest Nations, a position in which the country will manage an amount of 250 million dollars throughout the coming 2024 for the care and development of tropical forests worldwide.
The Central American leader also met with the executive director of the Coalition of Rainforest Nations, Kevin Conrad, with whom she discussed the policies promoted by her government for the protection and revitalization of forests.
Conrad emphasized that, after 18 months at the helm of the Honduran government, President Xiomara Castro has transformed the country from being one of the nations with no results whatsoever to one of the 52 most advanced countries in terms of forest conservation.
In a statement issued by the Honduran government, the head of the Secretariat of Natural Resources and Environment, Luky Medina, informed: “We would like to announce to the nation that President Xiomara Castro has assumed the pro tempore presidency of the Coalition of Rainforest Nations”.
For his part, Medina pointed out that “the coalition is the institution that mobilizes resources and payments for conservation of sovereign credits for carbon sequestration and has already made the necessary calculations so that the country can access some 250 million dollars starting in 2024”.
According to the Honduran Presidency, the resources that will be accessed will be reinvested in watershed management to ensure the continuity of the environmental protection battalions, avoid deforestation and continue the reforestation process in Honduras, which plans to restore a little more than one million hectares by 2030.
The Coalition of Rainforest Nations (Leaf Colition) brings together a community of 52 countries and has established itself as a block of strength in terms of management and negotiations on climate change, climate action and environmental justice.
Central America
Panama confirms drug contamination of El Salvador coffee shipment occurred on its territory
A container originating from El Salvador and carrying coffee for export was contaminated with more than 1,152 packages of drugs while in transit through Panama, according to official information confirmed by the Panamanian government this Tuesday.
The case, which had previously generated political controversy in April 2025 after opposition sectors attempted to link the Salvadoran government to drug trafficking, has now been clarified through renewed investigations.
Authorities confirmed that the container departed from the port of Acajutla after being properly inspected, with no illicit substances detected at the time of export.
According to statements previously provided by El Salvador’s Minister of Defense, René Merino Monroy, the shipment traveled first to the port of Balboa in Panama, where it remained stored for several days before being transferred to another vessel bound for Manzanillo in Colón.
It was at that terminal that Panamanian authorities discovered the drugs and identified tampering with the container seals, indicating that the illicit alteration occurred during its transit in Panama rather than in Salvadoran territory.
The findings align with earlier explanations provided by Salvadoran officials and confirm that the contamination of the cargo took place outside of El Salvador’s jurisdiction.
Central America
Uber Eats adds Puntarenas and Turrialba to growing Costa Rica network
Uber Eats announced that it is continuing to expand its presence in Costa Rica with the launch of operations in the cities of Puntarenas and Turrialba, further strengthening the company’s growth in the country.
With this expansion, the delivery platform is now available across all seven Costa Rican provinces and works with more than 6,000 partner businesses. Its offerings include prepared food, supermarkets, pharmacies, pet stores, and other specialty retailers.
As part of the announcement, Uber Eats also introduced Marco Nannipieri as its new Regional General Manager for the Andean Region, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Nannipieri will oversee the company’s operations in Costa Rica along with seven other countries in the region.
“Costa Rica is a key market for Uber Eats in the region, with growing adoption of technology among users and businesses. Over the past five years, more than 1,000 restaurants and merchants have joined the app, and today we are entering a new stage of expansion that will allow us to reach more cities outside the Greater Metropolitan Area, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs across the country,” Nannipieri said.
Central America
Report questions direction of Nasry Asfura after 100 days in office
The Center for the Study of Democracy warned Tuesday that the government of Nasry Asfura, which marks its first 100 days in office on Wednesday, has failed to show a “significant change in direction” and continues to follow a model characterized by exclusion, inequality, and external dependence.
In its report titled “100 Days of the Nasry Asfura Government: Concerns and Demands,” Cespad stated that the administration has maintained an economic and political model that prioritizes debt payments, the promotion of extractive projects, and the strengthening of the security apparatus over social investment.
The organization argued that the current policies have not addressed structural problems affecting large sectors of the Honduran population and warned that inequality and economic dependence remain key challenges for the country.
Nasry Asfura won the general elections held on November 30, 2025, in a process marked by allegations of fraud and delays in the vote count that lasted nearly a month due to a series of technological failures.

























