Central America
Early childhood is a high priority for the Salvadoran government in the area of education
October 3 |
The public investment contemplated in the draft General State Budget for 2024 amounts to $1,790.5 million, and includes a strong commitment to the education system in general, and specifically, to the protection and comprehensive care of early childhood and adolescence, according to figures presented by the Ministry of Finance.
As part of the emblematic projects in public investment, the Government of President Nayib Bukele will allocate $245 million for the early childhood programs Crecer y Aprender Juntos, and Nacer, Aprender y Crecer, which will be executed by the Ministries of Education and Health.
All the early childhood work has been led by the First Lady of the Republic, Gabriela de Bukele, with the support of public institutions, with the purpose of settling the historical debts left by the ARENA and FMLN parties, which governed for 30 years.
As part of the work in early childhood, the first lady met last week at the Presidential House with Afshan Khan, United Nations undersecretary and coordinator of the Global Movement for the Promotion of Nutrition, to whom she presented the work of the Government of President Nayib Bukele in favor of this segment of the population.
At the end of the meeting, Khan highlighted the work done by the Government and the First Lady for early childhood and remarked that El Salvador is one of the few countries that invest in this area. “The program of the First Lady, Gabriela de Bukele, is one of the best child development programs I have ever seen,” said the UN official during her visit.
As part of the strategic bet, next year’s state budget also allocates $140 million for the educational reform Mi Nueva Escuela, in addition to $16 million for the improvement of educational environments and $75 million for the program Creciendo Saludables Juntos, whose main objective is the integral development of early childhood.
The educational reform Mi Nueva Escuela, announced by the President of the Republic in September 2022, is part of the government’s strategy to transform the public education system that was abandoned by previous governments. The change of school curricula and textbooks, as well as the incorporation of technology and the construction and reconstruction of educational spaces, nutrition and health are part of the axes of this reform.
The sociologist and teacher Mauricio Rodríguez considers that the Ministry of Finance has presented a “balanced” state budget project, with “strategic investment lines” to solve the needs in each of the social areas, including education in the public sector.
“In the area of education there is a strong component with respect to what we know as early childhood”, said the analyst, and recalled that, together with the investment component, the Government is already implementing the Nacer con Cariño Law and the Crecer Juntos (Grow Together) Law. Both regulations were proposed by the Executive and approved by the Legislative Assembly.
“It makes sense that the general State budget be oriented more towards these areas, to lay the foundations for a country with people of a different type of preparation. What previous governments did was to strengthen the intermediate levels [of the educational system] and forgot about the base [early childhood],” the teacher stated.
In public investment, the budget also allocates $69 million for the integrated health program, to continue improving care at all levels of the public system; and $257 million for the purchase of medicines, medical supplies and vaccines.
Also, $138 million was budgeted for the execution of municipal infrastructure works through the National Directorate of Municipal Works (DOM) and $182 million for the Los Chorros highway viaduct and widening project. ANDA will also receive $26.7 million to execute the water sector resiliency program in prioritized areas.
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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