Central America
“I hope to leave an irreversible path for the development of El Salvador”: President Nayib Bukele
The political opposition attempts to halt the changes and transformations driven by the Executive, while organizations and the international community try to prevent sovereign decision-making, stated President Nayib Bukele in an open conversation on Space.
The President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele, expressed yesterday that, as a leader, his desire is not only to achieve the full development of El Salvador but also to pave the way for progress and prosperity that is irreversible, preventing the political opposition from undoing the achievements.
“I want to see a developed country, developed in the right way, and that we can be an example to the world,” said the president in the conversation held last night with thousands of people from the Latin American region who connected to the Space event through the X social network.
He reiterated that the Salvadoran political opposition could roll back the advances made by the current government if they return to power.
On February 4, presidential and legislative elections will be held in El Salvador, and voters will decide at the polls whether the political opposition (led by ARENA and FMLN) will regain power or if Nayib Bukele will be re-elected.
“I want El Salvador to be an example for the rest of the world. What I hope at the end of my term is to leave an irreversible path for El Salvador in its development, and there should be no way to return to the past,” reaffirmed the leader in the conversation, where participants were free to ask questions on various national and regional current affairs.
He pointed out that it has not been easy to drive changes and social transformations in El Salvador, especially due to the resistance encountered at the national level with the political opposition and at the international level with countries and organizations that try to influence politics and sovereign decisions.
In that sense, he specified that there are international organizations that fund individuals and media to influence political power directly or indirectly, promoting “harmful” agendas for countries like El Salvador, which seeks to overcome underdevelopment.
“They basically promote an agenda harmful to the world. Our countries are not only held hostage by their local problems but also by an international elite financed by people like George Soros, from the Open Society Foundation. There are more [people] promoting a civilizational destruction agenda with the aim of making money, as every world crisis is a business for them,” said Bukele.
He added that these organizations handle immense amounts of money and power, although their leaders have never been elected by populations. “There is a cohort of journalists, lawyers following this agenda. One of their fundamental pillars is these [media] outlets,” he said.
He argued that various bodies, such as the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH), among others, also oppose poor nations developing their own agendas, contrary to the goals they claim to work towards.
For example, once the state of exception was implemented in March 2022, as a constitutional measure that strengthened the execution of the Territorial Control Plan, international organizations began criticizing, demanding an end to the implementation.
Likewise, when removing judges, politicians, and amending laws to eliminate conditions that fostered violence, international powers demanded a return to the previous “status quo,” even though our country was the most insecure in the world.
“Their argument was institutionality, the rule of law. What rule of law were they talking about? They simply protested, almost demanded, and required us to return to how the country was. Thank God our country is different now, and it was largely because we did not heed what these types of organizations and the international community were saying, which have never looked out for us,” he stated.
According to the president, the real goal of opposing historic changes is for populations in other countries to follow the example and replace the current politicians, as happened in El Salvador with the traditional parties ARENA and FMLN.
Central America
U.S. and Regional Allies Back Panama Amid Dispute With China
The United States, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago issued a joint statement in support of Panama’s sovereignty, arguing that China’s recent actions represent an attempt to politicize maritime trade and undermine the sovereignty of nations in the hemisphere.
“We are closely monitoring China’s selective economic pressure and recent actions affecting vessels flying the Panamanian flag,” the statement released Tuesday said. “Panama is a pillar of our maritime trading system and, as such, must remain free from undue external pressure.”
The statement comes amid growing tensions surrounding the Panama Canal and the operation of key ports linked to global trade.
At the end of January, Panama’s Supreme Court invalidated the legal framework supporting the 1997 concession that granted Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, the right to operate the Balboa and Cristóbal terminals located on the Pacific and Atlantic entrances of the Panama Canal.
The ruling followed mounting pressure from the United States to curb Chinese influence around the strategic waterway, through which roughly 5% of global maritime trade passes.
CK Hutchison, which managed the ports for nearly three decades, rejected the court’s decision and accused Panamanian authorities of illegally confiscating its assets. The company has launched international arbitration proceedings against Panama, seeking more than $2 billion in damages.
Following the court ruling, reports emerged of increased detentions and inspections of Panamanian-flagged vessels in China, actions widely viewed as retaliatory measures.
On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the joint statement as “completely unfounded and misleading,” accusing the United States of politicizing port operations and warning that Beijing would take steps to protect its interests in Panama.
Central America
International Project Tackles Gender Violence in Indigenous Communities in Panama
Efforts to combat machismo and gender-based violence in Panama’s indigenous communities are advancing through international cooperation projects, including an initiative presented this week that is evolving from women’s empowerment toward a new phase focused on educating husbands and sons.
The project, led by the organization HIAS with support from the Spanish Cooperation Agency, is being implemented in the Emberá-Wounaan indigenous territory in the Darién jungle region near the Colombian border.
Originally created to bring state services closer to remote communities, the initiative focused on access to healthcare — particularly sexual and reproductive health services — but later expanded to promote broader access to fundamental rights.
“The project emerged from the understanding that strengthening the rights of the population as a whole was essential to achieving fairer, more cohesive and inclusive societies capable of fighting poverty,” Itziar González, general coordinator of Spanish Cooperation in Panama, told EFE.
HIAS Country Director in Panama Oliver Bush explained that the initiative includes “a very strong component of empowerment for women and adolescent girls in the Emberá-Wounaan communities, aimed at recovering the historical worldview in which women have always played a fundamental role in decision-making within their communities.”
The program also includes prevention, mitigation and response mechanisms against gender-based violence, an area that will be reinforced during the project’s second phase.
“It will include a component focused on positive masculinities, where we will work with men, because men are an important factor in the prevention and mitigation of gender violence,” Bush said.
According to Bush, the initiative seeks not only to eliminate stigmas and forms of everyday sexism that are often socially and culturally ingrained in men, but also to encourage men to recognize themselves as sensitive human beings capable of contributing to healthier and more equal communities.
Central America
Guatemala’s President to Hold Private Interviews for Attorney General Candidates
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de León announced that he will privately interview the six candidates for attorney general this week, breaking with the public format used by former President Alejandro Giammattei.
Speaking during a press conference on Monday, Arévalo said the interviews would not be open to the public because he intends to question candidates about their plans to recover the Attorney General’s Office from what he described as “political-criminal networks.”
Under Guatemalan law, the president is responsible for appointing the country’s attorney general.
The position has been held since 2018 by Consuelo Porras, whose term is set to expire on May 16 after two consecutive terms marked by local and international allegations of corruption.
Arévalo is expected to select the new attorney general later this week from a shortlist recently submitted by a nomination commission.
The Guatemalan president has repeatedly criticized the Public Prosecutor’s Office, claiming it has been compromised by corrupt political interests.
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