Central America
Nicaragua threatens Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and R. Dominican Republic for impasse in the SICA
Nicaragua threatened Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic with taking “some measures” against them for opposing the election of former Nicaraguan Chancellor Denis Moncada as the new secretary general of the Central American Integration System (SICA), according to an official statement released this Friday.
“We have received your disrespectful and taxing Joint Note of today, November 28, 2024, which highlights its continuous, illegal and inappropriate blockade of Nicaragua, according to all the Treaties and Regulations governing the Central American Integration System,” said Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Valdrack Jaentschke, in a note addressed to his colleagues from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic, and to all SICA Governments.
“In the face of this unusual insubordination of Governments and Foreign Ministrys that do not respond to the Law that governs us according to the Jurisprudence of our System, Nicaragua is considering some measures that we will communicate in a timely manner, on the contempt in which the countries subscribing to the Note have shamefully fallen, which also deny, absolutely and insanely, the power of our country to designate our own candidates,” he continued.
According to Jaentschke, former Chancellor and retired general Denis Moncada “has had and has the recognition of Governments, peoples and countries of the World, recognition and respect that cannot be ignored and / or denied by those who subscribe to this absurd communication.”
They invite you to reconsider
“We call for reconsideration of what we consider to contravene all the Presidential Agreements that have governed and govern the SICA, including the national sovereignty of our countries,” urged the Nicaraguan Foreign Minister.
Referring to the note from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and the Dominican Republic, Jaentschke indicated that it “exhibits a denialist, exclusionary and discriminatory position, which is unacceptable from all points of view and that we are forced to denounce.”
Three weeks ago, the Government chaired by Daniel Ortega proposed a new tern of candidates as the new general secretary of the SICA, headed by former Chancellor Moncada, and also integrated by the Sandinista deputy Arling Patricia Alonso Gómez, and the Minister of the Family, Johana Flores, after two previous ternas presented did not reach consensus.
The previous terna was composed of Deputy Alonso; the Minister of the Interior, María Amelia Coronel Kinloch, and the presidential advisor for health issues and former Minister of Health, Sonia Castro, all sanctioned by the United States and in Castro’s case also by Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, for violation of human rights.
The first terna, presented on November 16, 2023, was headed by Jaentschke himself and included Violeta Irías Nelson, from the Attorney General’s Office for the Defense of Human Rights, and the official deputy Irís Marina Montenegro Blandón.
One year without the General Secretary of the SICA
Nicaragua, which holds the temporary presidency of that body, had convened an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the SICA for last November 15 “in order to advance in this process”, present the new terna and interview the candidates proposed by Managua, which was not held due to lack of consensus.
The General Secretariat of the SICA has been vacant since in mid-November 2023 the Nicaraguan lawyer Werner Vargas resigned from the position for the period 2022-2026, for which he was appointed as a proposal for Nicaragua.
Nicaragua has also denounced and rejected the “usurpation” of the General Secretariat of the SICA by an “Executive Directorate” of that body, which according to Managua has asked the governments of the region “to analyze a proposal for a work agenda and a draft budget of a General Secretariat that does not exist because it is unbrainering.”
The SICA, created in Tegucigalpa in 1991, is integrated by Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic as full members, while Mexico, the United States and other countries have the category of regional observers.
Central America
Guatemala Dismantles Largest Cocaine Lab Found in 15 Years Near Mexico Border
Security forces in Guatemala discovered what authorities described as the largest cocaine laboratory dismantled in the country in the last 15 years, located in the southwest near the border with Mexico, officials announced on Wednesday.
Guatemalan Defense Minister Henry Sáenz said during a press conference that the operation was carried out as part of “Operation Ring of Fire,” a large-scale security initiative launched by the Guatemalan government and military to reinforce border controls and combat organized crime, particularly along the Mexican border.
The operation focused on the community of Zanjón San Lorenzo, in the municipality of Ayutla, San Marcos department, where authorities uncovered a sophisticated criminal compound made up of three interconnected buildings equipped to carry out the full cocaine production process.
“What we can preliminarily observe in these facilities is the complete production cycle used to produce cocaine ready for consumption,” Sáenz stated, adding that the investigation remains ongoing and additional findings could emerge.
The minister highlighted the scale and complexity of the laboratory, comparing it to previous major drug seizures in the country.
“The last major laboratory we found was in El Estor, Izabal, in 2019, and that facility only processed coca paste,” he explained.
Authorities arrested eight individuals during the raid and seized a cache of weapons that included 14 military-style assault rifles, three 9mm pistols, and 1,306 rounds of ammunition.
Security forces also confiscated cash totaling 74,461 quetzales (approximately $9,600), $26,787 in U.S. currency, and 118,000 Mexican pesos.
Central America
Opposition leader highlights migration crisis in Panama speech
Opposition leader María Corina Machado recalled on Monday, during her final day in Panama, the thousands of Venezuelan migrants who crossed the dangerous Darién Gap jungle on their journey toward North America in search of better living conditions.
Speaking before Panama’s National Assembly, Machado stated that “more than 500,000 Venezuelans have crossed the Darién in search of freedom,” adding that many did not survive the journey.
Her remarks highlighted the Darién Gap as a central route in the recent regional migration crisis, where thousands of migrants—mostly Venezuelans—have attempted to travel north through one of the most dangerous jungle passages in the Americas.
According to migration data cited in recent years, the Darién route has seen daily flows of over a thousand migrants at its peak, reflecting the scale of the humanitarian challenge in the region.
Central America
Nicaragua’s Alliances With U.S. Rivals Could Trigger More Sanctions, Analysis Says
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to maintain political and economic pressure on the government of Nicaragua, led by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, due to its growing alliances with Russia, China and Iran, according to an analysis released Monday by the Centro de Estudios Transdisciplinarios de Centroamérica (Cetcam).
The report states that tensions between Washington and Managua have increased since the beginning of Trump’s second term and could worsen amid the regional political climate, particularly because of developments in Venezuela and Cuba.
Cetcam researchers noted that since the second half of 2025, the U.S. government has intensified criticism of the Sandinista administration, mainly regarding political prisoners, human rights, religious freedom and what it describes as the authoritarian model established by Ortega and Murillo.
“With this background, it is possible to foresee that Washington will maintain pressure, including sanctions, against the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship,” the think tank stated in its report.
The study also warns that one of Washington’s main concerns is the strengthening relationship between Managua and countries considered strategic rivals of the United States, particularly Russia, China and Iran.
Among the developments highlighted is the recent ratification by the Russian Senate of a military cooperation agreement signed with Nicaragua in 2025. The deal is expected to strengthen strategic coordination and Russia’s presence in Central America for an initial five-year period.
According to Cetcam, the move will “hardly go unnoticed” by the United States.
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