Central America
Honduras and U.S. strengthen cooperation on migrant rights and border security
Honduran President Xiomara Castro and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem met on Wednesday in Tegucigalpa to discuss the protection of the rights of Honduran migrants and to strengthen cooperation on security and migration.
“We discussed several topics. The main point was the protection of our migrants” in the United States, said Honduran Foreign Minister Javier Bu during a press briefing alongside the president’s private secretary and son, Héctor Zelaya. No questions were allowed from the press.
Castro emphasized “the protection of the rights of migrants” residing in the U.S. and advocated for the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 55,000 Hondurans, Bu said.
During the meeting, held at the Presidential House, Honduras and the U.S. signed a letter of intent for a new biometric comparison agreement and discussed new collaboration agreements on border security, Bu added.
They also signed “an agreement to review the refugee screening process,” the foreign minister emphasized, affirming that Honduras and the U.S. will continue mutual cooperation on migration security, border security, and the fight against drug trafficking.
Bu described Noem’s visit as “excellent,” highlighting the continuation of a bilateral agenda initiated with former Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina last March.
Noem, who made no statements in Tegucigalpa, began her Central American tour in Panama on Tuesday. She continued to Costa Rica and Honduras on Wednesday and will conclude her trip in Guatemala.
The foreign minister also revealed that the United States has shown “great interest” in the interoceanic train project, an ambitious infrastructure plan aimed at connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic by linking Puerto Castilla (Colón) with Amapala (Isla del Tigre) in the Gulf of Fonseca.
The Gulf of Fonseca is shared by Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
Central America
Two adults and a child die after landslide in northwestern Costa Rica
Two adults and a minor died after a landslide triggered by heavy rains buried their home in the province of Alajuela, in northwestern Costa Rica, the Red Cross reported on Sunday.
The incident was reported to emergency services late Saturday night following intense rainfall in the town of San Ramón, Alajuela.
“After more than five hours of intense search and rescue efforts, we recovered the bodies of two adults and a minor, who were found without vital signs at the scene,” the Red Cross said via its official WhatsApp channel.
Three other people who were inside the house at the time of the landslide managed to escape “on their own,” the agency added.
According to the National Meteorological Institute (IMN), Costa Rica is currently experiencing widespread atmospheric instability caused in part by a tropical wave, which is expected to bring heavy downpours across various regions of the country.
Central America
El Salvador reaches 1,027 homicide-free days under president Bukele
On Friday, October 3, no homicides were reported in El Salvador, according to data from the National Civil Police (PNC). This brings the country’s total to 1,027 days without murders during President Nayib Bukele’s administration.
Since the implementation of the State of Exception on March 27, 2022, El Salvador has recorded 913 homicide-free days, meaning that more than 80% of days under the measure have been free of killings.
So far in 2025, authorities have reported 229 days without homicides. February ended with 26 homicide-free days; January, April, May, and June each registered 25; March had 22; July closed with 29; August with 27; September with 23; and the first two days of October continue the trend.
Central America
Panamanian farms take action to reduce jaguar attacks and promote coexistence
A growing number of farms in Panama are taking steps to reduce jaguar attacks on livestock, showing that coexistence between humans and these American felines is possible, a UN agency said on Friday.
The jaguar (Panthera onca) holds a prominent place in Mayan and Aztec mythology, but many farmers kill them after livestock attacks.
Ninety-six percent of jaguar deaths in Panama from 1989 to 2019 occurred following attacks on livestock, according to the NGO Fundación Yaguará. Additionally, the prized jaguar hide made them targets for poachers, causing the population to decline by 20 to 25% since 2000, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“Conserving the jaguar is not just about protecting an iconic species; it also involves safeguarding and restoring critical ecosystems, and improving water management and biodiversity,” Juan Bello, Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), told AFP.
Fundación Yaguará, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and UNEP are running a program to “reduce conflicts between communities and wildlife” in Panama.
Through this innovative project, many farms have adopted measures to reduce livestock attacks and avoid retaliatory killings of jaguars, demonstrating that coexistence is indeed possible.
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