{"id":31398,"date":"2023-07-15T07:50:07","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T07:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/?p=31398"},"modified":"2023-07-15T07:50:07","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T07:50:07","slug":"a-wave-of-political-turmoil-is-sweeping-guatemala-and-other-central-american-countries-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/?p=31398","title":{"rendered":"A wave of political turmoil is sweeping Guatemala and other Central American countries"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>MEXICO CITY (AP) &#8211; Central America is experiencing a wave of unrest that is remarkable even for a region whose history is steeped in turmoil.  The most recent example is <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">political upheaval in Guatemala<\/span> as the country heads into a runoff presidential election in August. <\/p>\n<p>A look at several events affecting Central American countries:<\/p>\n<h2>Guatemala<\/h2>\n<p>    <a class=\"Link\" aria-label=\"Costa Rica-US immigration agreement aims to manage region\u2019s flows\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/costa-rica-united-states-asylum-migrants-c45378f9ddc0740916f251fa08b97c48\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"FILE - Venezuelan immigrants sell candy on a street in San Jose, Costa Rica, Dec. 6, 2022. Costa Rica announced Tuesday, June 13, 2023, that the U.S. government has agreed to open possible legal pathways to the United States for some of Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants than among the 240,000 asylum seekers who are already waiting for asylum in the Central American country.  (AP Photo\/Carlos Gonzalez, File)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/dd1a836\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4914x2762+0+277\/resize\/500x281!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2F19%2Fc8%2F64fa3e76916959082ab79989a8ac%2F61092f51ebe943f0a810b1a33bbffc38\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>        Costa Rica and the US government have agreed to open possible legal pathways to the United States for some of the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants among the 240,000 asylum seekers already waiting for asylum in the Central American country.\n    <\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Chinese migrants line up to catch a boat to Lajas Blancas after crossing the Darien Gap in Bajo Chiquito, Panama, Sunday, May 7, 2023. (AP Photo\/Natacha Pisarenko)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/9b0a8e4\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3000x1686+0+157\/resize\/500x281!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstorage.googleapis.com%2Fafs-prod%2Fmedia%2F2ba0353fc214442d94948cdd54d7139b%2F3000.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>        Despite a campaign of deterrence by the US government, migrants are heading to its southern border in increasing numbers ahead of the end of pandemic-era asylum restrictions and proposed new restrictions on people seeking asylum\n    <\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"FILE - A police officer mans a checkpoint set up in the nightclubs and bar area of \u200b\u200bSan Jose, Costa Rica, on January 27, 2023. The Central American nation has reached its highest homicide rate, according to authorities. high since the Office of the Judicial Investigation Organization has kept records.  (AP Photo\/Carlos Gonzalez, File)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/aa5cd55\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3000x1686+0+155\/resize\/500x281!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstorage.googleapis.com%2Fafs-prod%2Fmedia%2F7a2914bca65c461d8c52778e2676c43a%2F3000.jpeg\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>        Costa Rica&#8217;s president is pledging to put more police on the streets and wants legal changes to deal with a record number of homicides that have rocked daily life in a country long known for peaceful stability.\n    <\/p>\n<p>Guatemala is closed <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">the most complicated presidential elections<\/span> in the country&#8217;s recent history.  The first round of the June election ended with a surprise twist when a little-known progressive candidate <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">Bernat Arevalo<\/span> of the Moviment de les les partys was advanced as a favorite.<\/p>\n<p>Now heading to a runoff in the August election with conservative candidate and top vote-getter Sandra Torres, Ar\u00e9valo has managed to survive so far. <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">judicial attacks<\/span> and the attempts of the Guatemalan political establishment to discredit his party.  comes later <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">other movements<\/span> by the country&#8217;s government to manage the election, including banning several candidates before the first round of voting.<\/p>\n<p>Although it is not entirely unprecedented in a well-known country <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">high levels of corruption<\/span>US officials say the latest escalation is a threat to the country&#8217;s democracy.<\/p>\n<h2>El Salvador<\/h2>\n<p>El Salvador has been radically transformed in recent years with the entry of millennial populist president Nayib Bukele.  A year ago, Bukele <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">entered into an all-out war<\/span> with the gangs Barri 18 and Mara Salvatruchas, or MS-13.  He suspended constitutional rights and threw 1 in 100 people in the country into prisons that have fueled allegations of <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">massive human rights violations<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The sharp drop in violence that followed Bukele&#8217;s actions, combined with an elaborate propaganda machine, has ignited a <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">pro-Bukele populist fervor<\/span> across the region, with other governments trying to emulate the leader pushing Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Bukele has announced that he will <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">run for re-election<\/span> in February next year even though the constitution forbids it.  He has also made moves that observers warn are gradually dismantling the nation&#8217;s democracy.<\/p>\n<h2>Nicaragua<\/h2>\n<p>President Daniel Ortega is in plenary <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">repression against dissent<\/span>.  For years, regional watchdogs and the US government raised the alarm that democracy was eroding under the leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front.  This came to a head in 2018, when Ortega&#8217;s government launched a violent crackdown <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">you protest<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, Ortega forced hundreds of opposition figures into exile, <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">undressing them<\/span> of their citizenship, <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">seizing their properties<\/span> and declaring them &#8220;traitors to the motherland&#8221;.  Nicaragua has expelled aid groups such as the Red Cross and a years-long crackdown on the Catholic Church has <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">forced the Vatican<\/span> close its embassy.  The tightening of the suffocation in the country has caused many Nicaraguans to do so <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">run away<\/span> their country and seek asylum in neighboring Costa Rica or the United States.<\/p>\n<h2>Honduras <\/h2>\n<p>President Xiomara Castro took office last year as a <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">first female president<\/span> of Honduras, winning in a message of fight against corruption, inequality and poverty.  Wife of former president Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a military coup, won a landslide victory.<\/p>\n<p>But his popularity has waned, as many of his promises of change have not been fulfilled.  At the same time, the government has tried <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">imitate the repression of neighboring El Salvador<\/span> on the gangs, answering fiercely aa <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">horrible massacre<\/span> in a women&#8217;s prison in June.<\/p>\n<h2>Costa Rica<\/h2>\n<p>Once known as the land of &#8220;pure life&#8221; and soft politics compared to the surrounding region, Costa Rica has seen increasing bloodshed that threatens to tarnish the country&#8217;s reputation as a safe haven.  Homicides <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">they shot up<\/span> as the nation has become a base for drug traffickers.  President Rodrigo Ch\u00e1vez, who took office last year, does <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">he promised more police<\/span> on the street and tougher laws to take on the rise in crime.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, a migratory flight from Nicaragua has <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">overwhelms the country,<\/span> which is known as one of the world&#8217;s great refuges for people fleeing persecution.  The government has done since then <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">squeeze<\/span> their asylum laws.<\/p>\n<h2>panama <\/h2>\n<p>Panama heads to presidential elections in May, with <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">simmering frustration<\/span> in the face of economic problems, corruption and insecurity that act as a possible harbinger of change.  Any changes could have global significance due to Panama&#8217;s status as a <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">financial center<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The nation has also become the epicenter of a <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">constant migratory flow<\/span> through the dangerous jungles of the Darien Gap that runs along the border between Colombia and Panama.<\/p>\n<h2>Belize<\/h2>\n<p>Belize is often seen as a place of relative calm in a region where it is not.  A former British colony called British Honduras, Belize&#8217;s system of government still is <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">well tied<\/span> in the country  But prime minister <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">Johnny Brice\u00f1o<\/span> he has tried to distance his nation from the monarchy.  The nation is also one of the few in America <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">which maintains formal ties with Taiwan<\/span> amid a broad effort by China to withdraw support from the island nation by funneling money to Central America.<\/p>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/central-america-tumult-guatemala-f59d286b032ebd5eded25df315d411e0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MEXICO CITY (AP) &#8211; Central America is experiencing a wave of unrest that is remarkable even for a region whose history is steeped in turmoil. The most recent example is political upheaval in Guatemala as the country heads into a runoff presidential election in August. A look at several events affecting Central American countries: Guatemala Costa Rica and the US government have agreed to open possible legal pathways to the United States for some of the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants among the 240,000 asylum seekers already waiting for asylum in the Central American country. Despite a campaign of deterrence by&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31398\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news24feed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}