Caribbean & Central America - July 2021

On 8 June a group of international human rights organisations expressed concern over an “increase in criminalisation in Guatemala as a strategy to frighten and intimidate those who play significant roles in the fight against impunity in cases of serious human rights violations and corruption”.... Read More

On 8 June a group of international human rights organisations including the Washington Office on Latin America (Wola) and Amnesty International (AI) issued a joint statement expressing concern over an “increase in criminalisation in Guatemala as a strategy to frighten and intimidate those who play significant roles in the fight against impunity in cases of serious human rights violations and corruption”.... Read More

“Under [President Daniel] Ortega, Nicaragua is becoming an international pariah” tweeted then US Acting Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung on 5 June.... Read More

With accountability concerns already rife following the new legislature’s dismissal in May of the supreme court’s constitutional chamber (SC) and head of the attorney general’s office Raúl Melara [SSR-21-06], President Nayib Bukele has further set off alarm bells regarding transparency.... Read More

President Nayib Bukele is moving ahead with plans to make the cryptocurrency, bitcoin, legal tender in El Salvador despite concerns at home and abroad.... Read More

On 10 June Alicia Bárcena, the head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) emphasised the organisation’s commitment to the Comprehensive Development Plan for northern Central America and southern Mexico.... Read More

Irwin Larocque, secretary-general of the Caribbean community (Caricom) has called for “a new type of ‘Marshall Plan’” to fund a clean energy transition among member states.... Read More

Caribbean nations must prioritise quality food production, buy local and make serious investments to boost food security in the region, concluded a regional summit held on 28 May. ... Read More

On 14 June the Dominican Republic’s President Luis Abinader called on the Haitian government to halt construction of an irrigation canal on the border between the two countries.... Read More

The Bahamas central bank governor John Rolle recently gave an update on the island nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the sand dollar.... Read More

COSTA RICA | Exports show signs of recovery.... Read More