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🇬🇹 Guatemala- On October 31st, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) issued a statement confirming the results of the 2023 General Elections, that Bernardo Arévalo is the President-Elect of Guatemala. According to their statement, these results are unalterable. Despite this outcome, the Semilla Movement, winner of the presidential elections, was suspended by the Citizen Registry on November 2, due to an order from Judge Fredy Orellana at the request of the FECI directed by Rafael Curruchiche. Thus, as reported by the Mayan League and Prensa Comunitaria, the protests will continue with their demands for the resignation of Attorney General Conseulo Porras, Prosecutors Rafael Curruchiche, Cinthia Monterroso and Judge Fredi Orellana. These officials, according to protestors, are part of a corrupt conspiracy aimed at orchestrating a coup d’etat after the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity (FECI) seized documents revealing the election results on September 30.
Listen to a recently released NPR episode featuring the President- Elect Bernardo Arévalo here.
🇸🇻 El Salvador- El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal on Nov 3rd ruled President Nayib Bukele can run for reelection next year. Although El Salvador's Constitution prohibits reelection, in 2021, the country's Supreme Court of Justice issued an interpretation of a specific article that allows Bukele to run again. In their ruling, they determined that the matter of reelection was for Salvadorans to determine at the ballot box. For context, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights issued a statement in 2021 raising alarms following a purge of the country's judiciary and subsequent appointment of new justices by Bukele's New Ideas (NI) party and allies who hold a super-majority in Congress.
🇳🇮 Nicaragua - The government under Ortega has chartered 268 flights from Haiti to Nicaragua and 172 flights from Cuba to Nicaragua since August. The flights account for 31,000 Haitian migrants representing nearly 60% of the Haitians arriving to the U.S. border, and 17,000 Cubans. Experts argue Ortega’s government is “weaponizing migration” to negotiate loosening sanctions following the Biden administrations lessened sanctions against Venezuela.
Haiti recently announced it’ll suspend all Nicaragua-bound flights following a migration summit in the city of Palenque in the southern state of Chiapas, a transit city bordering Guatemala. Haiti was among 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries invited by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss regional solutions for curbing migration to the United States.
🇧🇿 Belize- On November 14th, Belize suspended all diplomatic activities in Israel, withdrew its ambassador and suspended all activities of the Israeli consulate in Belize, cancelling the accreditation of the Israeli Consul. Belize joins Colombia, Honduras, Chile, and Bolivia in severing diplomatic relations with Israel and calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
🇨🇷 Costa Rica- Costa Rica joins White-House led America’s Partnership for Economic Prosperity, a forum to deepen regional competitiveness and integration. Ministers are expected to meet annually to drive forward the five initial policy priorities. Read more
🇵🇦 Panama- Protestors continue to call for the cancellation of contract granting Canada First Quantum an extension to their open-pit mining project through Law 406; despite the President’s indefinite moratorium on new mining concessions through Bill 1110. Bill 1110 prohibits future mining concessions including exploration, extraction and transportation of minerals, as well as contract renewals in Panama. Given the law modification, the First Quantum contract is now before the Supreme Court, which will rule on its constitutionality as early as next month.
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