On today's El Boletin: 

🗞️Costa Rica-Honduras relations 

🗞️Multibillion dollar Lawsuits against Honduras 

🌎 Guatemala news, Argentina Elections, Nicaragua news 

🚌 Venezuela Temporary Status

🌟 In other news: CCFest! 

🌟Message from (New) English Editor

Costa Rica-Honduran Relations 

Honduras faces multi-billion dollar lawsuits 

Between February 2022 and May 2023, six international lawsuits were filed against the Honduran state for breach of contract related to the country's investment zones, known as ZEDEs (Zones for Employment and Economic Development). The claims were filed in the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) following President Xiomara Castro's decision to repeal the special development zones. 

ZEDEs were introduced by Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez in a effort to promote foreign investment and create jobs. However, the zones were not popular among Hondurans due to the fact that it undermines the sovereignty of the nation. These special zones gave investors complete control over fiscal policies, judicial procedures and other government functions. Many of these projects also encroached on areas inhabited by Honduras native indigenous and afro-indigenous populations leading to many activists to speak out against them. 

During the 2021 Honduran presidential elections, the dissolution of the ZEDEs project became one of Xiomara Castro's campaign platforms, and soon after her victory, the protected zones were repealed. The companies that had begun construction or were already operating in the zones lost many of the privileges that the ZEDE law had granted them.

The Honduran state now faces several multi-million dollar lawsuits and refuses to recognize the jurisdiction of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in the dispute. Honduran officials claim that the ICSID registered the claims incorrectly and that the claims are invalid under the court’s rules, which require all claimants to first seek resolution of the issue through all possible domestic legal procedures in the country in question. 

However, it is unclear whether this rule applies in the case of Honduras, and the lawsuits were filed anyway. Experts from the Institute for Policy Studies claim that it would be a mistake to ignore the lawsuits and recommend that Honduras prepares itself in order to avoid financial consequences. 

Many have also criticized the role that ICSID plays in the conflict, allowing foreign companies to continue extractivist practices in places like Honduras. According to a report on extractivism, companies have typically gained access to an international legal system that allows them to exploit and abuse the domestic policies of developing countries. 

For now, the Honduran government has yet to hire a specialized law firm to defend itself against the lawsuits. 

Read the full story here 🌎

🚌 The Other Side of Migration: Venezuela Migrants Protected Status

🚌 On September 18th, the Biden Administration granted Temporary Protected Status to nearly half a million Venezuelan migrants. TPS offers work authorizations and the ability to live in the country legally without fear of deportation.

Previously, only Venezuelans who arrived to the U.S before March 2021 qualified for TPS. Now, Venezuelans who entered the U.S over the past two years are eligible for the status. Venezuelans who arrived to the U.S after the end of July will not qualify. An estimated 475, 000 Venezuelans are set to be eligible for TPS, which had previously already granted the status to 242,000.

Central American News Roundup 🌎

🇬🇹 Guatemala- Strike demanding the resignation of the Attorney General and head of the Public Ministry, Consuelo Porras for her attempts to prevent Arévalo from taking office, continues. Bernardo Arévalo, a social-democrat congressman, who ran on an anti-corruption platform, won the presidential run-off election on August 20. Since winning the election, prosecutors have sought to suspend Arévalo's Semilla party over alleged registration issues, raided Semilla parties headquarters and tribunal offices seizing documents from both, and continued targeting of election magistrates, as reported by Reuters and Axios. Protests have been led by indigenous people, rural farmers, teacher and student groups with more than 120 blockades throughout the country. The strike is non-partisan with calls for democracy and anti-corruption by all groups. 

Interior Minister Napoleón Barrientos resigned following the shooting near one of the roadblocks that killed one person and injured two others. Publicly the interior minister has said that “ a demand to follow illegal orders” led him to resign. Hours before Barrientos quit, Porras had called for him to be fired for not heeding a court order to clear protestors blockades. The Giammattei administration has deployed riot police with tear gas and encouraged the use of force against protestors. 

🇸🇻 El Salvador - President Nayib Bukele registered for reelection despite being constitutionally prohibited. Despite arguments by lawyers on six constitutional articles prohibiting Bukele’s immediate reelection, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bukele’s bid. Online voting will be allowed for the first time and in-person booths will be available in 29 countries, as reported by AP News. 

🇳🇮 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. 

🇧🇿 Belize - Following “debt-for-nature swap” with the Nature Conservancy in 2021,  Belize agreed to expand protection to 30 percent of its territorial waters, and spend $4.2 million annually on marine conservation. Andre Standing, a researcher for groups including the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements, argued the deal was only possible because Belize was going to default.  
 

🇦🇷Argentina -  Argentines vote in the first round of the presidential elections on Oct. 22 with the Economy Minister Sérgio Massa winning the most votes. Leading with 37% of the votes, the Massa party advances to the runoff on Nov. 19 against Javier Mileil, a far-right economist and lawmaker. 

🇲🇽 Mexico - Hurricane Otis landed Wednesday in Acapulco, Mexico as a Category 5 storm leaving at least 27 people dead, and many still missing. Water service has yet to be restored and more than 500, 000 homes and businesses left without power, power utility CFE said. 37 shelters have been set up throughout the Mexico Guerrero state for victims. 

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador convened a summit with regional Latin American partners in Ciudad de Mexico on mitigating migration to the United States amidst President Joe Biden’s waiving of 26 federal laws to for the construction of an additional border wall. 

🇵🇦 Panama -  Protestors call for the cancellation of a contract granting Canada First Quantum an extension of their open-pit mining project allowing it to operate for at least 20 years with possibility of further extension. Panama’s president defended the contract despite pressure from critics, environmental groups, and protests blockades across the country. Following days of protests, on October 29th President Laurentino Cortizo announced it will hold a referendum to decide whether to cancel the Canadian open pit mining project. The vote will take place on December 17 and results would be binding. 

Contracorriente Festival 2023 is live! Since 2017 Contracorriente FEST has been a space where artists, journalists, students, and community members interested in contributing to social change and democracy converge.

Since then we have organized more than 20 free workshops for our community, 6 talks, and artistic presentations where we address issues like migration, human rights, corruption, gender, youth, and diversity together with artists and human rights defenders. 
 

🌟 If you’re interested in attending, please use this link to register 🌟

We'll also be having a session for our CCEnglish audience where we get to hear from you and share more about the future of Contracorriente English!! 

Hola a todos, my name is Amy and I’m so humbled to be your new English Content Editor.  

The primary intention behind Contracorriente English is to bridge the language gap separating journalism from Honduras to an English-speaking audience, to share our stories from our perspective. Contracorriente English is centered on illuminating the stories excluded from the national narrative of our peoples, and communities in Honduras, across the region, and in the diaspora. All while utilizing audio, visual, and text to disseminate investigative reporting, analysis, and critical opinions on themes related to human rights, land extractivism and sovereignty, migration, gender, and cultural organizing. By translating our articles written in Spanish to English that report on the lived realities of Hondurans and our region, we aim to be an “information ally” to the Honduran public and a global audience, anchored in research and context. 

As the new editor, I’m committed to sharing diverse voices/experiences that capture our multitudes and continue raising political and social awareness on Honduras and the region. I look forward to engaging with you all. 

In solidarity, 
Amy

✍️Stay in touch!✍️

Follow us on Twitter or Facebook!