Tag: Latin America

Americans die in Honduran bus crash

Three U.S. citizens died after their bus overturned in Honduras Wednesday (January 13). Another 30 were injured, 12 badly, according to agency reports and the Latin American Herald Tribune. The bus was carrying volunteers affiliated with the NGO Global Bridages, the Seattle-based group that seeks to promote community empowerment and sustainability and health programming through international volunteer work. Two of those who died were students at Barnard College in New York. Another was a 45-year […]

Suspended Guatemalan judge granted release on bond in U.S. football case

A suspended Guatemalan judge who was arrested last month as part of a U.S. investigation into corruption in soccer’s world governing body FIFA won the right to be released from jail on Thursday (January 07) on a $4 million (USD) bond. Héctor Trujillo, 62, was secretary general of the Guatemalan soccer federation and a Constitutional Court judge until his Dec. 4 arrest while aboard a Disney cruise ship docked in Florida. With Trujillo’s wife and […]

Santos defends justice accord with FARC following criticism from rights group

Colombia’s Juan Manuel Santos responded to critcism from the rights group, Human Rights Watch, in relation to a justice accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), saying that ‘perfect accords’ don’t exist. The rights group likened an accord signed between the government and the rebels in mid-December to a ‘impunity piñata’. The pact establishes that FARC members, military personnel and even civilians who accept resposibility for crimes committed during the conflict and truthfully […]

Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro slams removal of Hugo Chavez portraits from Congress

Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro slammed on Thursday (January 7) the recent removal of images of socialist leader and former president Hugo Chavez from the new opposition-led Congress. Furious after this week’s unceremonious removal of the giant Chavez photos, Maduro berated the president of the National Assembly, Henry Ramos, saying the move was an insult to 19th century independence hero, Simon Bolivar. “That which happened yesterday [in reference to removal of Chavez photos from Congress] is part […]

First Cuban migrant flight to leave Costa Rica next week, officials confirm

Officials in Costa Rica on Wednesday (January 6) outlined some of the logistical details of a pilot plan to transport stranded U.S.-bound Cuban migrants out of the country. The first leg of the journey, from Costa Rica to El Salvador via airplane, is scheduled for Tuesday (January 12). A group of around 180 people will be able to leave on a flight to El Salvador on Tuesday evening, they will then have ground transportation to […]

First group of immigrants recently deported from U.S. arrive in Guatemala

A flight carrying 131 Guatemalans arrived on Wednesday (January 6) in Guatemala City with the first group of migrants from the Central American country to be deported from the United States this year. This was the first of six flights planned for the upcoming days, carrying Guatemalans who were taken into custody by U.S. authorities over the past two weeks. The deportations are part of a U.S. plan to tackle a surge in arrivals of […]

Dutch couple found dead in Costa Rica

A Dutch couple and a Nicaraguan worker have been found dead on an estate in Sardinal Puntarenas, near Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast, on Monday (January 5). Local media reported the bodies of Dutch pensioner couple Johan and Zita Snelderth Taver and Nicaraguan worker, Rivar Avenec, were found on 400 hectare- (988 acre-) estate known as Ganadera La Flecha. Police believe the couple and worker could have been killed up to eight days ago, because […]

Heavy rains trigger mudslides in Bolivia, destroys road

Landslides and mudslides caused by heavy El Niño rains destroyed an important road near Cochabamba in central Bolivia on Monday (January 4), causing a massive traffic jam. According to local media reports, delays extended trips by up to eight hours. Thousands of cars, trucks and buses have been stranded for up to 48 hours on the road that connects the cities of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz in the South American country. Officials said repairs were […]