Central America in Minutes

Episode 96: U.S. diplomats allege Salvadoran forces struck the U.S. Embassy in Haiti in an October 31 gang clash. Bukele bristles at calls for coordination and respect for international law.Guatemalan lawmaker Julio César Portillo is gunned down in Zacapa, an area with a long history of drug trafficking. Over the past six weeks, 18 people have been killed in high-profile attacks in Guatemala.Costa Rica’s ruling party proposes a presidential reelection bill tailored to former president Rodrigo Chaves. The Executive Branch and Judiciary spar over the separation of powers.This episode was written by Roman Gressier, Gabriel Labrador, and Yuliana Ramazzini. Sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica radio stations. Or stream it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.

Episode 96: Salvadoran troops operate outside the mandate of the U.N. Gang Suppression Force in Haiti. Nayib Bukele coordinates directly with the Haitian government.Dismissals and resignations roil the Costa Rican government as the country pulls out from talks to join the free-trade agreement TPP-11.El Niño deepens a crisis of poverty and food insecurity across Central America’s Dry Corridor. In some countries, damage caused by drought is more severe than expected.This episode was written by Leyrian Colón Santiago, Yuliana Ramazzini, and  Gabriel Labrador. Editing by Roman Gressier and sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica radio stations. Or stream it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.

Episode 95: Bukele deploys over 2,000 troops to Haiti to rescue missing aviation technicians. El Salvador and Guatemala joined the U.N.-backed security mission in Haiti last year.Two migrant caravans depart Honduras in less than a month. U.S.-Mexico border apprehensions are at “historic lows” while annual deportations exceed the past two administrations.Days after the murder of a former Guatemalan antimafia prosecutor, the Interior Ministry sacks the police chief amid a probe into wrongful arrests in the case.This episode was written by Leyrian Colón Santiago, Yuliana Ramazzini, and  Gabriel Labrador. Editing by Roman Gressier and sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica radio stations. Or stream it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.

Episode 94: After the assassination of former antimafia prosecutor Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa, Guatemalan police are accused of planting a weapon on two former suspects.With anti-drug trafficking cooperation front and center, the United States sends hundreds of soldiers to conduct training with forces in Panama, Honduras, and Colombia.Costa Rican President Laura Fernández opens a maximum-security prison drawing from technical plans shared by the Nayib Bukele government in El Salvador.This episode was written by Roman Gressier, Leyrian Colón Santiago, and Gabriel Labrador. Editing by Roman Gressier and sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica radio stations. Or stream it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.

Episode 93: In El Salvador, Nayib Bukele says the government is willing to conditionally release half of all alleged gang collaborators under the state of exception.In Panama, a week after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake, the government reports that over 2,500 people remain in shelters and more than 10,000 people have been affected.For more than a decade, Central Americans living in coastal areas have watched —and fled— as parts of their mangrove forests and communities have been devoured by rising tides.This episode was written by Gabriel Labrador, Leyrian Colón Santiago, and Carlos Barrera. Editing by Roman Gressier and sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica radio stations. Or stream it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.

Episode 92: Weeks before the midterms, Senate Democrats press Trump’s nominee for ambassador to El Salvador on human rights. Nicaragua refuses to accept the new confirmed U.S. ambassador.A Guatemalan journalist is murdered in the western highlands close to Mexico. His murder adds to the list of 32 journalist deaths recorded in the past thirteen years.A document obtained by El Faro shows Costa Rica closed a probe into the murder of a Nicaraguan exile. A trial against the alleged perpetrators is expected in the coming months.This episode was written by Leyrian Colón Santiago, Yuliana Ramazzini, and Gabriel Labrador. Editing by Roman Gressier and sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica radio stations. Or stream it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.

Episode 91: Between El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, over two-fifths of the population go hungry. Decreasing rainfall and the rising cost of basic goods fuel food insecurity.A Guatemalan man dies in a car accident while fleeing from ICE in Michigan. DHS said they were actually pursuing another Guatemalan wanted by U.S. immigration authorities.Electoral repression in Nicaragua leads to differing views within the international community and the Nicaraguan opposition, including over what they want from the U.S.This episode was written by Graciela Barrera, Yuliana Ramazzini, and Leyrian Colón Santiago. Editing by Roman Gressier and sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica radio stations. Or stream it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.

Episode 90: Guatemala receives a first shipment of U.S. weapons after decades of red tape, billing it as a diplomatic signal in anti-drug trafficking cooperation.In Honduras, Garifuna communities protest at the Supreme Court for respect for Inter-American Court rulings. But a Spanish reality show resumes filming in a protected nature reserve.The government of El Salvador acknowledges that a Salvadoran man deported from the United States, has been imprisoned for a year and a half, despite facing no criminal charges.This episode was written by Yuliana Ramazzini, Gabriel Labrador and Leyrian Colón Santiago. Editing by Roman Gressier and sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica radio stations. Or stream it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.

Episode 89: Nicaraguan journalist Luis Galeano is detained by ICE despite his asylum case, adding to the list of exiles arrested under the Trump administration.An exiled Nicaraguan campesino leader survives an assassination attempt in Costa Rica, where the government has not commented on a string of attacks and murders.In Panama, unions and social organizations uncover police espionage which they allege is aimed at breaking resistance to mining and other policies under President José Raúl Mulino.This episode was written by Leyrian Colón Santiago, Yuliana Ramazzini, and Gabriel Labrador. Editing by Roman Gressier and sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica Network radio stations. Or stream it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.

Episode 88: TPS for El Salvador was set to expire this week, but DHS temporarily extended protections from deportation until a final decision is made “at the appropriate time.”DHS awards private contracts to collect fines from deported Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Mexicans for immigrant law violations. The fines add up to $423 million dollars.September 5 marked two years since 135 former Nicaraguan political prisoners were suddenly flown to Guatemala. Over two-dozen still live stateless in precarious conditions.This episode was written by Leyrian Colón Santiago, Yuliana Ramazzini, Gabriel Labrador, and Carlos Barrera. Editing by Roman Gressier and sound design by Omnionn.Listen to Central America in Minutes on the KPFA Pacifica Evening News and participating Pacifica Network radio stations. You can also stream the show on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube.