DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ U.S. Mends Fences With El Salvador's Bukele as China Lurks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

Now, more than ever, the U.S. needs Central American nations like El Salvador to curb migration to the southern border. In October, the State Department's top Latin America diplomat, Brian Nichols, visited El Salvador and posed for photos with Bukele. WAITING IN THE WINGSAt the same time, there are growing ties between China and El Salvador. Although of limited commercial importance in itself, El Salvador offers China a foothold in Central America, and in 2017 broke relations with Taiwan in favor of China. "El Salvador wants to do trade with everyone," Bukele said during his victory speech on Sunday night.

Persons: Diego Oré, Sarah Kinosian, Nelson, Nayib Bukele, Jean Manes, Bukele's, Brian Nichols, Antony Blinken, Bukele, Manes, Ana Maria Mendez, Salvadorans, El Salvador, El, Margaret Myers, Diego Ore, Nelson Renteria, Christian Plumb, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: SALVADOR, Reuters, El Salvador, Central American, U.S, U.S ., Central, State Department's, El, U.S . State Department, Washington Office, U.S . Customs, USAID, The U.S, Inter, Huawei, Washington, Diego Locations: United States, U.S, El Salvador, Latin America, America, China, Honduras, Washington, China's, San Salvador, Central America, Taiwan, Mexico City

☆ Bukele Landslide Shifts El Salvador to One-Party State, Amplifies Democracy Fears
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

By Sarah Kinosian and Nelson RenteriaSAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - The landslide re-election of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele was cheered by supporters of his gang crackdown, but has worried opponents who fear the country is sliding into a de facto one-party state. El Salvador had "made history" for electing a single party "in a fully democratic system," he said. But rights groups said they are worried about where the country is headed and forecast further curbs on civil rights. They are just grateful he crushed the gang violence plaguing El Salvador for decades and that they can go outside after dark again. "Democratic spaces are closing in El Salvador, civil society is closing down and there is an environment of fear to speak out," said Claudia Ortiz, a lawmaker who has clashed with Bukele and ran for the upstart Vamos party.

Persons: Sarah Kinosian, Nelson, Nayib Bukele, Bukele, El Salvador, Gabriela Santos, State Anthony Blinken, Daniel Ortega, Gladis Munoz, Claudia Ortiz, Nelson Renteria, Drazen Jorgic, Christian Plumb, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: SALVADOR, Reuters, El Salvador, U.S, Human Rights, University of Central America, El, State, Bukele Locations: El Salvador, U.S, Central America, El, Nicaragua, Venezuela

☆ Nicaragua pardons, returns 21 Hondurans, including MS-13 gang leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Ismael Lopez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Mara Salvatrucha leader David Elias Campbell Licona, known as "El Viejo Dan", is escorted by Honduras law enforcement officers before being deported to Nicaragua, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, November 5, 2023. Nicaragua also plans to return prisoners to Costa Rica, the government of its southern neighbor said on Saturday. A similar transfer on Oct. 18 involved 43 Honduran prisoners. Campbell Licona had been wanted by Honduran authorities on money laundering and gang charges since 2016, and was captured in Nicaragua in June 2021. Campbell Licona used businesses the gang owned or controlled to launder drug proceeds, including through U.S. banks, U.S. authorities have said.

Persons: Mara Salvatrucha, David Elias Campbell Licona, El, Campbell Licona, Ismael Lopez, Gustavo Palencia, Sarah Kinosian, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Secretaria, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Honduran, Thomson Locations: Honduras, Nicaragua, Tegucigalpa, Seguridad del Gobierno de Honduras, Handout, Rights MANAGUA, Honduran, Costa Rica, Los Angeles, United States, Central America, U.S

☆ Uruguay government members resign over passport scandal probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Uruguay's President Luis Lacalle Pou reacts as he leaves the South American Summit at Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil May 30, 2023. Interior Minister Luis Alberto Heber, a cabinet undersecretary and a chief adviser to President Luis Lacalle Pou will no longer be in the coalition government from Monday, the president announced on Saturday evening. Bustillo on Friday denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not know who Marset was at the time the passport was issued. The president, who returned on Saturday from meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, said the passport should have been issued to Marset in accordance with Uruguay's laws. Of course not," Lacalle Pou told a press conference in his first public comments about the scandal.

Persons: Luis Lacalle Pou, Ueslei Marcelino, Luis Alberto Heber, Uruguay's, Sebastian Marset, Marset, Francisco Bustillo, Bustillo, Joe Biden, Lacalle Pou, Sarah Kinosian, Mayela Armas, William Mallard Organizations: South American, REUTERS, United Arab Emirates, U.S, Thomson Locations: Itamaraty, Brasilia, Brazil, Uruguayan, Uruguay, Paraguay, United States, Heber, Bustillo

☆ Hundreds leave to join Mexico migrant caravan headed for US
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Jose Torres | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A caravan of at least hundreds of migrants left from the southern Mexican city of Tapachula on Sunday, heading for the U.S. southern border. The smaller caravan plans to join a larger one that left six days ago and is currently stopped about 25 miles (40 km) north in the town of Huixtla. [1/3]Migrants walk along the road in a caravan in an attempt to reach the U.S border, in Tapachula, Mexico November 5, 2023. A record number of people this year have crossed the Darien Gap region connecting Panama and Colombia. Reporting by Jose Torres; Writing by Sarah Kinosian; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jose Torres, Selma Alvarez, Alvarez, Joe Biden, Sarah Kinosian, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, Jose Torres Acquire, CBP, Thomson Locations: MEXICO, Mexican, Tapachula, U.S, Huixtla, Chiapas, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Venezuela, Mexico, Darien, Panama, Colombia

☆ Uruguay Government Members Resign Over Passport Scandal Probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - Uruguay's interior minister and two other members of the government resigned on Saturday over a case that has already prompted the foreign minister to quit, involving a passport issued to an internationally wanted drug-trafficking suspect. The investigation is examining how Sebastian Marset, the alleged drug trafficker, received a Uruguayan passport while detained in the United Arab Emirates over forged documents in late 2012. Marset is wanted in Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and the United States on drug charges. Bustillo on Friday denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not know who Marset was at the time the passport was issued. The president, who returned on Saturday from meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, said the passport should have been issued to Marset in accordance with Uruguay's laws.

Persons: Luis Alberto Heber, Luis Lacalle Pou, Uruguay's, Sebastian Marset, Marset, Francisco Bustillo, Bustillo, Joe Biden, Lacalle Pou, Sarah Kinosian, Mayela Armas, William Mallard Organizations: Reuters, United Arab Emirates, U.S Locations: Uruguayan, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, United States, Heber, Bustillo

☆ Family Buries Sailor Lost in Acapulco Storm After Painful Wait
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

Nearly 50 people are known to have died due to Otis, which struck just after midnight in the early hours of Oct. 25. The late sailor's sister, Maria Jesus Castro, told Reuters that Castro had sent a video to her just after midnight, saying the sea was "getting very ugly." Looking down at his coffin, she added, "Look at where the ship is, there are no signs of the ship, and look, my love, look where he is." She related how authorities told her that Castro's body had been admitted to a morgue in Acapulco on Oct. 27, seven days before the family was contacted. (Reporting by Jose Luis Gonzalez in Acapulco; Writing by Sarah Kinosian; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

Persons: Jose Luis Gonzalez ACAPULCO, Jose Ramiro Castro, Hurricane Otis, Castro, Otis, Maria Jesus Castro, Jose Luis Gonzalez, Sarah Kinosian, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Reuters Locations: Mexico, Hurricane, Acapulco, Acapulco Bay

Policemen prepare for an anti-gang patrol following a year-long state of emergency against gangs, in Soyapango, El Salvador March 24, 2023. It shows police believe 42,826 people, or 36% of those they say are tied to gangs, remain free. Of those, more than 20,000 are considered to be active gang members. Security forces have since arrested more than 72,000 suspected gang members and associates, giving the country the highest incarceration rate in the world. Authorities put alleged gang members into three categories: active members, aspiring members and collaborators, defined as people who assist the gang but are not members.

Persons: Jose Cabezas, Noah Bullock, they've, Nayib Bukele, Marvin Reyes, Reyes, Bullock, Sarah Kinosian, Nelson Renteria, Stephen Eisenhammer, Tom Hogue Organizations: REUTERS, SALVADOR, National Civil Police, Reuters, Gangs, Security, Police Workers Movement, Thomson Locations: Soyapango, El Salvador, El, Mexico City, San Salvador

☆ Mexican president refutes DEA estimates of cartel strength
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The comments come in response to testimony from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Chief Anne Milgram on Mexican cartels as part of a hearing in the U.S. Congress. Speaking at a press conference, Lopez Obrador questioned her figures and urged the DEA to share more details. The pushback from Lopez Obrador is the latest in ongoing tensions between the Mexican government and the DEA. His government dropped the case against Mexico's former Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos, who the DEA alleged colluded with drug lords. Lopez Obrador accused the DEA of fabricating the case.

Persons: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Anne Milgram, Milgram, Lopez Obrador, Salvador Cienfuegos, Sarah Kinosian, Alistair Bell, Richard Chang Organizations: Mexico Presidency, REUTERS, REUTERS MEXICO CITY, U.S, . Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S . Congress, Jalisco New Generation, U.S ., DEA, Mexico's, Defense, Thomson Locations: Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico, REUTERS MEXICO, United, Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco, Sinaloa, CJNG

☆ El Salvador backs mass trials for thousands held in crime crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Nelson Renteria | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele speaks during a ceremony to lay the first stone of a new public hospital, in San Salvador, El Salvador June 15, 2023. El Salvador has been under a state of emergency for 16 months, sparking the arrest of over 71,900 alleged gang members. Opposition politicians and rights groups say group trials risk depriving detainees of their right to due process and their individual presumption of innocence. On July 14 at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, rights organizations denounced the deaths of 174 people in state custody and over 6,400 documented human rights abuses during the state of emergency. Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; writing by Sarah Kinosian; Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nayib Bukele, Jose Cabezas, Nayib Bukele's, Gustavo Villatoro, Manuel Melendez, Ingrid Escobar, general's, Nelson Renteria, Sarah Kinosian, Matthew Lewis Organizations: El, San Salvador , El, REUTERS, SALVADOR, Central American, Justice, Salvadoran, Harvard University, Legal, Inter, American, Human Rights, Lawmakers, Thomson Locations: San Salvador ,, San Salvador , El Salvador, El Salvador, San Salvador

☆ Drug onslaught pushes violence to record levels in Costa Rica: Security Minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Alvaro Murillo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Costa Rica closed 2022 with a record 656 murders. In parts of Costa Rica, authorities are seeing violence synonymous with Mexican cartels like torture, gang killings, and assassinations carried out by highly trained hitmen. In May, Chaves named as security minister Zamora, who also held the post under the 2010-2014 presidency of Laura Chinchilla, and has a reputation for being tough on crime. Zamora said the situation was very different to when he was first security minister. The measures are due to be rolled out across Costa Rica by 2025.

Persons: We've, Mario Zamora, Costa, Rodrigo Chaves, Chaves, Zamora, Laura Chinchilla, Moin, Alvaro Murillo, Diego Ore, Sarah Kinosian, Stephen Coates Organizations: JOSE, Costa, Costa Rican Security, Reuters, Costa Ricans, Central American, Authorities, Thomson Locations: Colombia, Costa Rica, Costa Rican, Sinaloa, Central America, Europe, Costa Rica's, Limon, Costa

☆ Guatemala prosecutor defends its probe into anti-graft presidential hopeful
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GUATEMALA CITY, July 14 (Reuters) - The Guatemalan prosecutors' office said on Friday it would continue its investigation into anti-graft party Semilla and that its actions were not meant to interfere with a presidential run-off set to take place next month. The office this week launched an investigation of Semilla, whose candidate Bernardo Arevalo, pledging to tackle entrenched corruption, took a surprise second place in the first-round vote in June. The prosecutor has alleged that Semilla committed fraud by using more than 5,000 fake signatures to register members. The prosecutor leading the investigation into Semilla, Rafael Curruchiche, said during a press conference on Friday that Guatemalans had come forward with complaints about Semilla. Curruchiche has previously targeted anti-graft campaigners and has been placed on the U.S. State Department's Engel List for "corrupt and undemocratic actors."

Persons: Semilla, Bernardo Arevalo, Rafael Curruchiche, Guatemalans, Arevalo, Sandra Torres, Torres, Curruchiche, U.S . State Department's Engel, Sofia Menchu, Kylie Madry, Sarah Kinosian, Cassandra Garrison, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: GUATEMALA CITY, European Union, U.S, U.S . State, Thomson Locations: GUATEMALA, U.S, Semilla, U.S .

☆ Grupo Mexico says negotiations with government more difficult after railway expropriation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MEXICO CITY, May 21 (Reuters) - Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX) said on Sunday its negotiations with the government are facing difficulties after the Mexican Navy took over part of a railway in southern Mexico operated by a unit of the company last week. Grupo Mexico Transportes (GMXT.MX) said negotiations with authorities about the railway concession spanning from Coatzacoalcos to Medias Waters in the western Veracruz state would continue. The move sent shares in the mining and infrastructure company tumbling more than 4% after the expropriation on Friday. Last week Mexico's Supreme Court struck down a government order declaring key infrastructure projects as matters of national security. Reporting and writing by Sarah Kinosian in Mexico City; Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ At least 10 people killed, nine injured in shootout in northern Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY, May 20 (Reuters) - At least 10 people were killed and nine injured in a shootout at a car show in northern Mexico's Baja California on Saturday, the municipal government reported. The attack occurred during an all-terrain car racing show in the San Vicente area of the city of Ensenada. Municipal and state police, the Marines, the Fire Department and Mexican Red Cross, among other agencies arrived at the scene. Mayor Armando Ayala Robles said state Attorney General Ricardo Ivan Carpio Sanchez commissioned a special group to investigate the shooting. Reporting by Sarah Kinosian; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Mexico City airport shuts down operations due to volcanic ash
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"Due to the presence of volcanic ash, the airport closed operations at 4:25 a.m. We will keep you posted," the airport said on its Twitter account. Popocatepetl ("the hill that smokes" in the Nahuatl language) sits some 72 kilometers southeast of Mexico City. It also presents a danger for the millions living in its surrounding area on the eastern edge of Mexico City, home to 22 million people. Earlier this week, several towns closed school classes on account of volcanic ash. Reporting by Sarah Kinosian in Mexico City Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"We truly don't know whether it will be days or weeks or months," a U.S. government official told Reuters on background. Since 2016, when Tsai Ing-wen was elected Taiwan's president, Panama, El Salvador and most recently, Nicaragua, have changed sides. China does not allow countries to hold diplomatic ties with both itself and Taiwan, regarding the island as its territory. "If Honduras' switch to Beijing is formalized, Taiwan will have just 13 diplomatic allies, including Belize and Guatemala. Reporting by Sarah Kinosian in Mexico City and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Dave Graham and Lincoln Feast.

[1/6] Pills are pictured at a fentanyl pill manufacturing center and a methamphetamine lab seized by the Mexican Army, in Culiacan, in Sinaloa state, Mexico February 14, 2023. Reuters GraphicsThe hiked up figures are not credible, say two former senior law enforcement figures in Mexico and the United States, as well as two serving Mexican security sources. The description of the drugs the Mexicans say they seized in the labs also raises questions about the accuracy of the lab data, said two of the security sources. Laboratory busts, often in hard-to-reach mountainous areas, have historically been a key metric for how active Mexican security forces have been in targeting drug trafficking groups. In 2022, FGR reported 18 lab raids by all security agencies, compared to the army's count of 492 raids.

☆ El Salvador opens 40,000-person prison as arrests soar in gang crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A general view shows the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador in a handout distributed to Reuters on February 1, 2023. The 40,000-capacity Terrorism Confinement Center was inaugurated on Tuesday to help relieve some of the overpopulation in the country's prison system. With nearly two percent of its adult population behind bars, El Salvador has the highest incarceration rate in the world. El Salvador's largest prison, La Esperanza, currently holds 33,000 people despite having a capacity of 10,000. By 2021, El Salvador's prison system had 20 penal centers with a capacity for 30,000 holding 35,976 prisoners.

☆ In Mexico, a reporter published a story. The next day he was shot dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Sarah Kinosian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

One man got out, walked inside and shot the 42-year-old journalist dead. As he lay dead, a nearby patrol car responded to an emergency call, intercepted the pickup and arrested the two men. "In silence zones people don't get access to basic information to conduct their lives," said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ's Mexico representative. One of those killed was Gustavo Sanchez, a journalist shot at close range in June 2021 by two motorcycle-riding hitmen. "You would think the biggest enemy would be armed groups and organized crime," said journalist Patricia Mayorga, who fled Mexico after investigating corruption.

☆ In Mexico, a reporter published a story. The next day he was dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Sarah Kinosian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

A day earlier, Lopez–who ran two online news sites in the southern Oaxaca state–had published a story on Facebook accusing local politician Arminda Espinosa Cartas of corruption related to her re-election efforts. As he lay dead, a nearby patrol car responded to an emergency call, intercepted the pickup and arrested the two men. "In silence zones people don't get access to basic information to conduct their lives," said Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ's Mexico representative. The infrastructure was a part of the Interoceanic Corridor–one of Lopez Obrador's flagship development projects in southern Mexico. "You would think the biggest enemy would be armed groups and organized crime," said journalist Patricia Mayorga, who fled Mexico after investigating corruption.

☆ Trolls, propaganda & fear stoke Bukele's media machine in El Salvador
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +23 min

In examining Bukele’s media operation, Reuters interviewed more than 70 people, including former media operatives and social media researchers. It showed Bukele with an 86% approval rating in El Salvador, making him the most popular leader in the region. “The threat in El Salvador used to be from the gangs, now it's from the state,” said Angelica Carcamo, the organization's president. “I found a lot more manipulation in El Salvador than in Mexico,” Escorcia said. A native of Guatemala, Torres has been critical of the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for creating conditions that spur migration.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW TO VENEZUELANS IN TRANSIT TO THE UNITED STATES? Those in transit may attempt to reach the United States despite the near certainty that they will be sent back to Mexico. It is unclear where Venezuelans waiting in Mexico will stay, as Mexico's migrant shelter system is often overwhelmed. Then in 2014, Venezuela's economy buckled as global oil prices tumbled, and living conditions further deteriorated as stringent price controls created widespread shortages. Remittances to Venezuelans from relatives in the United States or elsewhere help but are insufficient for most.

Search resuls for: "Sarah Kinosian"

22 mentions found