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☆ El Salvador’s abortion laws are notoriously harsh. These women say they were convicted of homicide after having stillborn babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-08 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

CNN —A sign greets visitors arriving at a sun-filled two-story house in El Salvador’s capital. But within El Salvador, a largely Catholic and evangelical Christian country, some viewed the women’s accounts with skepticism and hostility. Again, the UN’s human rights office weighed in, calling El Salvador’s laws “draconian.”Two months later, 11 justices from El Salvador’s Supreme Court commuted Vásquez’s sentence, saying evidence in the case did not prove that she had taken any action to end her baby’s life. The Harvard professor has been studying these women’s cases and the impact of El Salvador’s abortion restrictions for years. This shows her after a visit in August 2018, six months after El Salvador's Supreme Court commuted her sentence.

Persons: Teodora Vásquez, they’ll, It’s, El Salvador, it’s, Vásquez, who’ve, “ We’ve, ” Vásquez, “, ”, Teodora, Oscar Rivera, Salvador Melendez, Jocelyn Viterna, ” Viterna, Viterna, Dana Sussman, —, Benedicte, Ra’ad Al Hussein, José Miguel Fortín Magaña, Jose Cabezas, El, ‘, ’ ” Vásquez, Libres, who've, Jessie Wardarski, “ I’ve, Jacqueline Castillo, “ It’s, ” Castillo, she’s, Mujeres, there’s, Marvin Recinos, She’s, Merlin Delcid, CNN’s Tierney Sneed Organizations: CNN, El, Getty, Hollywood, Amnesty, of Women, Harvard University, Salvadoran, Pregnancy, UN, Human Rights, El Salvador’s Institute of Legal Medicine, Reuters, Citizen Group, Harvard, Mujeres Libres El, Inter, American, of Human, “, of Steel Locations: El Salvador’s, “, Libres El Salvador, Mujeres, Salvadoran, El Salvador, United States, New York, El, San Salvador, Mujeres Libres, Mujeres Libres El Salvador, AFP

☆ El Salvador kicks off election campaigns as incumbent's bid faces criticism over constitutionality
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSAN SALVADOR, Oct 3 (Reuters) - El Salvador's political parties launched their campaigns for the upcoming presidential elections on Tuesday, amid vocal criticism from the opposition that President Nayib Bukele will seek re-election despite it being prohibited by the constitution. More than 6 million Salvadorans are set to hit the polls on Feb. 4 to elect a president and vice president, who govern for five-year terms. Bukele is heavily favored to win re-election in the Central American nation, whose constitution forbids consecutive terms. Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nayib Bukele, Eduardo Munoz, Francisco Gavidia, Felix Ulloa, Nelson Renteria, Kylie Madry, Josie Kao Organizations: El, General Assembly, REUTERS, SALVADOR, Central, Francisco Gavidia University's Citizen Studies Center, Reuters, Salvadoran, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Central American

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

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's debt repurchases last year and a still-light payments calendar were behind a rally that shrank the premium to hold Salvadoran government debt (.JPMEGDELSR) from above 3,200 basis points in July last year to about 1,000 a year later. Katrina Butt, a senior economist at AllianceBernstein, said that even as the size of the investment is yet to be made public, "Google Cloud's announcement could significantly improve macro fundamentals in El Salvador over time". "Though outperformance of El Salvador has been impressive we think the carry is still attractive given the low default risk." BNP's Marshik said the next leg of the rally could come from good news on El Salvador's relationship with the International Monetary Fund - where the United States is the largest shareholder.

Persons: Nayib Bukele, Jose Cabezas, Nathalie Marshik, Katrina Butt, Shamaila Khan, BNP's Marshik, Siobhan Morden, Rodrigo Campos, Nelson Renteria, Angus MacSwn Organizations: El, San Salvador , El, REUTERS, SALVADOR, Reuters, BNP Paribas, Google, United States, U.S . Embassy, Peace Corps, Central American, U.S, Asia Pacific, UBS Asset Management, International Monetary, IMF, Santander US Capital Markets, Thomson Locations: San Salvador ,, San Salvador , El Salvador, El Salvador, America, Peace, El Salvador's, Asia, United States

☆ Google Cloud to open office in El Salvador in seven-year partnership
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

A screen with a Google Cloud logo is pictured during Google's presentation of a detailed investment plan for Germany outside the Google office in Berlin, Germany, August 31, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse Acquire Licensing RightsSAN SALVADOR, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Google Cloud and the government of El Salvador announced a multi-year agreement on Tuesday that will establish an office and deliver Google Distributed Cloud services in the Central American country, Google Cloud said in a statement. The seven-year strategic partnership, pending legislative approval, will focus on the areas of digital government, healthcare and education. Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Isabel WoodfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Annegret, Google Cloud, Nelson Renteria, Brendan O'Boyle, Isabel Woodford Organizations: REUTERS, SALVADOR, Google, El, Central, Thomson Locations: Germany, Berlin, El Salvador, Central American

☆ 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

☆ US adds Central American ex-presidents, judges, lawmakers to corruption list
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Raul Cortes | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Two former Salvadoran presidents - Mauricio Funes, who served from 2009 to 2014, and his successor Salvador Sanchez, whom Washington links to corruption, money laundering and embezzlement of public funds - were added to the list. Guatemala's government meanwhile rejected the accusations on Wednesday, labeling the report "used by the United States to impose its jurisdiction on people abroad, as despicable." It includes ex-officials from the government of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was extradited to the United States over drug trafficking links. Politicians from Honduras' opposition Liberal Party also appear, including Liberal leader Yani Rosenthal, previously convicted of money laundering in the United States. The Nicaraguan section includes all of the country's parliamentary leaders, barring its president, who Washington has already sanctioned, and several judges and directors of Nicaragua's money laundering watchdog.

Persons: Mauricio Funes, Salvador Sanchez, Funes, Sanchez, Daniel Ortega, Brian Nichols, Fredy Orellana, Bernardo Arevalo, Engel, Juan Orlando Hernandez, Yani Rosenthal, Rosenthal, Washington, Raul Cortes, Sofia Menchu, Gustavo Palencia, Nelson Renteria, Sarah Morland, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S . State Department, Salvadoran, Western Hemisphere, Liberal Party, Liberal, Thomson Locations: El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Washington, United States, Mexico City, Sofia, Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa, Nelson, San Salvador

☆ Magnitude 6.5 quake felt in Central America, no damage reported
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAN SALVADOR, July 18 (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck off El Salvador's Pacific coast at a depth of nearly 70 km (43 miles) on Tuesday evening, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said, with reports indicating it was felt in several nations in Central America. There were no immediate reports of damage and the earthquake did not trigger a tsunami warning for El Salvador, El Salvador's environment ministry said. Salvadoran lawmaker Salvador Chacon said on Twitter that checks were being carried out in the coastal city of La Libertad, near the capital San Salvador, although there were no reports of damage from the municipality. The quake was also felt in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize, according to local media and Reuters witnesses. Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Writing by Kylie Madry and Isabel Woodford; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: El, Salvador Chacon, Nelson Renteria, Kylie Madry, Isabel Woodford, Anthony Esposito, Tom Hogue Organizations: SALVADOR, United States Geological Survey, Twitter, Thomson Locations: El, Central America, El Salvador, La Libertad, San Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize

☆ El Salvador arrests more than 100 Colombians in financial scheme
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Nelson Renteria | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, July 17 (Reuters) - Salvadoran police arrested more than a hundred Colombians for their alleged involvement in operating a microfinancing scheme that laundered money from drug running and gang activities, security officials said on Monday. The criminal group reportedly made loans, using funds obtained illegally, to individuals and small businesses with 20% interest, according to the officials. Some $20 million in money linked to drug trafficking gangs is estimated to have been sent to Colombia since 2021 under the scheme, added Delgado. Colombia's foreign ministry said it was in talks with its embassy and consulate in El Salvador over the arrests, but did not offer further comment on the accusations facing the Colombian nationals. Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Additional reporting by Oliver Griffin in Bogota Writing by Kylie Madry Editing by David Alire Garcia and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nayib Bukele, Rodolfo Delgado, Delgado, Bukele, Nelson Renteria, Oliver Griffin, Kylie Madry, David Alire Garcia, Matthew Lewis Organizations: SALVADOR, Salvadoran, Twitter, Colombian, Thomson Locations: Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemalan, Argentine, San Salvador, Bogota

☆ Salvadoran President Bukele's party names him as 2024 candidate
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, July 9 (Reuters) - Salvadoran political party Nuevas Ideas chose President Nayib Bukele on Sunday as its candidate for the presidential elections of early 2024, even though the country's constitution does not allow consecutive terms for the presidency. The president - favored in the 2024 election by nearly 70% of Salvadorans - and his Vice President Felix Ulloa still need to register as candidates with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to formalize their candidacy. His "war" against gangs in El Salvador has led to more than 66,000 people being imprisoned and earned Bukele unprecedented popularity. Bukele has denied the allegations but undercover negotiations with gangs have not been unusual in El Salvador. Salvadorans will vote on Feb. 4 next year to elect a president and vice president for the 2024-2029 term and legislators until 2027.

Persons: Nayib Bukele, Bukele, Felix Ulloa, Mauricio Funes, Salvadorans, Nelson Renteria, Anna, Catherine Brigida, Tom Hogue Organizations: SALVADOR, FMLN, Thomson Locations: Salvadoran, United States, El, El Salvador

☆ Without climate change, these extreme weather events would not have happened
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

People often want to know if an extreme weather event happened because of climate change, said Friederike Otto, climate scientist and co-lead of the World Weather Attribution initiative. And, more often than not, they are finding the clear fingerprints of climate change on extreme weather events. “We’re always going to have extreme weather, but if we keep driving in this direction, we’re gonna have a lot of extreme weather,” said Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty ImagesSiberian heat wave, 2020In 2020, a prolonged, unprecedented heat wave seared one of the coldest places on Earth, triggering widespread wildfires. A study from the journal Nature Climate Change found the period from 2000 to 2021 was the driest the West has ever been in 1,200 years, noting human-caused climate change made the megadrought 72% worse.

Persons: Friederike Otto, Otto, We’re, we’re, ”, Ted Scambos, Alexander Nemenov, Andrew Ciavarella, Kathryn Elsesser, San Salvador de la, Aitor De Iturria, ” Otto, Mamunur Rahman Malik, “, Fadel Senna, Debarchan Chatterjee, Saeed Khan, koalas, David Paul Morris, Lake Powell, Hurricane Ian, Ricardo Arduengo, Ian, Lawrence, Abdul Majeed, António Guterres Organizations: CNN, University of Colorado -, Getty, UK’s Met, Oregon Convention, Northern, World Health Organization, South Asia, Bloomberg, Western, Stony Brook University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ., UN Locations: University of Colorado - Boulder, Siberia, AFP, Oregon, Portland, Pacific, . Oregon, Washington, Canada, British Columbia, Canadian, Lytton, San Salvador de, Cercs, Catalonia, Spain, North America, Europe, China, Dahably, Wajir County, Kenya, Africa, Horn of Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia, Masseoud, Morocco, Portugal, Algeria, Kolkata, India, South Asia, South, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Bangladesh, Thailand, New South Wales, Australia, Oroville, Oroville , California, States, California, Lake Oroville, Lake Mead, Lake, Nevada, Arizona, Mexico, Hurricane, Matlacha , Florida, Caribbean, Florida, Swat, Bahrain, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Sindh, Balochistan

☆ El Salvador slashes size of Congress ahead of elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Nelson Renteria | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele delivers a speech to mark his fourth year in office, in San Salvador, El Salvador June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Jessica Orellana/File PhotoSAN SALVADOR, June 7 (Reuters) - El Salvador's Congress passed an electoral reform in the early hours of Wednesday to reduce the lawmaking body's size by nearly a third, a move the ruling party says will reduce spending and critics say consolidates power ahead of elections. The reform, announced last week by President Nayib Bukele in an address marking four years in government, cuts the unicameral Congress' size from 84 lawmakers to 60. Presidential and legislative elections will be held in February, with municipal and regional Central American Parliament elections scheduled for March. In 2021, El Salvador's top court, whose members are appointed by Congress which is controlled by the president's party, ruled that Bukele could stand for re-election, a decision that drew international condemnation.

Persons: Nayib Bukele, Jessica Orellana, Bukele, Anabel Belloso, Nelson Renteria, Kylie Madry, Bill Berkrot Organizations: El, San Salvador , El, REUTERS, SALVADOR, Salvador's Congress, FMLN, Central American, Thomson Locations: San Salvador ,, San Salvador , El Salvador, Congress, El

☆ El Salvador partnership to build $1 billion bitcoin mining farm
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, June 5 (Reuters) - A public-private partnership in El Salvador will pump $1 billion into creating one of the world's largest bitcoin mining farms, the group called Volcano Energy announced on Monday. Volcano Energy said the funds would go toward an estimated 241 MW power generation park using solar and wind energy in the northwestern municipality of Metapan, which will eventually power the bitcoin mining farm. Bitcoin mining uses high-power computers hooked up to a global network, sucking up massive amounts of electricity in the process. The El Salvador government will have "a preferred participation equivalent to 23% of the revenues" in the project, Volcano Energy said, with private investors holding 27%. Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador and Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nayib Bukele, Josue Lopez, Max Keiser, Nelson Renteria, Kylie Madry, Aurora Ellis Organizations: SALVADOR, Volcano Energy, Salvadoran, Reuters, International Monetary Fund, El, U.S ., Thomson Locations: El Salvador, Salvador's, Metapan, San Salvador, Mexico City

☆ El Salvador president pledges white-collar prison in 'war' on corruption
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele delivers a speech to mark his fourth year in office, in San Salvador, El Salvador June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Jessica OrellanaSAN SALVADOR, June 1 (Reuters) - El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele on Thursday pledged to build a prison to hold white-collar criminals as part of a crackdown on corruption that he likened to his fight against criminal gangs. "Just as we built a prison for the terrorists, we will build one for the corrupt." "We will fight white-collar criminals wherever they come from," Bukele added, "but we will only use legal means." Later in the speech, Bukele said former President Alfredo Cristiani's property was being raided.

Persons: Nayib Bukele, Jessica Orellana, Bukele, Alfredo Cristiani's, Salvadorans, Nelson Renteria, Lizbeth Diaz, Sarah Morland, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: El, San Salvador , El, REUTERS, SALVADOR, Thomson Locations: San Salvador ,, San Salvador , El Salvador

☆ El Salvador court sentences ex-President Funes to 14 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, May 29 (Reuters) - A court in El Salvador sentenced former President Mauricio Funes and his justice minister to over a decade behind bars for their ties with criminal groups and failure to comply with duties, the attorney general's office said in a tweet on Monday. Funes was sentenced to 14 years and former justice and defense minister, David Munguia, to 18. Funes, who governed from 2009 to 2014 and lives in Nicaragua, was granted Nicaraguan citizenship in 2019. El Salvador has been living under a state of emergency declared by the government of President Nayib Bukele for more than a year. Official data shows 5,000 of the prisoners have been released, as authorities found no ties to criminal groups.

☆ Nine dead in stampede at El Salvador stadium - AFP, citing police
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/3] A medical team arrives following a stampede prior to a soccer game between C.D. FAS Vs. Alianza F.C. at the Cuzcatlan stadium, in San Salvador, El Salvador May 20, 2023. REUTERS/ Jose CabezasMay 20 (Reuters) - Nine people died in a stampede at El Salvador stadium, the AFP said on Twitter, citing the police on Saturday. loadingReporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ At Least 9 Dead in Soccer Stadium Stampede in El Salvador
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Eduardo Medina | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At least nine people have died in a stampede at a soccer stadium in El Salvador on Saturday, the authorities said, in a chaotic scene that left other fans injured and at least two hospitalized in critical condition. Videos circulating on Twitter and published by local news sites showed dozens of people clad in white appearing to rush toward an exit at the stadium, with some lying on the ground as more pile on top. It was not immediately clear what prompted the rush at Cuscatlán Stadium in San Salvador, El Salvador, where the first-league soccer teams, Alianza and FAS, were playing the second leg of a quarterfinal. On a livestream of the match that was posted on YouTube, game commentators said they could see some type of commotion going on in the stands, noting that some people appeared to be passed out. Fans eventually stepped onto the field, and the game was halted, the commentators said in the livestream.

☆ El Salvador forces surround town in north after police killing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The officer was killed while on patrol in Nueva Concepcion, some 42 miles (67 km) northwest of the capital on Tuesday in an attack by alleged gang members, security authorities said. El Salvador has suspended constitutional rights in a so-called state of exception that allows police to swiftly arrest and jail suspected gang members while suspending their right to a lawyer and court approval of preliminary detention. Human rights groups say some innocent people have been caught up in the policy, including at least dozens who died in custody. Bukele's government has previously launched similar surges of security forces in urban areas considered highly dangerous in an attempt to stop drug trafficking and the movement of gang members. Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Sarah Morland Editing by Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Those Seaweed Blobs Headed for Florida? See How Big They Are.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Elena Shao | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Scientists say they spotted more than 13 million tons of Sargassum, a yellowish-brown seaweed, drifting in the Atlantic Ocean last month — a record for the month of March. NORTH AMERICA March 2023 Atlantic Ocean The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt grew to an estimated 13.5 million metric tons of seaweed this spring. Tangles of the goopy, leafy seaweed have already begun to wash ashore beaches in southern Florida and Mexico. Floating mats of seaweed accumulate in the central Atlantic Ocean for much of the year. But during the spring and summer, patches of it are carried by ocean currents toward the Caribbean, eastern Florida and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast.

☆ Salvadoran lawmakers pass tech tax cut, including for AI businesses
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The tech tax cut was championed by President Nayib Bukele, who first touted the legislation late last month. Bukele's New Ideas Party dominates the country's Congress. The bill exempts eligible companies from income tax, capital gains and local government taxes, as well as tariff payments on imported goods that technology businesses need. The new tax incentives for the nascent tech sector are only the latest efforts by Bukele and his allies to re-brand the Central American country as an emerging hub for innovation. In 2021, El Salvador made waves as the first nation to adopt the cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal tender, alongside the U.S. dollar.

☆ Mexico nabs, swiftly deports MS-13 gang leader to El Salvador
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jose Wilfredo Ayala, 55, was arrested after a tip from a neighbor, according to the Mexican capital's security ministry. The ministry said it had discovered Ayala - believed to be second-in-command of the gang commonly known as MS-13 - was using a false identity and hiding in Mexico City and in two areas a short drive north in Hidalgo state. An official with Mexico's national immigration institute INM told Reuters later on Tuesday that Ayala had already been deported to his native El Salvador, but did not provide further detail. El Salvador's justice and security ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ayala's capture. Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Lincoln FeastOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Human rights body urges El Salvador to restore civil rights
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, April 6 (Reuters) - A regional human rights body implored El Salvador's government on Thursday to reverse a year-long suspension of constitutional rights that form part of a sweeping anti-gang crackdown enacted last year and credited with sharply reducing violent crime. In a statement, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), part of the Washington-based Organization of American States, called on President Nayib Bukele and his allies in Congress to restore rights put on hold by the so-called state of exception. The emergency powers allow police to swiftly arrest and jail suspected gang members while suspending their right to a lawyer and court approval of preliminary detention. "IACHR calls on the government of El Salvador to restore the full validity of the rights and guarantees suspended during the last 12 months within the framework of the emergency regime," the body said in a statement. The state of exception followed the murders, blamed on gangs, of nearly 90 people over a single weekend in March 2022.

☆ U.S. arrests retired Salvadoran officer implicated in atrocities
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Nelson Renteria | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN SALVADOR, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. agents arrested a retired Salvadoran military officer this week on charges of participating in a brutal massacre of civilians during El Salvador's grinding civil war in the 1980s, according to a statement on Thursday. Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Roberto Garay on Tuesday in the state of New Jersey, the agency said. Retired Salvadoran general Juan Rafael Bustillo acknowledged in 2020 that Atlacatl was responsible for the notorious 1981 El Mozote massacre, in which more than 1,0000 villagers, mostly women and children, were slaughtered. The battalion carried out extrajudicial executions at El Mozote, as well as in three other massacres in which "hundreds of noncombatant civilians" were killed, ICE said. One of several bloody Central American conflicts linked to the Cold War, El Salvador's 1980-1992 civil war pitted the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) rebels against the army of the U.S.-backed right-wing government.

☆ Salvadorans demand release of innocents jailed in anti-gang sweep
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Nelson Renteria | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] People participate in a protest to demand the release of relatives detained following a year-long state of emergency against gangs, in San Salvador, El Salvador March 28, 2023. In the capital San Salvador, many chanted "freedom for the innocent," in a march on Congress that attracted an estimated 500 protesters, according to organizer Samuel Ramirez. Holding a sign addressed to Bukele, 56-year-old housewife Maria Ruiz described the arrest of her husband Manuel Argumedo as an injustice. Another protester, Rosa Ramos, 43, called for the release of her two adult sons detained over the past couple months, despite what she says were no gang ties. Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The New York Couple Behind El Salvador’s Bitcoin Experiment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Santiago Pérez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador—Two New Yorkers who created a popular financial news show on Russian state television and cashed in on the crypto boom have emerged as key advisers to the Salvadoran government on its adoption of bitcoin. Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert are also investing in bitcoin ventures in the Central American country and are founding backers of a crypto exchange that is helping manage El Salvador’s sovereign debt sale that is linked to bitcoin. The so-called Volcano Token bond will be backed by proceeds from bitcoin mined using geothermal power from a volcano.

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