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☆ Guatemala president pledges strong support for 'Republic of Taiwan'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Speaking at a welcoming ceremony outside Taiwan's presidential office, Giammattei said Guatemala and Taiwan were "brotherly countries" and important allies. Speaking in Spanish, he referred twice to the "Republic of Taiwan", rather than its official name, the Republic of China, generally stylised these days by the government as the Republic of China, Taiwan. Giammattei, standing next to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, ended his speech with a rousing "long live free Taiwan", receiving a broad smile from Tsai who thanked him in English. [1/6] Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen walks next to Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei during his welcome ceremony in front of the Presidential building in Taipei, Taiwan April 25, 2023. Giammattei is paying a return visit to Taiwan after Tsai visited Guatemala less than a month ago.

☆ These are the places most at risk from record-breaking heat waves as the planet warms
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

They identified Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Central America – including Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua – as “hot spots” for high-risk heat waves. Not only is there high potential for record-breaking extreme heat, but the impacts will be intensified by the huge difficulties the country already faces, he said. “When a really extreme heat wave does finally come along, then there are instantly going to be a lot of problems,” Mitchell said. Heat waves have a wide-ranging negative impact. They also take a heavy toll on human health, and extreme heat is one of the deadliest natural disasters.

☆ Guatemala not asking Taiwan for 'free money', does not owe debt like Honduras
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A Taiwan and Guatemala flag is seen at an investment event in Taipei, Taiwan April 24, 2023. REUTERS/Ann WangTAIPEI, April 24 (Reuters) - Guatemala is not asking for "free money" from Taiwan and does not owe debt in the same way Honduras does, but is looking for long-term investment and trade, senior Guatemalan financial officials said on Monday. Guatemala is one of only 13 countries to maintain formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan. Honduras abandoned Taipei for Beijing last month after asking for almost $2.5 billion in aid. "We heard it in the news, but we are focused on solutions that we need for our country," Rosales said of China's comments.

☆ New migrant caravan heads for Mexico City to speed up legal route to US
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Lizbeth Diaz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Migrants take part in a caravan towards Mexico City called 'The Migrant's Via Crucis' in memory of the 40 migrants who died during a fire at a migrant detention center in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, as they walk along the road en route to Viva Mexico, Chiapas state, Mexico April 23, 2023. The migrants, mostly Venezuelans, started their march north early in Tapachula, the city bordering Guatemala whose detention centers have been overwhelmed by their vast numbers. Some said they expected to reach Mexico City in about 10 days. Fleeing violence and poverty in Central America, thousands of migrants walk together for safety to Mexico each year, crossing several states in hopes of finding a legal route into the United States. Out of money, he said his family was hoping to speed up the legal process needed for onward travel in Mexico City.

☆ Guatemala's Giammattei to visit Taiwan April 24-26
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 21 (Reuters) - Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei will visit Taiwan April 24 to 26, his office said Friday, following a recent visit by Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen to Guatemala. Giammattei will also speak at Taiwan's parliament and meet with Vice President William Lai, his office said. He is scheduled to give a joint conference following a meeting with President Tsai as well. On Wednesday, China's foreign ministry warned Guatemala to not aid Taiwan's "independence attempts." China maintains that Taiwan is part of its territory, which Taiwan disputes.

☆ Help! Spirit Airlines Left Us Behind in Guatemala City
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Seth Kugel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Dear Tripped Up,My two sons and I checked in at the Guatemala City airport three hours before the first leg of our return flight to Detroit. When we returned to our gate at 3:40, we were told the plane had been readied earlier than expected and the doors had closed. The gate staff said it would be three days before another flight was available, and they refused to book us on another airline. We eventually received a partial $297 credit from Spirit, but we want them to reimburse us for the JetBlue flight, since they should have alerted us when the departure time was again revised. “They always tell you not to go too far,” said one wizened veteran, a consultant who flies nearly every week.

☆ These are the longest upcoming cruises from 5 major cruise lines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Brittany Chang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The ports of call all vary. Some will sail to Mexico and Jamaica while others will bring travelers to Mexico, Colombia, and Guatemala, for example. Cartagena, Columbia RoNeDya/Getty Images

☆ Interpol-led LatAm swoop seizes thousands of weapons, $5.7 bln in drugs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, April 18 (Reuters) - Interpol said on Tuesday its largest-ever fire arms swoop across Central and South America resulted in the seizure of thousands of illegal weapons and $5.7 billion worth of drugs after unprecedented cooperation by 15 countries. The operation found 8,263 illicit firearms and nearly 306,000 rounds of ammunition, as well as 203 tonnes of drugs and 372 tonnes of drug precursors. Eleven people were rescued in Paraguay when authorities dismantled a human trafficking ring, Interpol said. It said law enforcement had reported a spike in drug-related violence over the past year, fueled by trafficking of illegal firearms. The swoop saw participation from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

☆ US must stem 'iron river' of guns flowing to Latin America, activists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Sarah Morland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 18 (Reuters) - U.S. guns, many of them exported legally, are flowing into Latin America in an "iron river" ending in the hands of drug cartels and abusive security forces, activists said Monday, calling for greater oversight from U.S. law and federal agencies. More than half of "crime guns" recovered and traced in Central America are sourced from the United States, according to U.S. gun control agency ATF. Burke called for rules preventing manufacturers from selling to dealers with lax distribution practices. Manufacturers should also stop selling armor-piercing weapons and guns that can easily be modified to shoot hundreds of bullets at a time, she said. U.S government figures show last year that income from legal firearm shipments to Latin America increased 8%, with most sales going to Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia.

☆ EV tax credits 2023: Which models are eligible for up to $7,500 in tax credits?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Under the new rule, consumers can get up to $7,500 back in tax credits on eligible cars. Which models are eligible for the new EV tax credit? Nine models, mostly from foreign brands including Hyundai and Nissan, do not qualify for the new tax credit. Under the new rule, consumers can get up to $7,500 in tax credits on eligible cars. Which countries can the materials come from under the new EV tax credit rule?

April 14 (Reuters) - The United States has charged leaders of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel with running a fentanyl trafficking operation fueled by Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical companies, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Friday. Federal prosecutors unsealed three separate indictments charging more than two dozen defendants based in Mexico, China and Guatemala, eight of whom are in custody. Among those awaiting extradition is Ovidio Guzman Lopez, one of El Chapo's sons, who was arrested in Mexico earlier this year. Prosecutors also charged four owners of Chinese companies that allegedly provided precursor chemicals to the cartel. "The PRC government must stop the unchecked flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals that are coming out of China," he said, referring to the People's Republic of China.

☆ U.S. imposes sanctions on Chinese companies in action over fentanyl
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Treasury said it also designated five people based in China and Guatemala in the action targeting fentanyl production. "Illicit fentanyl is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year," the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement. The Treasury in the statement said it slapped sanctions on China-based chemical companies Wuhan Shuokang Biological Technology Co Ltd and Suzhou Xiaoli Pharmatech Co Ltd, as well as four Chinese nationals. Also targeted was a Guatemala-based broker of fentanyl precursor chemicals, who the Treasury said buys fentanyl precursor on behalf of Mexico-based drug traffickers. Mexico and the United States on Thursday agreed to ramp up the fight against fentanyl trafficking.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges at a news conference in Washington, alongside Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram and other top federal prosecutors. The fentanyl trafficking, weapons and money laundering charges in three indictments involved a total of 28 defendants: 23 of whom are based in Mexico, four in China and one in Guatemala. A senior administration official on a call with reporters on Friday called the reward offers “unprecedented.”“These targets traffic fentanyl from around the world including from Mexico, (China) and Guatemala. These reward offers are part of a government wide attempt to put a halt to trafficking in illicit fentanyl and its precursor,” they added. And in late March, the US Food and Drug Administration approved an over-the-counter version of the opioid overdose antidote Narcan for the first time.

☆ Exclusive: Mexican firm seeks $380 million from Honduras over blocked unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Valentine Hilaire | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MEXICO CITY, April 14 (Reuters) - Mexican investment firm JLL Capital, whose Honduran operation has been blocked since 2018 in a local dispute, is seeking some $380 million from the Central American country in arbitration proceedings, claiming that it violated foreign investment protections, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The invitations were properly handled, countered Daniel Garcia Barragan of the law firm Garcia Barragan Abogados representing JLL last week. This is the second claim against Honduras submitted to World Bank's ICSID this year, its website shows. Some analysts say this casts doubt on the Central American nation's ability to attract foreign investment. Executives had planned to expand operations to Guatemala, but pulled the plug due to its legal troubles in Honduras.

☆ Asian stocks ease ahead of US inflation data, Fed minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Eurostoxx 50 futures was down 0.16%, German DAX futures up 0.01% and FTSE futures down 0.07%. The consumer price index is expected to show core inflation rose 0.4% on a monthly basis and 5.6% year-over-year in March, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Markets are now pricing in a 66% chance of the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points in May and then pausing for the subsequent meetings, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The Fed last month raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, taking it to a range of 4.75% to 5.00%. With oil prices rising again and labour market cooling only gradually, risk remains tilted for core inflation to remain elevated for longer," they said.

☆ Taiwan determined to safeguard freedom, democracy, President Tsai says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Ben Blanchard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Through this trip we again sent a message to the international community that Taiwan is determined to safeguard freedom and democracy which won acknowledgment and support from our democratic partners," Tsai said as she met Canadian lawmakers at her office in Taipei. We are willing to do our utmost to jointly safeguard the values of freedom and democracy with Canada and many more like-minded international partners." Despite China announcing the three days of drills had ended as scheduled on Monday, Beijing has continued military activities around Taiwan. Taiwan's defence ministry said on Wednesday morning that in the previous 24 hours it had detected 35 Chinese military aircraft and eight navy vessels around Taiwan. The aircraft crossing the median line included five Su-30 fighters at its northern end, with the other planes crossing at points in the centre and south.

☆ Missing key to cell sealed fate of migrants in Mexico fire, president says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Jose Luis GonzalezMEXICO CITY, April 11 (Reuters) - The 40 migrants who died in a fire at a detention center in Mexico last month were unable to escape because the person with the key to their locked cell was absent, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday. "The door was locked, because the person with the key wasn't there," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference. Five people so far have been arrested, including private security personnel and agents from Mexico's National Migration Institute, and another arrest warrant is still pending. Hearses carrying the bodies of victims from Guatemala and Honduras were taken to the Ciudad Juarez airport to be repatriated on Tuesday. Reporting by Kylie Madry, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Couple who transformed an abandoned Japanese home into a guesthouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Tamara Hardingham-Gill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

He also happened to have his heart set on a traditional Japanese house, typically known as kominka, which are usually passed down over generations. “I had a vision.”Guesthouse dreamDaisuke and Hila Kajiyama transformed an abandoned farming residence in Japan into a guesthouse. He saved money by collecting traditional wood from building companies who were in the process of breaking down traditional houses. “Usually, with traditional houses, some renovations are made to the walls, because the insulation is not so strong. After doing some research into Japanese guesthouse permits, he discovered that one of the simplest ways to acquire one would be to register the property as an agriculture guesthouse.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington called self-ruled Taiwan "an inalienable part of China" and said the one-China principle was an "overwhelming trend" internationally. When Taiwan temporarily averted a split with Honduras after President Xiomara Castro took office in January 2022, U.S. State Department officials remained wary. The Biden administration is also keeping a close eye on tiny Belize for any cracks in its Taiwan relationship. Two U.S. officials said Washington was putting less stock in Taiwan maintaining its diplomatic allies in favor of efforts to increase its participation in international organizations. While denied a seat in the United Nations, Taiwan is a member of the WTO and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

☆ Factbox: Diplomatic competition between Taiwan and China
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

April 5 (Reuters) - Taiwan and China have engaged for years in competition for diplomatic recognition, but the pendulum has long swung decisively in Beijing's favour. Honduras last month ended its decades-long relationship with Taiwan and said it only recognised China, leaving Taiwan with formal diplomatic relations with just 13 countries. Here are some facts about the diplomatic feud between Taiwan and China:* Following the communist revolution in China in 1949, the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan, insisting that it remained the sole legal representative of the Chinese people. China says Taiwan is merely one of its provinces and only Beijing can represent the island on the world stage. * Some countries have swapped between Taiwan and China more than once, including Liberia and the Central African Republic.

LOS ANGELES, April 5 (Reuters) - Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is set to meet U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday in the first such meeting on U.S. soil, a plan that has drawn threats of retaliation from China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own. It will be the highest-level meeting with a Taiwanese president on U.S. soil since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. A meeting in California is seen as a potentially less provocative alternative to McCarthy visiting Taiwan, something he has said he hopes to do. Washington called on China not to overreact, portraying Tsai's stopovers as routine and a normal part of its unofficial relationship with Taiwan. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told a regular news briefing on Tuesday Tsai's transit was "private" and "unofficial."

☆ Belize reaffirms ties with Taipei as Taiwanese president visits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Jose Sanchez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen arrives at Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport, Belize City, Belize in this handout picture released April 3, 2023. Tsai's visit comes a week after Honduras severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing amid heightened U.S.-China tensions. China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei strongly rejects. Guatemala and Belize are two of just 13 countries that Taiwan has diplomatic relations with. The Taiwanese leader is set to meet with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a second U.S. stopover in California on Wednesday.

☆ Taiwan strengthens ties with Guatemala following Honduras rupture
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Sofia Menchu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen walks with her Guatemalan counterpart Alejandro Giammattei, during her visit at Chimaltenango hospital in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, in this photo released on April 2, 2023. Guatemala Presidency/Handout via REUTERSGUATEMALA CITY, April 2 (Reuters) - Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen completed a three-day trip to Guatemala on Sunday where she offered more cooperation with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei's government, one of Taiwan's few allies in the world. Tsai's tour, which will take her to Belize on Sunday afternoon, comes a week after Honduras severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing. China refuses to allow other countries to maintain diplomatic relations with both at the same time. While visiting Guatemala, Tsai signed a $4 million agreement to modernize rural areas and promised to promote and increase cooperation between the two countries.

☆ Survivor of Mexico detention fire and his family cross into U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Lizbeth Diaz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Jose Luis GonzalezEl PASO, April 1 (Reuters) - After her husband survived a fire which killed dozens of migrants at a detention center in northern Mexico, Venezuelan Viangly Infante crossed into the United States on Saturday, in search of new opportunities for her three children. "The storm has passed," Infante, 31, said while holding back tears as she walked to the vehicle which would take her to a migrant center in El Paso. The family had arrived in Ciudad Juarez just before the new year, but only Caraballo managed to cross into the United States. Mexican authorities have shut down the detention center and arrested five people over the migrants' deaths, including INM staff, a private security agent, and a Venezuelan accused of starting the fire. In the days following the fire, the U.S government announced it would aid those affected, with Infante's family the first to receive help.

☆ Factbox: Relations between Taiwan and the United States
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are some facts about the relationship between Taiwan and the United States. * During the height of the Cold War, Taiwan hosted U.S. military bases and the two had a Mutual Defence Treaty. * In 1979, the United States severed official relations with the government in Taipei and instead recognised the government in Beijing. * Post-1979, the U.S. relationship with Taiwan has been governed by the Taiwan Relations Act, which gives a legal basis to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but does not mandate that the United States come to Taiwan's aid if attacked. * The United States retains a large de facto embassy in Taipei called the American Institute in Taiwan, staffed by diplomats.

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