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☆ IMF sees Honduran economic growth slowing to about 3% in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TEGUCIGALPA, June 16 (Reuters) - Honduran economic growth is seen slowing to about 3% in 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated in a statement issued on Friday, pointing to fewer remittances and pressures on the energy and farm sectors stemming from drought conditions. Honduran authorities said earlier this week they would begin rationing electricity due to the drought's impact on the country's hydroelectric plants. A drought linked to El Nino weather phenomenon is affecting much of Central America and is expected to cut into the region's harvests. "Honduras remains one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate disasters, with sizeable adaptation investment needs," the IMF statement said. Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by David Alire GarciaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gustavo Palencia, Valentine Hilaire, David Alire Garcia Organizations: International Monetary Fund, Central, IMF, Thomson Locations: TEGUCIGALPA, Honduran, Nino, Central America, Honduras

☆ Mexican officials find 129 migrants in truck amid heat wave
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Instituto Nacional de... Read moreMEXICO CITY, June 17 (Reuters) - Mexican authorities found 129 migrants, mostly from Guatemala, crowded into a truck trailer in the eastern state of Veracruz, the National Migration Institute (INM) said in a statement on Saturday. The migrants were crammed into a trailer in the midst of a heat wave in Mexico, where higher-than-normal temperatures have topped 45C (113F) in several states, including Veracruz, where the operation took place. Immigration agents in late May had uncovered another 175 migrants further south, mainly from Central America, in Chiapas state. Migrants fleeing violence and poverty in Latin America frequently pay smugglers in an attempt to pass through Mexico bound for the U.S. Among the travelers found on Friday were adults from Guatemala, Honduras, India and El Salvador, and 19 unaccompanied minors, the migration institute said.

Persons: Francisco Garduño, Lucinda Elliott, Aida Pelaez, Fernandez, Franklin Paul Organizations: Mexico's National Institute of Migration, INM, Instituto Nacional de, Read, MEXICO CITY, National Migration Institute, U.S, Franklin Paul Our, Thomson Locations: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, India, MEXICO, Veracruz, Mexico, Central America, Chiapas, America

☆ A China-based bank that's trying to de-dollarize global lending is now having trouble repaying its dollar debts, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The New Development Bank is having trouble finding dollar funds to repay debts, the Wall Street Journal said. But its own finances were deeply reliant on Wall Street, which backed away after the Ukraine war. Based in Shanghai, the New Development Bank has largely ceased issuing new loans, the report said. But to provide capital to developing economies, the New Development Bank had to borrow from Wall Street as well as Chinese lenders. The New Development Bank did not respond immediately to Insider's request for comment.

Persons: —, Dilma Rousseff Organizations: New Development Bank, Wall Street Journal, Service, Wall Street, International Monetary Fund Locations: Ukraine, Shanghai, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Moscow, Russian, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Honduras, Beijing

☆ Venezuelan asylum seekers tripled in 2022, UN agency says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 14 (Reuters) - Venezuelans seeking asylum abroad nearly tripled in 2022, according to the United Nations refugee agency, which found that more than two in five new asylum applicants globally last year came from Latin America and the Caribbean. Cuba, also hit by U.S. trade sanctions and fuel shortages, recorded the second highest asylum figure at 194,700, a six-fold increase on 2021. Asylum seekers primarily stayed within the region, particularly in neighboring countries, the UNHCR found, with the United States, Costa Rica and Mexico receiving the most requests. While 2022 saw countries process asylum requests faster than previous years, the UNHCR said that backlogs keep growing due to "the sheer volume of new applications." The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has urged migrants to use legal pathways to enter the United States, including using a mobile app called CBP One to schedule appointments to request asylum.

Persons: Joe Biden, Sarah Morland, Raul Cortes, Grant McCool Organizations: United Nations, Refugees, UNHCR, U.S, Thomson Locations: America, Caribbean, Venezuelan, Americas, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, Honduras, Haiti, UNHCR, United States, Costa Rica, Mexico, Mexico City

WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - The United States will extend deportation relief and work permits through 2025 for more than 300,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal but will not expand the program to cover additional people, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Tuesday. Biden's Democratic administration is rescinding Trump's earlier decisions as part of the process of extending the relief for immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal. The latest decision by the Biden administration will allow TPS renewals for 239,000 Salvadorans who have resided in the U.S. since 2001. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua living in the U.S. illegally will not be covered by the TPS extension since they arrived after the cutoff dates. Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Mica Rosenberg, Aurora Ellis, Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Donald Trump, rescinding, Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden, Eric Adams, Ted Hesson, Mica Rosenberg, Aurora Ellis, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: U.S . Department of Homeland Security, TPS, Democratic, New York City, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: United States, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, U.S, Mexico, Washington

☆ China's Xi says willing to begin free trade talks with Honduras
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Honduran President Xiomara Castro and Chinese President Xi Jinping inspect Chinese honor guards during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 12, 2023. Wang Zhao/Pool via REUTERSBEIJING, June 12 (Reuters) - China is willing to begin talks on a free trade agreement with Honduras "as soon as possible", Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday, during the first visit by the Central American country's president since forming diplomatic ties in March. Honduras' President Xiomara Castro is on a six-day official visit to China. Xi said China will unswervingly develop the friendly relations between the two nations and firmly support Honduras' economic and social development. "One-China principle is the primary premise and political foundation for the establishment of loyal diplomatic relations and the development of bilateral relations," Xi said.

Persons: Xiomara Castro, Xi Jinping, Wang Zhao, Xi, China's, Ella Cao, Liz Lee, Robert Birsel, Sharon Singleton Organizations: of, People, REUTERS, Central American, Central, Thomson Locations: Beijing, REUTERS BEIJING, China, Honduras, Taiwan, Honduran, Taipei, People's Republic of China, United States

☆ Honduras opens embassy in China after cutting ties to Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Lintao Zhang/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoBEIJING, June 11 (Reuters) - Honduras opened an embassy in China on Sunday, Chinese state media reported, after the Central American nation cut diplomatic relations with Taiwan earlier this year. The embassy in Beijing was opened by foreign ministers from the two countries, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Tegucigalpa in March ended its decades-long relationship with Taipei and established diplomatic ties with Beijing. China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state relations, a position Taipei strongly rejects. Taiwan now has formal diplomatic relations with only 13 countries, mostly poor and developing countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Persons: Qin Gang, Eduardo Enrique Reina, Lintao Zhang, Xiomara Castro, Xi, Ellen Zhang, Martin Quin Pollard, William Mallard Organizations: Foreign, Honduras Foreign, Central, CCTV, Pacific, Thomson Locations: Honduras, Diaoyutai, Beijing, China, BEIJING, Central American, Taiwan, Tegucigalpa, Taipei, Central America, Caribbean

☆ 2 blind passengers say being ordered to leave a cruise ship before it set sail was 'humiliating': report
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Two blind passengers told ITV News they were ordered to leave a P&O Cruises ship. P&O Cruises offered them a full refund after first charging the pair a cancellation fee. Two blind passengers who were ordered to leave a cruise ship before it set sail said it was "humiliating" and that they "felt like criminals". Pam May and Jennie Bailie told ITV News they were asked to leave a P&O Cruises Ventura ship in May for "health and safety reasons". They just decided 'oh you're blind you can't be on there'."

Persons: Pam May, Jennie Bailie, Bailie, Donovan Tildesley, Tildesley, Richard Branson Organizations: ITV News, O Cruises, Morning, Daily, Virgin Locations: West Sussex, Southampton, England, Miami, Honduras

☆ Lionel Messi is coming to Miami, and he's boosting MLS ticket sales big time
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jessica Golden | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

It's not just Miami seeing the uptick — Messi's future competitors are also seeing a bump. Messi and Inter Miami are set to visit LAFC at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 3. Fanatics won't start printing Messi Inter Miami FC jerseys until the deal is official, but fans are already scooping up team gear in large numbers. The digital sports platform says more Inter Miami merchandise has been sold since Wednesday than the previous two months combined. Meanwhile, Inter Miami is getting ready to cash in on its future global audience.

Persons: Lionel Messi, It's, Germain, Messi, David Beckham, Cruz, Joe Pompliano, Phil Neville, Adam Budelli, it's, Josh Gerben Organizations: Hard, MLS, Inter Miami FC, Paris Saint, Inter Miami's, Leagues, Cruz Azul, Inter Miami, Eastern Conference, NFL, NBA, StubHub, Messi, LAFC, Messi Inter Miami FC, Gerben Law Locations: Honduras, Argentina, Miami, Paris, Mexican, Europe, Barcelona, SOÑAR

☆ This couple are riding around the world with three rescue dogs
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Tamara Hardingham-Gill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

But other than a “couple of cruises,” Janell and Stu Clarke, both from Australia, had barely traveled beyond their home country nearly a decade later. I was waiting until my obligation with the navy had ended.”Ultimate road tripAustralian couple Janell and Stu Clarke are riding around the world on motorcycles with three rescue dogs. The couple purchased two motorbikes, Janell went for a 2006 BMW F650GS, while Stu opted for a 2012 G650GS, while in Texas. “We were surrounded by people who were trying their best to help us and care for Skyla,” says Janell. Now, after setting off from Australia with one dog, Janell and Stu are preparing to finish their trip almost 10 years later with three entirely different dogs.

Persons: CNN —, Janell, Stu Clarke, Stu, ”, “, it’s, Skyla, ’, ‘, ’ ” Janell, they’d, Mary, ” Janell, We’ve, they’ve, That’s, we’ve Organizations: CNN, Australian, BMW, “, Southampton, Azra Locations: Australia, Skyla, Dallas , Texas, Texas, Belize, Mexico, Janell, Central America, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, South America, Venezuela, Colombia, Bogota, Colombian, Ecuador, Turkey, Europe, Morocco, West Africa, South Africa, “ Africa, Egypt, Portugal, Eastern Europe, ”, South East Asia, “

☆ Mexico to announce work visa program for Central Americans
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, May 22 (Reuters) - Mexico will present a program this week to give Central Americans temporary visas to work on public infrastructure projects, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday. Such projects require more people such as welders, iron-workers and engineers, Lopez Obrador told his regular daily news conference. "We need a workforce for these projects, especially if it's skilled labor," Lopez Obrador said. Lopez Obrador has long pushed for investment in Central America to stem the migration of thousands of people every year fleeing poverty and violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. He has also sought to boost development in the impoverished southern region of Mexico, which sits near the border with Guatemala.

☆ Title 42 dramatically changed who arrived at U.S.-Mexico border
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Title 42 dramatically changed who arrived at the borderChart showing that before Title 42 began, most people apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border were Mexican, Guatemalan, Slavadorian or Honduran. Title 42 mostly applied to Mexican migrants Mexicans are the nationality most frequently caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and also made up the largest group of quick Title 42 expulsions. With Title 42 in place, Mexican migrants processed under Title 8 dropped, as most were deported to Mexico under Title 42. Chart showing the breakdown of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador apprehended under Title 8 and Title 42. All four nationalities began to increase once Title 42 began until Title 42 was expanded to include people from Venezuela in October 2022 and people from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua in January 2023.

☆ A Venezuelan dad made a dangerous trek to the US to provide for his kids. Here’s what he encountered at an El Paso detention center
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Gloria Pazmino Norma Galeana | Gloria Pazmino | Norma Galeana | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Blanco said the first thing he and his father-in-law did when they arrived at the detention center was shower. “Some of us just slept on the floor.”With their destinies in limbo, Blanco and his father-in-law waited in the detention center, which the young man said resembled a jail. “Every day there is a list, but what you don’t know is where the list says you’re going,” Blanco said. He said he would wait for the release of his father-in-law – who was still in the detention center – before coming up with a plan on what to do next. But he said two items given to him at the detention center would help him survive: the emergency foil blanket and an orange he decided to save, just in case.

☆ Drivers are delivering food orders to migrants stuck at the Mexican border near San Diego, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Some have resorted to placing food delivery orders to eat, Rest of World reported. One woman told Rest of World she paid $100 for a whole chicken because the Uber Eats driver didn't have change. Jesús Vargas, a delivery driver based in Tijuana, told Rest of World he's delivered Taiwanese food to some migrants. Immigration advocates previously told Insider that migrants who failed to use the app were being penalized. Border patrol agents were stopping volunteers on the US side of the border from providing charging stations, per the outlet.

☆ End of Title 42 immigration policy has brought fewer migrants than expected, but overcrowding concerns remain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Nouran Salahieh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

David Peinado Romero/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Migrants carry a baby in a suitcase across the Rio Grande on May 10. Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images Migrants wait to get paid after washing cars at a gas station in Brownsville on May 10. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images Migrants surrender to US Border Patrol agents after crossing the border in Yuma on May 10. Paul Ratje/Reuters Migrants wait to be processed by US Border Patrol agents in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on April 26. Hudak warned in the filing that without measures to conditionally release some migrants, Border Patrol could have over 45,000 migrants in custody by the end of the month.

☆ Honduras will 'soon' launch trade talks with China as ties deepen
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TEGUCIGALPA, May 12 (Reuters) - Honduras will soon begin talks toward a trade deal with China, the Central American country's top diplomat said on Friday, marking the latest step toward stronger bilateral ties between the two nations after Honduras broke off relations with Taiwan. Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina told reporters at a press conference that the goal is to launch talks "soon" and eventually ink a "free trade" agreement with the Asian giant, the world's second-largest economy. "It will be good news and (offer) opportunities for access to our products to China," said Reina. Reina said that China has also expressed interest in buying Honduran beef and bananas, among other products. In April, the diplomat said Honduras also hopes to reach agreements with China to lighten the nation's debt burden with the support of financial organizations from its new partner.

On Friday, that changed when the administration of President Joe Biden ended Title 42, a COVID-inspired provision that allowed the U.S. government to turn away asylum-seekers for public health reasons. At the same time Title 42 expired, the Biden administration implemented a new regulation that presumes most migrants will be ineligible for asylum if they failed to use legal pathways for U.S. entry like CBP One. "This is mostly for my children," Lupita said. Tens of thousands of migrants rushed to the border last week trying to enter the country before the new asylum rules took effect. Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Tijuana and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A 17-year-old migrant child died at a government-sponsored shelter in Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A child migrant died at a Florida government-sponsored center. The HHS confirmed the death to Insider and said a medical examiner investigation is underway. Espinoza was staying at a shelter in Safety Harbor, Florida, that houses unaccompanied children, according to CBS News. It said this is "standard practice for any situation involving the death of an unaccompanied child or a serious health outcome." She confirmed a medical investigation was opened by HHS on May 10 and is ongoing.

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - A Miami-based digital marketing firm was behind a series of covert political influence operations in Latin America over the last year, Facebook-owner Meta (META.O) said this week, a rare exposé of an apparent U.S.-based misinformation-for-hire outfit. "It's a classic pattern that you tend to see with for-hire influence operations," said Ben Nimmo, Meta's Global Threat Intelligence Lead. Meta says it regularly takes down disinformation and misinformation operations in order to maintain the integrity of its platform. Twitter said in a September 2022 blog that it had shared datasets about influence operations with Cazadores. Former Twitter employees told Reuters in January that most of the staff involved in the TMRC had since left and Reuters could not determine if it was still operational.

☆ 33 Democrats urge ban on investor-state dispute provisions in all US trade deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-RhoadesWASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday urged the U.S. Trade Representative and State Department to eliminate investor-state dispute settlement provisions from current and future trade deals and to intervene on behalf of Honduras against a U.S. company's nearly $11 billion claim against the country. In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Trade Representative Katherine Tai seen by Reuters, 33 lawmakers said that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) systems in trade deals constitute a "problematic corporate handout" that violates countries' sovereignty and democracy rights. The Democrats signing the letter said the case could require impoverished Honduras to pay billions of taxpayer dollars to a company that has "weaponized" the dispute settlement provisions. The dispute settlement provisions had been a way to protect U.S. firms from abrupt changes in trading partners' government policies by providing recourse through arbitration. The letter cited Georgetown University research tallying $27.8 billion in ISDS settlement orders against Latin American governments, with Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico and Ecuador the worst hit.

☆ US to continue humanitarian program after Title 42 end date - joint statement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, May 2 (Reuters) - The United States will continue to accept migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela under a humanitarian program after May 11, when the COVID-19 health policy known as Title 42 is set to end, the U.S. and Mexican governments said on Tuesday. Mexico, for its part, will continue accepting back migrants returned to Mexico on humanitarian grounds, the two countries said in a joint statement. The statement also said the United States would accept some 100,000 people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras under a family reunification program announced last week, but did not give a time frame for that number. The statement came after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met with White House Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on Tuesday to discuss migration ahead Title 42's impending end. Tuesday's announcement indicates that a humanitarian parole program providing legal migration pathways for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans will continue after Title 42's end.

☆ Texas authorities arrest several people who may have helped fugitive hide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The bloodshed erupted on Friday in Cleveland, Texas, after neighbors asked the suspect to stop firing his semiautomatic rifle in his yard because it was keeping their baby awake. Instead, the man reloaded, entered the home of the neighbors and killed five, including an 8-year-old boy, officials said. "Anybody that helped this maniac definitely has some issues as far as I am concerned," Kean said. The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, was apprehended on Tuesday after a four-day manhunt conducted by local, state and federal officials. The suspect is a Mexican national who immigration officials said had been deported from the United States four times since 2009.

Cleveland, Texas CNN —The man accused of fatally shooting five neighbors, including a mother and her 9-year-old son, in a Texas home has been taken into custody after a dayslong manhunt, two law enforcement sources told CNN. The arrest was made in the town of Cut and Shoot, Texas, according to a federal law enforcement source. “One of the people who died saw when my wife fell to the ground,” Garcia told CNN. Family Photograph“Two people who died were protecting my 2 1/2-year-old daughter and my 1-month-old son,” Garcia said, sobbing. Sonia Argentina Guzman and her son, Daniel Enrique Laso-Guzman, were shot and killed by a neighbor Friday in Cleveland, Texas, officials said.

☆ In Texas, Aimless Gunfire Rattles Residents, but It’s Hard to Stop
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( J. David Goodman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

CLEVELAND, Texas — The sound of gunfire — whether from hunting, or target practice, or celebration — is common in much of rural America. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in Texas, where the occasional volley rarely raises alarm. Officers did not arrive until after the neighbor had stormed into the family’s house and killed five people, including a 9-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, with his AR-15-style rifle. More than 250 officers from a dozen agencies were working to find Mr. Oropesa, a Mexican immigrant who had been deported four times before. Law enforcement officials feared that he could be heading to Mexico, or may have already arrived there.

☆ Fugitive Accused of Killing 5 in Texas Was Deported Several Times, Officials Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Jesus Jiménez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Credit... FBIAn official with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Monday that an immigration judge had ordered I.C.E. to deport Mr. Oropesa to Mexico in March 2009. Mr. Oropesa illegally returned to the United States, and he was caught and removed several more times by I.C.E. and several Texas law enforcement agencies sought the fugitive, attention turned quickly to the immigration status of the suspect and his victims. officials did not immediately respond to an email about the immigration status of the victims who were killed, all of whom were from Honduras.

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