Central America

Pandemic disrupts remittances, leaving immigrants' families without lifelines

May 04, 2020

In normal times, millions of small financial transactions take place daily worldwide when immigrants wire a portion of their earnings to loved ones back home. This year, the economic crisis is wrecking that cash flow.

Top of The World

Workers' movements advocate for rights on May Day; Saudi activists allege man killed over megacity plans; Doctors wait hours as Venezuela faces fuel shortages

The World

May 01, 2020

As May Day celebrations and rallies have been curtailed, workers around the world are pushing for their rights. Fuel shortages are making life harder for Venezuelans, especially essential workers. And even as Lebanon teeters on the edge of economic collapse, some Americans are choosing to ride out the pandemic there. Meanwhile, Sweden's gardeners have become real party poopers.

Migration

'We're dead here': Migrants stranded in Panama rainforest amid coronavirus

The World

April 30, 2020

With borders closed and entire countries on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, some 2,000 migrants — many of them children under age 5 — have been detained for months in Panama, near the rainforest separating South and Central America.

COVID-19

In Central America, efforts to slow spread of coronavirus could lead to 'autocratic tendencies'

The World

March 20, 2020

While public health and medical workers worldwide agree on the urgency of the pandemic, human rights observers say they are becoming increasingly concerned with how some political leaders in Central America may use their emergency powers.

Environment

Rainforests are 'worth more alive than dead,' according to science — and economics

Living on Earth

November 22, 2019

Earth’s rainforests are astonishingly biodiverse ecosystems that can drive the climates of faraway continents, but they’re disappearing in the name of the kind of economic development that values rainforests more when logged, mined, or turned into farmland. A new book argues that the world’s rainforests are most valuable when kept intact.

Justice

Guatemala shut down its anti-corruption commission. Now its people worry about impunity.

The World

October 14, 2019

President Jimmy Morales, who is under investigation, shut down Guatemala's popular anti-corruption commission. Now the country is embroiled in a battle over its legacy.

How Trump’s bilateral deals with Central America undermine the US asylum system

The World

October 02, 2019

For the US, the deals with Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to take back migrants are like a fortification, shielding the country from taking responsibility for people seeking international protection. They add yet another line of defense to other drastic measures the US has recently taken to keep them out.

Immigration

Why it's harder to win asylum, even in New York

WNYC

May 15, 2019

New York has long had one of the most favorable immigration courts in the nation for asylum-seekers, but the number of immigrants who are denied asylum has nearly doubled, as compared to four years ago.

Immigration

As Trump eyes more family detention, experts say it puts kids at risk

The World

April 24, 2019

Doctors inspecting detention centers found problems with recruiting and retaining qualified pediatricians and mental health care providers, and a lack of access to emergency and specialty care, given the remote locations of most of the facilities.

Global Politics

One year after Nicaraguan uprising, Ortega is back in control

The Conversation

April 17, 2019

A massive protest movement exploded across Nicaragua in April 2018, threatening to topple the country's authoritarian regime. What happened to Central America's "tropical spring?"

Central America

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