Normal view

The promise of $1,000 in exchange for becoming one of Trump’s deportees: ‘I wanted to get out of detention, not out of the US’

2 May 2026 at 04:00

When Luis Andrés Monterroso López, 29, set foot on Guatemalan soil on December 19, 2025 — his first time back in three years — he was furious. Dressed in a gray jumpsuit and dark‑blue slippers, the standard uniform for migrants held in U.S. detention, he spoke to his mother on the phone while sitting outside the Guatemalan Air Force base where deportation flights land. “They don’t treat animals like this. I came back with my hands and feet shackled,” he told her, outraged.

Seguir leyendo

Andrés repairs the side mirror of a scooter in his auto repair shop in El Estoraque, in the village of Amatón, Quezada, Jutiapa, on March 13, 2026.

© Simona Carnino

José Andrés Monterroso López, deported from the United States on December 19, 2025, in the Guatemalan town of Amatón, on March 13, 2026.
  • ✇El País in English
  • China’s standing rises across Latin America as US reputation plummets Naiara Galarraga Gortázar
    Faced with Donald Trump’s aggressive and erratic policies during his second term in the White House, his southern neighbors are increasingly looking more favorably toward China, the United States’ main strategic rival. The Asian giant is the only major power gaining prestige among Latin Americans, according to a survey conducted by the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation, the magazine Nueva Sociedad, and the Diálogo y Paz group, released this week. China is gaining new supporters in the r
     

China’s standing rises across Latin America as US reputation plummets

23 April 2026 at 10:38

Faced with Donald Trump’s aggressive and erratic policies during his second term in the White House, his southern neighbors are increasingly looking more favorably toward China, the United States’ main strategic rival. The Asian giant is the only major power gaining prestige among Latin Americans, according to a survey conducted by the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation, the magazine Nueva Sociedad, and the Diálogo y Paz group, released this week. China is gaining new supporters in the region (up by 6 points) while the positive image of the U.S. is plummeting (a 17-point drop) and that of Europe is declining, dragged down by Germany and France. Twelve thousand people in 10 countries participated in the survey.

Seguir leyendo

© Evelyn Hockstein (REUTERS)

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, last year.
  • ✇The Rio Times
  • Latin America’s Silent 2026 Risk: A Returning El Niño Matias Sebastian Lopez
    Key Points — NOAA’s April 2026 outlook gives a 61% probability of El Niño emergence in the May-July window rising to 62% for June-August, with a 1-in-3 chance the event classifies as “strong” during October-December 2026. — A moderate-to-strong event would cut Andean GDP by 0.6-1.7 percentage points, threaten 50% of LATAM’s hydro-dependent electricity supply, […] The post Latin America’s Silent 2026 Risk: A Returning El Niño appeared first on The Rio Times.
     

Latin America’s Silent 2026 Risk: A Returning El Niño

21 April 2026 at 17:03

Key Points — NOAA’s April 2026 outlook gives a 61% probability of El Niño emergence in the May-July window rising to 62% for June-August, with a 1-in-3 chance the event classifies as “strong” during October-December 2026. — A moderate-to-strong event would cut Andean GDP by 0.6-1.7 percentage points, threaten 50% of LATAM’s hydro-dependent electricity supply, […]

The post Latin America’s Silent 2026 Risk: A Returning El Niño appeared first on The Rio Times.

  • ✇The Rio Times
  • How Latin America Turned Murder Into a Flourishing Global Industry Florencia Belén Ruiz
    Key Points — At least 108,838 people were murdered across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025, with contract killings accounting for a growing share in countries from Colombia to Peru — In Bogotá, half of all homicides are now classified as sicariato — professional hits carried out as outsourced services between criminal networks, with […] The post How Latin America Turned Murder Into a Flourishing Global Industry appeared first on The Rio Times.
     

How Latin America Turned Murder Into a Flourishing Global Industry

17 April 2026 at 12:17

Key Points — At least 108,838 people were murdered across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025, with contract killings accounting for a growing share in countries from Colombia to Peru — In Bogotá, half of all homicides are now classified as sicariato — professional hits carried out as outsourced services between criminal networks, with […]

The post How Latin America Turned Murder Into a Flourishing Global Industry appeared first on The Rio Times.

  • ✇Latin America Reports
  • Guatemala Supreme Court revokes arrest warrant for Colombia Attorney General   Alfie Pannell
    Bogotá, Colombia – The Supreme Court of Guatemala has overturned 26 arrest warrants issued last year by the country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, which targeted high-profile figures including Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo.  In a decision made public on Monday, the country’s high court ruled that the prosecutor’s office did not have the authority to issue the warrants in June last year.  The court order marks a setback for Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, which right
     

Guatemala Supreme Court revokes arrest warrant for Colombia Attorney General  

14 April 2026 at 23:43

Bogotá, Colombia – The Supreme Court of Guatemala has overturned 26 arrest warrants issued last year by the country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, which targeted high-profile figures including Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo. 

In a decision made public on Monday, the country’s high court ruled that the prosecutor’s office did not have the authority to issue the warrants in June last year. 

The court order marks a setback for Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, which rights groups have condemned as a rogue and politically-motivated body.

“[The Prosecutor’s Office] exceeded its legal powers by unlawfully issuing arrest warrants without having the legal authority to do so,” declared the Supreme Court in its ruling.

“The issuance of arrest warrants is a power reserved for trial judges… who are responsible for overseeing the investigation,” it continued.

In addition to targeting Camargo, the warrants issued last year sought the arrest of former Colombian Defense Minister and current Ambassador to the Holy See, Ivan Velasquez.

Both high-ranking Colombian officials were accused of obstruction of justice, corruption, and influence peddling during their tenure overseeing an investigation into bribes paid to Guatemalan officials by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. 

Camargo and Velasquez helped lead the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which investigated the Odebrecht case, a sweeping corruption scandal in which the construction firm was found guilty of bribing officials in 10 Latin American countries.

But the warrants, spearheaded by Guatemalan public prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, were widely decried at the time. 

Guatemala’s own government condemned the move, writing, “these actions are carried out with a clear political objective, without grounding in the national and international legal system.”

“These are part of a series of actions by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Attorney General of the Republic and judges associated with corruption that have distorted the meaning of justice in Guatemala,” added the Guatemalan government at the time. 


For years, Guatemala has seen a power struggle between its Attorney General’s Office, led by Maria Consuelo Porras, and the government.

Consuelo Porras has been condemned by rights groups for her efforts to block anti-corruption efforts in the country, which have seen her sanctioned by 40 countries, including the United States.

Public Prosecutor Curruchiche has also been widely condemned for interfering in democratic processes, suspending then-presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo’s party during elections in 2023; Arevalo went on to win.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the warrants, Curruchiche said he would launch an appeal in the country’s Constitutional Court. 

Featured image description: Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo gives a speech.

Featured image credit: @FiscaliaCol via X

The post Guatemala Supreme Court revokes arrest warrant for Colombia Attorney General   appeared first on Latin America Reports.

❌