This week,The BS rec’d a letter from MARIO GUEVARA, the only known journalist detained on US soil by ICE. For wks, we’ve worked w/ his family to obtain Mario’s handwritten letter + the 2 drawings of his cell. The letter is also available in Spanish. bittersoutherner.com/journalist-m...

In a letter to the @bittersouth.bsky.social, journalist Mario Guevara—a legal resident of the U.S. who’s been jailed for 100 days without any pending criminal charges and who’s currently fighting an ICE deportation order—recounts the harrowing details of his detention in an Atlanta federal prison.

Support Central America Monthly: If you find value in this exercise in seeking sharper journalistic answers to key questions in our region, become a crowdfunder today. On the 15th of every month, we promise to keep bringing you uncomfortable truths. support.elfaro.net

The Tertulia: Expert on authoritarianism Ruth Ben-Ghiat's study of the political strategies and impact of the most prominent authoritarians, as diverse as Mussolini, Gaddafi, Putin, and Pinochet, identifies common threads and strategies to combat them. beta.elfaro.net/en/the-tertu...

By Invitation: A foreign tsunami is arriving in the form of investments new settlers on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, reports Álvaro Murillo. At the epicenter of this trend, a town called Nosara, there are ten swimming pools for every social welfare home. beta.elfaro.net/en/by-invita...

Essay: This is an intimate story of a man condemned to die in pain amid the precariousness of El Salvador’s public health system, where healing depends on the patient’s economic capacity, writes deputy editor Sergio Arauz. This is the story of my father's death. beta.elfaro.net/en/spotlight...

El Faro Editorial Board: When the interests of authoritarians conflict with the public interest, theirs always prevail. The Salvadoran government made two agreements that clash head-on; the latter is a deal to save a criminal: Nayib Bukele. beta.elfaro.net/en/el-faro-w...

Central American Lens: Gangs kept Salvadorans on their knees for more than two and a half decades. This phenomenon gripped a country reeling from mass deportations in the 1990s, taking root in the most precarious and forgotten communities. beta.elfaro.net/en/central-a...

The Case File: One died, eight remain in the U.S., and 18 are purportedly imprisoned in Bukele’s jails, writes MS-13 investigator Carlos García. The case files of these veteran leaders of MS-13 show abundant evidence of their secret agreements with Bukele for years. beta.elfaro.net/en/case-file...

The Case File: As leaders of MS-13, the most murderous gang in post-war El Salvador, face charges in New York as leaders of a terrorist organization, Trump and Bukele turned them into political pawns for “geopolitical reasons,” writes editor-in-chief Óscar Martínez. beta.elfaro.net/en/a-region-...

From 2021: Congressman Óscar Nájera admits Honduras is a narcostate. He spent three decades representing a province along the cocaine corridor. But his career reached its end last month, writes director @carlosdada.bsky.social. The Cacique of Colón lost his immunity. beta.elfaro.net/en/from-the-...

Podcast: Under three months until election day in Honduras, lawfare and institutional capture threaten credibility, campaign auditors have no budget, candidates have been assassinated, and parties are already dabbling in accusations of fraud. beta.elfaro.net/en/case-file...

Interview: Honduran journalist Óscar Estrada suspects the elections are being soiled with narco-donations to all parties. “The conditions before 2021 have not changed,” he reasons, adding that US courtrooms have left cartel operations mostly unscathed. beta.elfaro.net/en/spotlight...

Letter from the Editor: It can be said about El Salvador like it can be said about Honduras: There is evidence that all three political machines of the last three decades partnered with organized crime for their political benefit, writes @romangressier.com. beta.elfaro.net/en/letter-fr...

🗞️ Rumblings in Honduras: Final Stretch to Elections Marked by Old Faces and Older Vices Read Issue No. 5 of Central America Monthly: beta.elfaro.net/en/monthly/i...

📰 Trump Knew First: How His Ambassador Sat on Evidence of Bukele’s Gang Pacts — Five Years Ago Read Issue No. 4 of Central America Monthly: beta.elfaro.net/en/monthly/i...

Walter Sandoval had a clean bill of health when he entered the police station in Ahuachapán. Just 72 hours later, his corpse showed signs of torture. His was the first of hundreds of known in-custody deaths under the state of exception in El Salvador. beta.elfaro.net/en/el-salvad...

🚨NEW: Further stories of the horrors inflicted on people the Trump admin imprisoned in El Salvador without trial are emerging. Three men describes how they were punished by guards — stripped naked, beaten for six days straight as men and women watching laughed and mocked them.

📰 Letters on Exile: From Central America to Chile to Equatorial Guinea This third issue of Central America Monthly looks at the growing ranks of political refugees: From Nicaragua to Guatemala to El Salvador, a new Central American exile is upon us. beta.elfaro.net/en/monthly/i...

I want to add a small but suggestive experience to this. In a recent piece I did for @newyorker.com about ICE arrests of Democratic officials and lawmakers, we got a comment from the White House, in which a spokesperson said that the magazine was “encouraging lawless behavior” by reporting on it.

NEW: the Trump admin has moved to terminate TPS for Honduras and Nicaragua, covering over 50,000 people Both of these designations date back to 1999, meaning Trump wants to strip legal status from people here legally who have had a background check every 18 months for the last 26 years.

El 1.° de julio del 2025, por primera vez en la historia reciente, el Tribunal de Corte Plena solicitó levantar la inmunidad a un presidente de la República en ejercicio.

🚨NEW: A police intelligence source asserts that Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro ordered two senior police commissioners in El Salvador to plant false evidence of drug trafficking against members of El Faro. beta.elfaro.net/en/el-salvad...

In a rare account of the notorious prison in El Salvador where the Trump administration deported Venezuelan and Salvadoran migrants, Kilmar Abrego García’s lawyers said he and others were severely beaten and forced to kneel for nine straight hours.

ATTN IMMIGRATION ATTORNEYS/ADVOCATES: I'm working on a piece about ICE continuing to detain people AFTER they have won relief from an immigration judge. Pls reach out on Signal - tanvim.05 - if you have represented someone who has had that experience or been tracking this? TY.

The government is putting more and more pressure on journalists reporting on ICE. We all must speak out against these chilling tactics.

#ElReporte | ▶️ El régimen sandinista volvió a destituir y a nombrar a una nueva rectora de la UNAN-León. Como novedad y sin mayor explicación, la nueva rectora Cecila Chévez tomó posesión ante el presidente de la Asamblea Nacional, Gustavo Porras👇🏼 youtu.be/yK_eAhxHYjc?...

#English | Former prosecutor Francisco Dall’Anese “confident in OIJ’s investigative capacity”, but warns “it will depend on the professionalism with which the murderers acted”👇🏼 confidencial.digital/en/nation/if...

"Ethnic Cleansing": U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Israel's War in Gaza

The current wave of ICE raids in Los Angeles is not merely about enforcement, write Axel Montepeque and Linda Alvarez of CSU Northridge. These migrants are being punished for trying to survive outside the structure built to contain them. #efOpinion beta.elfaro.net/en/opinion-e...

DHS Ends TPS for Haitians, State Department Maintains Level 4 Travel Warning DHS says conditions in Haiti are safe enough to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, even as the State Department warns U.S. citizens about of dangers. austinkocher.substack.com/p/dhs-ends-t...

El Salvador Police Say Quotas and Rumors Fueled Bukele’s Mass Arrests www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/w...

🎙️Guatemala and Honduras agree with Trump to receive third-country asylum claims, Costa Rica investigates whether a Nicaraguan government-backed hit squad is targeting exiles, and Trump seeks to deport MS-13 leaders before they testify about Bukele’s gang negotiations. beta.elfaro.net/en/elfaro-au...

@elfaroenglish.bsky.social is among best journalistic outlets—essential info on Central America—and has outdone itself with this look at an enemies list of a former Salvadoran dictator. An excellent demonstration of reading outward from a single primary source. beta.elfaro.net/en/the-tertu...

Read the second issue of Central America Monthly, our digital magazine dedicated to political prisoners in El Salvador and the repressive parallels between the Salvadoran and Nicaraguan dictatorships 👇

🗞️Silencing Dissent: The Return of Political Prisoners in El Salvador Today, Central America Monthly identifies a playbook of repression in El Salvador and Nicaragua: total power, police states, foreign-agents laws, exiles, and political prisoners. beta.elfaro.net/en/monthly/i...

The APES called on the international community in El Salvador to demand official answers regarding this situation, noting, “this is the first time that they [El Faro journalists] have been prevented from entering the country under the imminent threat of arrests.” apes.org.sv/apes-denunci...

In 2021, the Inter-American Commission issued measures on behalf of 34 members of El Faro, citing “urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to their human rights” and calling on El Salvador to protect their rights to life, personal integrity, and freedom of expression. www.oas.org/en/iachr/jsF...

The APES reports that prosecutors did not provide information about arrest warrants for El Faro journalists denounced in May, after the publication of revelations about Nayib Bukele’s gang negotiations, “increases suspicions of a possible unjustified persecution.” beta.elfaro.net/en/el-salvad...

This weekend, El Faro journalists did not board flights to El Salvador after learning of a police operation to arrest them upon arrival. The Salvadoran Journalists' Association called on the government to clarify the judicial standing and guarantee press protections. 🧵 apes.org.sv/apes-denunci...

We hope our FOIA lawsuit will help Rümeysa Öztürk defend herself if the Department of Homeland Security continues its efforts to deport her, and make it more difficult for ICE agents the next time they want to drag a journalist off the street.

🎙️Rosario Murillo holds the reins in Nicaragua. By their own decree, she and Daniel Ortega are now “co-presidents” ruling without the separation of powers, not even on paper. Three moments help explain Murillo’s rise — but just how durable is her newfound power? beta.elfaro.net/en/elfaro-au...

Today, in a case declared secret, a Salvadoran court ordered the provisional imprisonment of Ruth López of human rights organization @cristosal.bsky.social. “They won't silence me. I want a public trial!” declared López. “I am innocent! I am a political prisoner.” beta.elfaro.net/en/ef-photo-...

@elfaroenglish.bsky.social‬ @romangressier.com‬ #GSN #Guatemala #GuatemalaGenocide #GuatemalaGenocidio #MayaIxil

“The dead fall in silence in Bajo Aguán, hidden among endless rows of palm trees. The fight for the precious palm oil produced in the region has turned Honduras' most fertile valley into a land of torture, threats, and unsolved murders.” #efPhoto beta.elfaro.net/en/ef-photo-...

Along with today’s newsletter, we translated and published two pieces from our archive. “In the Aguán Valley, where campesinos battle landowners for control of a labyrinth of palm trees spanning the Caribbean coast, the state is little more than a silent observer.” beta.elfaro.net/en/central-a...

Last month, prosecutors charged alleged members of Los Cachos for the murder of campesinos in Bajo Aguán, a land conflict that Pres. Xiomara Castro promised to address through agrarian reform and U.N.-backed initiatives like a Truth Commission still under negotiation. beta.elfaro.net/en/central-a...

Today we mark 30 episodes of #CentralAmericaInMinutes with audio evidence of corruption first published by @lanacioncr.bsky.social that has led to an unprecedented probe against a sitting president in Costa Rica 👇

🎙️ In Costa Rica, evidence of corruption against President Rodrigo Chaves leads the Supreme Court to discuss the possible removal of his immunity. Honduran President Xiomara Castro will be interim defense minister after ruling-party candidate Rixi Moncada resigns. beta.elfaro.net/en/elfaro-au...

There is a military police force in El Salvador — and there should not be, writes Daniel Olmedo in #efOpinion. Its very existence violates the Constitution and the Peace Accords. beta.elfaro.net/en/opinion-e...