NAYIB BUKELE

The State Department says it's imposing sanctions on two former Salvadoran presidents and dozens of other officials and judges in Central America.

Honduras plans to build the only island prison colony in the Western Hemisphere and send its most-feared gangsters there.

Central America is experiencing a wave of unrest that is remarkable even for a region whose history is riddled with turbulence.

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has been nominated by his New Ideas party to run for reelection in next year’s contest.

Honduras has started an El Salvador-style mass sweep of prisons and arrested a suspect in a pool-hall shooting last week that killed 11 people.

El Salvador's president has registered for reelection in next February’s contest even though legal experts and opposition figures say the country’s constitution prohibits it.

Authorities in Honduras are beginning to hand over to relatives the hacked, burned corpses of 46 women killed in the worst riot at a women’s prison in recent memory.

Over the past 15 months, El Salvador’s security forces have jailed tens of thousands of people in a massive crackdown on the country’s notorious gangs.

A stampede by fans at a quarterfinals soccer match in the Salvadoran league has left 12 people dead and injured dozens more.

Transgender people in El Salvador face violence and discrimination in their deeply religious country.

The Central American nation of El Salvador has finished a full year under anti-gang emergency measures that were originally supposed to last only a month.

El Salvador’s congress has voted to approve yet another extension of state-of-emergency allowing police to round up suspected members of street gangs.

El Salvador's government has sent 2,000 more suspects to a new prison built especially for gang members, and the justice minister vows that “they will never return” to the streets.

When El Salvador began making mass arrests of people with suspected gang affiliations last year, President Nayib Bukele ordered the construction of what would be the largest prison in Latin America.

Nine months into a state of emergency declared by President Nayib Bukele to fight street gangs, El Salvador has seen more than 1,000 documented human rights abuses and about 90 deaths of prisoners in custody.

Honduras has become the second country in Central America to impose a state of exception suspending some constitutional rights to deal with street gangs.

El Salvador’s government has taken its efforts against the country’s powerful street gangs to another level by sending inmates into cemeteries to destroy the tombs of gang members at a time of year when families typically visit their loved ones’ graves.

On March 26, El Salvador’s street gangs had killed 62 people across the country, igniting a nationwide furor.

Millennial leaders are rising at the United Nations General Assembly.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has told the U.N. General Assembly that wealthy countries should help — or at least not block — developing countries charting their own paths.

In the hours after El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced he would seek re-election despite a constitutional ban, opinion quickly divided.

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega’s government has closed seven radio stations this week owned by the Roman Catholic church, as well as two other outlets serving the largely rural northern area with a history of opposition.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin-boosting president is asking people to be patient after the price of the cryptocurrency fell below $20,000 _ less than half the price the government paid.

In the run-up to this week's Summit of the Americas, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador rebuffed attempts by U.S. officials to set up a phone call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Vice President Kamala Harris says the Biden administration's work to attract investment to Central America has generated $3.2 billion in private-sector commitments.

Over the past 10 weeks, El Salvador’s security forces have arrested more than 36,000 people since the congress granted President Nayib Bukele the power to suspend some civil liberties to pursue powerful street gangs.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has started a five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba by lashing out at the U.S. government.

El Salvador’s congress has granted a request by President Nayib Bukele to extend an anti-gang emergency decree for another 30 days.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is calling on the government of El Salvador to respect human rights, after authorities declared a state of emergency and rounded up 14,000 suspected gang members.

El Salvador's security forces have arrested more than 10,000 suspected gang members in just over two weeks under rules that free them from having to explain an arrest or grant access to a lawyer.

Thousands of cryptocurrency enthusiasts are gathering in Miami as the city builds its reputation as one of the key locations to develop the blockchain technology despite its underdog status.

El Salvador’s security forces have intensified their operations against the country’s street gangs with mass arrests, the cordoning off of entire neighborhoods and house-by-house searches under a state of emergency sought by President Nayib Bukele.

The government of El Salvador has arrested more than 600 gang suspects and ordered reductions in food for inmates, after a wave of killings over the weekend.

El Salvador's congress has granted President Nayib Bukele's request to declare a state of emergency, amid a wave of gang-related killings over the weekend.

Four Salvadoran women all had sought medical help for obstetric emergencies, and each ended up in prison sentenced to 30 years on aggravated homicide convictions for allegedly terminating their pregnancies.

The International Monetary Fund says that El Salvador should dissolve the $150 million trust fund it created when it made the cryptocurrency Bitcoin legal tender and return any of those unused funds to its treasury.

The International Monetary Fund wants El Salvador to drop the highly volatile cryptocurrency Bitcoin as legal tender and strictly regulate the electronic wallet the government has pushed adoption of across the country.

In a story published January 13, 2022, about the hacking of journalists' cellphones in El Salvador, The Associated Press erroneously reported the last name of one of the journalists involved.

Abortion rights groups say President Nayib Bukele’s government has freed three Salvadoran women who were sentenced to 30 years in prison under the nation’s strict anti-abortion laws after suffering obstetric emergencies.

Former student leader Gabriel Boric will be under quick pressure from his youthful supporters to fulfill his promises to remake Chile after the millennial politician won the country’s presidential runoff.

Allegations from the U.S. government that El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s administration negotiated with the country’s powerful street gangs touched a sensitive topic.

The U.S. Treasury says the government of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele secretly negotiated a truce with leaders of the country’s powerful street gangs.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele says his government will build an oceanside “Bitcoin City” at the base of a volcano.

At a geothermal power plant near El Salvador’s Tecapa volcano, 300 computers whir inside a trailer as they make complex mathematical calculations day and night verifying transactions for the cryptocurrency bitcoin.

Salvadorans trying to pay for a cup of coffee or receive money sent from relatives in the United States using the cryptocurrency bitcoin continued struggling to perform transactions, a day after El Salvador made it legal tender.

El Salvador has become the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, but the rollout stumbled in its first hours.

El Salvador’s top court and its election authority have tossed aside what seemed to be a constitutional ban on consecutive presidential reelection.

A judge in El Salvador has ordered the pre-trial arrest of 10 former government officials, including ex-President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, on corruption charges.

Prosecutors in El Salvador have issued an arrest warrant for former president Salvador Sánchez Cerén on charges of embezzlement and money laundering.

In El Salvador, most are not bothered by President Nayib Bukele’s dictatorial maneuvers -- sending armed troops into congress to coerce a vote, or ousting independent judges from the country’s highest court, paving the way to control all branches of government.

After El Salvador’s congress made the bitcoin legal tender this week, eyes turned to the rural fishing village of El Zonte on the Pacific coast.

El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly has approved legislation making the cryptocurrency Bitcoin legal tender in the country, the first country to do so.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has announced in a recorded message played at a Bitcoin conference in Miami that next week he will send proposed legislation to the country’s congress that would make the cryptocurrency legal tender in the Central American nation.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is trying to entice Central American nations to tackle the corruption and poverty that have helped drive a surge of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border and presented an early challenge for the Biden administration.

The New England Patriots’ team plane has delivered 500,000 Chinese-made COVID vaccines to El Salvador.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's Cabinet chief and other allies have been included in a list of senior officials in Central America deemed corrupt by the U.S. State Department.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has issued an executive order allowing parents to opt their children out of wearing masks in public schools.

The United States says it is gravely concerned over a vote by El Salvador’s new congress to remove magistrates of the constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court.

Aides to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele say he's refused to meet with a visiting senior U.S. diplomat over what he sees as a pattern of slights from Democrats and the Biden administration.

Saúl Meléndez was a guerrilla fighter during El Salvador’s civil war.

Young women place flowers on the perimeter wall of the Quintana Roo state offices sprayed with graffiti that reads in Spanish "Justice for Victoria," during a protest in Mexico City, Monday, March. The demonstrators were protesting the police killing in Tulum, Quintana Roo state, of Salvadoran national Victoria Esperanza Salazar when a female police officer knelt on her back to cuff her. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)MEXICO CITY – A Salvadoran woman who died in police custody over the weekend in a Caribbean beach resort had also suffered abuse by her companion, who has been arrested, Mexican authorities said Tuesday. Quintana Roo state Gov. Salazar's death increased tensions in Quintana Roo, where police used live ammunition to ward off a throng of about 100 demonstrators in Cancun in November.

Young women place flowers on the perimeter wall of the Quintana Roo state offices sprayed with graffiti that reads in Spanish "Justice for Victoria," during a protest in Mexico City, Monday, March. “She was brutally murdered by Tulum police officers in Quintana Roo, Mexico,” the president wrote. In the southern Mexico city of Tapachula, near the Guatemala border, Salazar requested and received refugee status. AdProtest marches were scheduled for later Monday in Tulum, Mexico City and San Salvador. AdThe woman’s death seemed likely to ignite tensions in Quintana Roo, where police used live ammunition to ward off a throng of about 100 demonstrators in Cancun in November.

President Nayib Bukele holds his ballots as he prepares to vote in local and legislative elections, at a polling station in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. El Salvador went to the polls in legislative and mayoral elections that could break the congressional deadlock that has tied the hands of President Nayib Bukele. AdBukele has blamed congress for blocking his efforts in everything from controlling crime to managing the coronavirus pandemic. Two years ago, Bukele sent heavily armed soldiers to surround the congress building during a standoff over security funding, earning rebukes internationally. “The story is not unique to El Salvador — Democratic elections have yielded antidemocratic leaders and governments, of the right and the left elsewhere in Latin America.

FILE - In this Feb. 17, 2021 file photo, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele speaks before the start of vaccination of medical staff with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Atlacatl Medical Unit of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute in San Salvador, El Salvador. That could change Sunday when Salvadorans go to the polls in local and legislative elections that observers and surveys suggest could remake the country’s political landscape. Anger with the parties that ruled El Salvador for nearly three decades swept Bukele into office in 2019, and frustration remains. “In El Salvador, there is selective justice, an unjust, circular, vicious system where only the wealthy are favored,” Pastor said. “The people have placed their hopes in President Bukele who has changed preconceptions and like it or not, has helped the people.”

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2020 file photo, people wearing masks attend a vigil for Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)HONG KONG — Hong Kong is reducing social distancing rules following a sharp drop in new coronavirus cases, including restarting indoor dining and reopening gyms. More than two-thirds of the new cases were in Seoul area, home to half of South Korea’s 51 million people. The company has contracted to provide 100 million doses — enough for 100 million Americans — by the end of June. “We just need the vaccine to arrive.”___ATLANTA — Snowy and icy weather across much of the nation has “significantly” delayed shipments of COVID-19 vaccine to Georgia, state health officials said Wednesday.

FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2020 file photo, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, accompanied by members of the armed forces, speaks to supporters outside Congress in San Salvador, El Salvador. The Biden administration turned down a meeting request with El Salvador's president on an unannounced trip to Washington on the first week of Feb. 2021. But like other world leaders befriended by Trump, he faces an uphill climb pivoting to the Biden administration, which is seeking to undo those policies and has signaled its relationship with El Salvador is under review. Bukele insisted that the trip was private and that he didn't request any meeting with Biden officials. Legislation passed last year and supported by Democrats curbs U.S. foreign aid to El Salvador to fund the purchase of U.S. military equipment.

In this image take from UNTV video, Nayib Armando Bukele, President of El Salvador, speaks in a pre-recorded video message during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at U.N. headquarters in New York. The tweet was widely shared in El Salvador. More recently, Stryk teamed up with another DC firm, Rational 360, which is run by veteran Democratic operatives including Joe Lockhart. El Salvador in October hired Rational 360 for $65,000 per month. Bukele’s government has also awarded a $780,000 contract to a newly formed U.S.-based entity called Invest El Salvador.

Women take pictures of an area destroyed by a deadly landslide in Nejapa, El Salvador, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. The slide occurred Thursday night when earth from the upper part of the San Salvador volcano was set in motion, sweeping up trees and homes. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

Women take pictures of an area destroyed by a deadly landslide in Nejapa, El Salvador, Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. The slide occurred Thursday night when earth from the upper part of the San Salvador volcano was set in motion, sweeping up trees and homes. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)SAN SALVADOR – A landslide left nine people dead, seven injured and one missing after torrential rains in El Salvador, civil defense officials said Friday. Local resident Roxana Ruíz came to the search area looking for news of her cousin; she later learned her body had been found. “We believe that we can find people alive and we are not going to rest,” said Interior Minister Mario Durán.

As late as last week, the United Nations still listed the deposed president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, as an upcoming speaker. But the final countries addressed the U.N. gathering on Tuesday afternoon with no word from Mali. Before this latest coup, extremists were moving south into more densely populated areas, adding to the frustrations that fed massive protests in the weeks ahead of the coup. He delivered a prerecorded address Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly’s annual meeting of global leaders, being held virtually this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Emirati foreign minister also warned against what he said were “the expansionist ambitions of some countries in the region."

SAN SALVADOR – El Salvador's next ambassador to Washington is someone President Donald Trump might remember from his days as a beauty pageant boss. While Bukele has endeared himself to Trump by backing his hardline immigration policies, he's faced criticism among human rights and pro-democracy activists for defying El Salvador's supreme court and congress. Bukele last year signed a bilateral agreement that would allow the U.S. to send asylum seekers from other countries to El Salvador. Mayorga was a top 10 finalist at the 1996 Miss Universe won by Alicia Machado, a former Miss Venezuela who campaigned against Trump in the 2016 campaign. Machado accused Trump of labeling her with a sexist nickname — “Miss Piggy” — that caused her shame and humiliation after she was crowned Miss Universe.

FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2008 file photo, people hold banners depicting six Jesuit priests massacred in 1989, during a memorial to mark the 19th anniversary of their death, in San Salvador. For years, attempts within El Salvador to investigate and prosecute the masterminds of the massacre during that countrys civil war have been delayed and deflected by legal maneuvers. (Edgar Romero/AP Photo File)

For years, attempts within El Salvador to investigate and prosecute the masterminds of the massacre during that countrys civil war have been delayed and deflected by legal maneuvers. (Edgar Romero/AP Photo File)SAN SALVADOR – For years, attempts within El Salvador to investigate and prosecute the masterminds of a massacre of six Jesuit priests during that country’s civil war have been delayed and deflected by legal maneuvers. But the officers appealed and the case made it to the Supreme Court last year where it sits today. Two officers served short sentences in El Salvador, but were released in 1993 during the amnesty. Baulenas said authorities in El Salvador continue to resist efforts to determine who was involved in planning the murders.

Imprisoned gang members, wearing protective face masks, look out from behind bars during a media tour of the prison in Quezaltepeque, El Salvador, Friday, Sept. 4, 2020. President Nayib Bukele denied a report Friday that his government has been negotiating with one of the countrys most powerful gangs to lower the murder rate and win their support in mid-term elections in exchange for prison privileges. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

SAN SALVADOR – For months, the strictest measures confronting the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America seemed to keep infections in check in El Salvador, but a gradual reopening combined with a political stalemate has seen infections increase nearly fourfold. It’s a reversal in a country that early in the pandemic seemed to have the situation under control. On Friday, the Supreme Court declared Bukele's decree regulating the economic re-opening unconstitutional, saying the president cannot suspend fundamental rights. Bukele responded with a tweet that read: “In every country in the world, governments order gradual re-openings to control the pandemic. "If El Salvador collapses, we all go down and we’re already sinking.”

Mechanics return to work three-months after a lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the new coronavirus in Ciudad Delgado, El Salvador, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)SAN SALVADOR – After nearly three months of mandatory stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19 in El Salvador, the most locked down country in Latin America slowly began opening Tuesday. That meant that 28-year-old auto mechanic Antonio Perdomo could go back to work on the outskirts of the capital. President Nayib Bukele finally relented after repeated decisions by the constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court found his mandatory quarantine orders unconstitutional. El Salvador’s reopening will be gradually extending into August.

Vehicles stand damaged by the Acelhuate River after a flash flood at a neighborhood in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, May 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)SAN SALVADOR – Rains from Tropical Storm Amanda left at least 17 dead and seven missing while causing extensive damage across El Salvador and Guatemala that pushed thousands of people into shelters amid the coronavirus pandemic. EL Salvador Interior Minister Mario Durán said Monday some 7,000 people were scattered across 154 shelters. Amanda pounded El Salvador with rain for days before moving ashore as a tropical storm on Sunday and pushing across Guatemala. Mexico issued a tropical storm warning from Campeche west to the port of Veracruz, expecting the depression to become a tropical storm Monday night or Tuesday.

Still, experts warn that the popular president’s harsh move could backfire, unite the country’s powerful gangs against his government and return El Salvador to the days when it was one of the world’s deadliest countries. The hyper-violent gangs started in Southern California and then took hold when members were deported, inserting themselves into everyday life. In response, Bukele circulated photos of tattooed, nearly naked gang members marched into prison yards and made to sit so closely they were touching. He called on human rights defenders to protect their incarcerated members and said they weren’t responsible for the surge in murders. When a gang truce fell apart under the administration of President Mauricio Funes, El Salvador became one of the world’s deadliest countries with 6,657 murders in 2015 or 104 per 100,000 residents.

Forty-three tested positive despite showing no signs of illness and are in medical quarantine, officials said. He said flights would be suspended until the U.S. certifies passengers on such flights are free of the new virus. The agency says 124 have tested positive for COVID-19 in 25 detention facilities. DHS learned that four on a March 26 flight tested positive after arriving in Guatemala. Honduran officials said they weren't aware of any cases among deportees, who undergo 14-day quarantine on arrival even if asymptomatic.

Muyshondt acknowledged in an interview with local television that he met with gang members, but said it was to ask them to allow his party supporters to vote. El Salvador has posted yearly homicide rates among the highest on the planet, though killings are down about half this year compared with 2015, when it had the most murders per capita in the world. “This gives positive signs” of cooperation between the Justice Ministry, police and prosecutors, security analyst Ricardo Sosa said of the sentences. The gangs are involved in drug trafficking, extortion and organized crime, and are blamed for most of the country's violence. In 2015, El Salvador's Supreme Court defined MS-13 and 18th Street as terrorist groups, allowing courts to give gang members tougher sentences.