https://www.scmp.com/rss/522040/feed Nayib Bukele: Known for his decisive leadership, he has served as President of El Salvador since 2019, having previously been Mayor of San Salvador and Nuevo Cuscatlán. With a background in business, his presidency is largely defined by an aggressive "Mano Dura" policy against gangs, which has dramatically reduced the country’s homicide rate. He also controversially made Bitcoin legal tender. Bukele’s approach, while popular, has drawn criticism regarding human rights and democratic norms,... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Latin American nations to use military power against the “cancer” of drug cartels and offered to support them with US missile strikes targeting narco kingpins. Trump, currently waging a war with Iran, laid out a muscular position for advancing Washington’s interests in the western hemisphere, pronouncing that communist-led Cuba was “in its last moments of life” and advocating tough action by allies against organised crime blighting the region. He... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345839/trump-offers-latin-american-leaders-us-missile-strikes-hit-drug-cartels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345839/trump-offers-latin-american-leaders-us-missile-strikes-hit-drug-cartels?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 17:46:34 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez won Costa Rica’s presidential election on Sunday by a landslide, after promising to crack down hard on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, centre-right economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 per cent needed to avoid a run-off. With 81.24 per cent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves had 48.94 per... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3342075/costa-rica-elects-tough-talking-right-winger-president?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3342075/costa-rica-elects-tough-talking-right-winger-president?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 07:06:50 +0000 Reuters Reuters CBS News pulled a 60 Minutes report on El Salvador’s CECOT prison just hours before its ‍scheduled Sunday broadcast, saying it would air at a future time. “The broadcast line-up for tonight’s edition of 60 Minutes has been updated,” the programme posted on social media. “Our report ‘Inside CECOT’ will air in a future broadcast,” the programme posted on social media three hours before it was slated to air. A CBS News spokesperson said in ⁠an email that the segment “needed additional reporting”.... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3337379/did-cbs-postpone-60-minutes-report-el-salvador-prison-political-reasons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3337379/did-cbs-postpone-60-minutes-report-el-salvador-prison-political-reasons?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Dec 2025 13:38:22 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The White House on Thursday announced trade agreements with Argentina, Guatemala, Ecuador and El Salvador, the latest deals since US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs around the world. Bananas and coffee are among the groceries whose prices could fall for stretched US consumers, it said, amid growing discontent about the cost of living under Trump’s second presidency. The four countries, all in America’s backyard in South and Central America, agreed to open their markets to US... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3332715/bananas-and-beef-white-house-unveils-latin-america-trade-deals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3332715/bananas-and-beef-white-house-unveils-latin-america-trade-deals?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 23:38:19 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Several poor countries, mostly in Africa, have agreed to take deportees from the United States as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants. What motivates them? The African nations of Rwanda, South Sudan and eSwatini have already accepted deportees – almost entirely citizens of other countries – as has El Salvador in Central America. Uganda, too, has agreed to take deportees, including one of the most high-profile cases, a Salvadorean man named Kilmar Armando Abrego... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323498/why-are-so-many-nations-accepting-deportees-trumps-america?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3323498/why-are-so-many-nations-accepting-deportees-trumps-america?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2025 09:27:11 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse El Salvador’s government on Saturday criticised a Paris Fashion Week show that made references to inmates at the country’s CECOT mega-prison, with President Nayib Bukele joking that he could send prisoners to France. At Mexican-American designer Willy Chavarria’s show in Paris on Friday, the white T-shirts and shorts worn by his models invoked the uniforms worn by inmates at the Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT). Bukele had the maximum-security prison built to hold gang members arrested in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3316267/el-salvador-takes-swipe-paris-fashion-show-over-tribute-mega-prison-gangs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3316267/el-salvador-takes-swipe-paris-fashion-show-over-tribute-mega-prison-gangs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Jun 2025 07:50:48 +0000