SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Six people, apparently including the German businessman behind Gold’s Gym, were feared dead Saturday after a small plane crashed into the Caribbean just off the Costa Rican coast.
All five passengers are believed to be German citizens, according to Security Minister Jorge Torres. The plane’s pilot was Swiss.
Costa Rican authorities said pieces of the twin-engine turboprop aircraft were found in the water Saturday, after the flight went missing Friday.
A flight plan filed for the small, charter plane listed Rainer Schaller as a passenger. A man by the same name runs international chains of fitness and gym outlets, including Gold’s Gym and McFit.
Martín Arias, Costa Rica’s assistant security minister, said no bodies had been located yet at the site, about 17 miles (28 kilometers) off the coast from the Limon airport.
“Pieces have been found that indicate that this is the aircraft,” Arias said. “Up to now we have not found any bodies dead or alive.”
The plane was a nine-seat Italian-made Piaggio P180 Avanti, known for its distinctive profile.
The plane disappeared from radar as it was heading to Limon, a resort town on the coast.
Security Minister Torres said the flight had set out from Mexico.
“Around six in the afternoon we received an alert about a flight coming from Mexico to the Limon airport, carrying five German passengers,” Torres said. A search started immediately but was called off temporarily due to bad weather.
Rainer Schaller was in the news in 2010 for his role as organizer of the Berlin Love Parade techno festival. A crush at the event killed 21 people and injured more than 500. Authorities at the time said Schaller’s security failed to stop the flow of people into a tunnel when the situation was already tense at the entrance to the festival grounds.
Schaller fought back against the accusations of wrongdoing, noting that his security concept received official city approval.
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Six people, apparently including a German business magnate, were feared dead Saturday after a small plane crashed into the Caribbean just off the Costa Rican coast.
All five passengers are believed to be German citizens, according to Security Minister Jorge Torres. The plane’s pilot was Swiss.
Costa Rican authorities said pieces of the twin-engine turboprop aircraft were found in the water Saturday, after the flight went missing Friday.
A flight plan filed for the small, charter plane listed Rainer Schaller as a passenger. A man by the same name runs international chains of fitness and gym outlets, including Gold’s Gym and McFit.
Martín Arias, Costa Rica’s assistant security minister, said no bodies had been located yet at the site, about 17 miles (28 kilometers) off the coast from the Limon airport.
“Pieces have been found that indicate that this is the aircraft,” Arias said. “Up to now we have not found any bodies dead or alive.”
The plane was a nine-seat Italian-made Piaggio P180 Avanti, known for its distinctive profile.
The plane disappeared from radar as it was heading to Limon, a resort town on the coast.
Security Minister Torres said the flight had set out from Mexico.
“Around six in the afternoon we received an alert about a flight coming from Mexico to the Limon airport, carrying five German passengers,” Torres said. A search started immediately but was called off temporarily due to bad weather.
Rainer Schaller was in the news in 2010 for his role as organizer of the Berlin Love Parade techno festival. A crush at the event killed 21 people and injured more than 500. Authorities at the time said Schaller’s security failed to stop the flow of people into a tunnel when the situation was already tense at the entrance to the festival grounds.
Schaller fought back against the accusations of wrongdoing, noting that his security concept received official city approval.
One migrant is dead, another is wounded and at least seven others are languishing in detention three weeks after twin brothers allegedly opened fire on them in the Texas desert, claiming they mistook them for wild hogs during a hunting trip.
Yet, the accused shooters, 60-year-old brothers Michael and Mark Sheppard, who both worked in local law enforcement, were initially released on half a million dollars bail after being jailed briefly on manslaughter charges.
The case has caused outrage among advocates for the victims and survivors, who say their detention violates a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement directive that calls for giving strong consideration to the fact that they were crime victims who cooperated with authorities in determining whether they should be released.
This combination of booking photos provided by the El Paso, Texas, County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 1, 2022, shows brothers Mark Sheppard, left, and Michael Sheppard, who authorities say opened fire on a group of migrants getting water near the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022.
El Paso County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File
“This is a hate crime that occurred immediately after they were crossing into the United States,” said Zoe Bowman, the supervising attorney at Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, who is representing the seven detained survivors.
Michael Sheppard, who was a warden at the troubled West Texas Detention Facility where he was accused of abuse, and his brother, Mark, who worked for the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office, were recently again taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the Sept. 27 shooting.
The sheriff’s office did not say where they were being held or why they were initially released on bond. The case is being investigated by the Texas Rangers, an arm of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are often victims of crimes, including human trafficking, but most happen south of the border. A clear cut case like this one, in which migrants are the victims of a widely publicized crime on U.S. soil in which charges have been brought against identified suspects, can provide a rare paper trail to protection under a visa for migrants who are crime victims in the U.S., Bowman said.
But despite the August 2021 ICE directive that strongly encourages the release of crime victims while the lengthy visa process is underway, these migrants remain in detention, Bowman said.
Six of the surviving migrants are being held at the El Paso Processing Center — an ICE detention facility — while a seventh is in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and is expected to be transferred to the West Texas Detention Facility, the embattled lockup where Michael Sheppard was a warden.
“It certainly seems like they are not putting the needs of these people first by choosing to hold onto them,” Bowman said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials did not respond to phone and email requests for comment on the migrants’ detention.
The migrants told authorities they were drinking water from a reservoir on county land in Sierra Blanca, south of El Paso in the hot, dry Chihuahuan Desert, when two men — identified in court documents as the Sheppard brothers — pulled over in a truck. The migrants said they ran to hide.
Mark Sheppard told investigators he and his brother were out hunting and thought they had spotted a javelina, a kind of wild hog, when they opened fire. “Mark Sheppard told us he used binoculars and saw a ‘black butt’ thinking it was a javelina,” court documents said.
But the migrants told authorities the men in the truck yelled and cursed at them in Spanish, taunting at them to come out, and revved their engine as they backed up. When the group emerged from hiding, the driver exited the vehicle and fired two shots at them.
Jesús Iván Sepúlveda was shot and killed. Brenda Berenice Casias Carrillo was struck in the stomach and seriously wounded.
Silvia Carrillo, the wounded woman’s aunt, told The Associated Press that she heard from her niece via WhatsApp on Sept. 25 that the group was beginning the precarious desert journey from Mexico into Texas and was turning off their phones. When she next made contact with Casias two days later, her niece told her the group had been shot at and she lay wounded, fearing she would die.
Carrillo encouraged her niece to call 911 for help. Also in the group of 13 migrants were Carrillo’s two sons, another niece and a son-in-law. Casias told her they were all okay but another man who was with them — 22-year-old Sepulveda of Durango, Mexico — was dead.
“I felt like I was going to die, I was desperate and imagined the worst,” Carrillo said.
When authorities arrived in response to her 911 call, Casias was taken to a hospital and the other survivors were questioned by federal and immigration officials. Their testimonies led to the arrest of the Sheppard brothers, after which the witnesses were placed in ICE custody.
On Oct. 7, Carrillo said she spoke to Casias again, this time from the hospital. Casias sounded weak, but said she was slowly getting better and had one more surgery to go.
Casias remains stable and improving and has some legal protection, her attorney, Marysol Castro, managing attorney for Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services in El Paso, said Tuesday. She declined to provide specifics because she said her client is afraid for her safety since learning of the Sheppard brothers’ initial release.
Bowman said she is seeking visas intended for migrants who are crime victims for her clients, but even though the case has been widely publicized it could take months to produce the necessary court documents.
In the meantime, she has petitioned, without success so far, for them to be released to sponsors in the U.S. — a decision that is solely at the discretion of ICE authorities.
John Sandweg, an attorney who served as ICE director during the Obama administration, said other factors like the survivors’ role as witnesses could mean that authorities choose to keep them in detention so they are nearby to testify in the case.
Still, on the face of it, he said, “there is not a good reason” why these migrants remain detained.
“The bottom line is that study after study after study and ICE’s own data has demonstrated the effectiveness of alternatives to detention,” Sandweg said, adding that the system “is in critical need of reform.”
Meanwhile, Carrillo said she and relatives of the other survivors await answers on the fate of their loved ones in the country they journeyed to for a better life, and are calling for the shooters to be brought to justice.
“I just want them to do justice for my niece and for Jesus, the man who died,” Carrillo said.
NECOCLI, Colombia (AP) — Venezuelan Gilbert Fernández still plans to cross the dangerous Darien jungle into Panama and head toward the United States over land, despite a U.S. announcement that it will grant conditional humanitarian permits only to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants arriving by air.
“The news hit us like a bucket of cold water,” Fernández said Thursday, a day after the announcement, which also stated that Venezuelans arriving by land at the Mexico-U.S. border would be returned to Mexico.
Fernández spoke to The Associated Press on a beach in Necocli, a Colombian town where about 9,000 people, mostly Venezuelans, waited to board a boat to take them to the entrance of the Darien Gap connecting the South American country to Panama. From there, migrants head by land up Central America through Mexico toward the U.S.
Some on the Colombian beach said they would seek other routes into the United States or give up the voyage after hearing the news. Critics noted that the announced number of humanitarian visas is just a fraction of the number of Venezuelans seeking to enter the United States.
But for Fernández it was too late to turn back. He said he sold his car and his land in Venezuela to finance the trip with his 18-year-old son and his friends, and he no longer has money for a plane ticket to the U.S.
“Those of us who have already started, how are we going to do that?” he wondered. “We are already involved in this.”
The U.S. and Mexico said Wednesday that the Biden administration agreed to accept up to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants at U.S. airports while Mexico agreed to take back Venezuelans who come to the U.S. over land.
Venezuelans who walk or swim across the border will be immediately returned to Mexico under a pandemic rule known as Title 42 authority, which suspends rights to seek asylum under U.S. and international law on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
The U.S. offer to the Venezuelans is modeled on a similar program for Ukrainians who fled Russia’s invasion.
The moves are a response to a dramatic increase in migration from Venezuela, which surpassed Guatemala and Honduras in August to become the second largest nationality arriving at the U.S. border after Mexico.
For some, the offer of 24,000 humanitarian visas is not enough given the dimensions of Venezuela’s migration situation, and many consider the conditions on those visas too difficult.
María Clara Robayo, an investigator for the Venezuelan Observatory at Colombia’s Del Rosario University, said the flow of migrants through the Darien Gap might be reduced a bit but won’t stop.
“People will continue exposing themselves to precarious situations” crossing the jungle, she said.
Jeremy Villegas arrived in Necocli in a group of 30 people, most of whom are turning back or looking for other routes. He said he is still undecided and is waiting to hear from people who are farther along the route to know if it is worth the risk.
Cristian Casamayor said he has decided to stop his journey through the Darien after hearing of the new U.S. policy.
“I stopped out of awareness and being smart … they mark your passport and you can no longer enter the United States,” he said, adding that he has not decided where he will go now. All he knows is that he will not return to Venezuela.
Mario Ricardo Camejo, a member of the nonprofit Colombian-Venezuelan foundation Fundacolven, said that while they appreciate any help and humanitarian visas from countries like the U.S., they worry the help comes with conditions that make it difficult on the poorest migrants. For example, having to arrive by plane and having a financial sponsor.
“Automatically, a filter is created that ensures the help does not reach the people who need it most,” Camejo said.
Of the more than 7.1 million Venezuelans who have left their country due to the social and economic crisis, at least 4.3 million have difficulties accessing food, housing and formal employment, according to a report released Wednesday by the International Organization for Migration and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Venezuelans back in that country’s capital agreed the new rules will hurt.
“The people who leave by land have no money, no visa, no family there” in the United States, José Santana said in Caracas’ central plaza. “It is useless for them to say that they are going to let many enter by plane.”
MEXICO CITY — Tropical Storm Karl turned to the south Thursday and headed for Mexico’s Gulf coast, though forecasters said it was unlikely to reach hurricane force.
The storm had been heading slowly to the north before weather conditions halted it and turned it around. It was expected to weaken somewhat before hitting the coast of Veracruz or Tabasco states by late Friday or early Saturday.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Karl had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) late Thursday afternoon. It was centered about 195 miles (315 kilometers) north-northeast of the oil city of Coatzacoalcos and headed south-southeast at 7 mph (11 kph).
A tropical storm warning was in effect from the town of Alvarado to Ciudad del Carmen.
Tropical storm-force winds of at least 39 mph (63 kph) extended outward as far as 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the center.
The hurricane center said Karl could drop 3 to 7 inches (8 to 18 centimeters) of rain across portions of Veracruz and Tabasco from Friday into late Saturday. It said as much as 12 inches (30 centimeters) could fall in isolated spots.
This satellite image taken at 9:30am ET and provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Karl in the Gulf of Mexico, on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Karl grew a little stronger off Mexico’s southern Gulf coast on Wednesday and was expected to approach land by the weekend without gaining hurricane strength. (NOAA via AP)
Former Hurricane Julia tore a deadly path through Guatemala and El Salvador on Monday, killing dozens and drenching the nations with torrential rains. At least 28 people were reported dead as a direct or indirect result of the storm.
Guatemala’s disaster prevention agency said five people died after a hillside collapsed on their house in Alta Verapaz province, burying them. And in Huehuetenango province, near Mexico, nine people died, including a soldier killed while performing rescue work.
Authorities in El Salvador said five Salvadoran army soldiers died after a wall collapsed at a house where they sought refuge in the town of Comasagua, where hundreds of police and soldiers have been conducting anti-gang raids. Another soldier was injured.
View of a fallen wall following the passage of Tropical Storm Julia, in Antiguo Cuscatlan, El Salvador, on October 10, 2022.
MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images
Two other people died in the eastern El Salvador town of Guatajiagua after heavy rains caused a wall of their home to collapse. Another man in El Salvador died when he was swept away by a current, and another died when a tree fell on him.
Rivers overflowed their banks and El Salvador declared a state of emergency and opened 80 storm shelters.
In neighboring Honduras, a 22-year-old woman died when she was swept away by currents, and three people died when their boat swamped or capsized. A man in Nicaragua was killed by a falling tree.
Julia hit Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast early Sunday as a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and survived the passage over the country’s mountainous terrain, entering the Pacific late in the day as a tropical storm..
By Monday, Julia had moved inland over Guatemala and its winds were down to 30 mph.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Julia was centered about 80 miles west-northwest of Guatemala City, and was moving west-northwest at 15 mph.
The center said floods and mudslides were possible across Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday, with the storm expected to bring as much as 15 inches of rain in isolated areas.
A resident rides his bike in a flooded street following the passage of Hurricane Julia in the town of Bluefields, on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua on October 9, 2022.
OSWALDO RIVAS/AFP via Getty Images
In Guatemala, two people were listed as missing and two were hospitalized, and about 1,300 people had to leave their homes because of flooding and rising streams.
Julia was expected to dissipate later Monday as it passes along the Guatemalan coast.
Colombia’s national disaster agency reported Sunday that Julia blew the roofs off several houses and knocked over trees as it blasted past San Andres Island east of Nicaragua. There were no immediate reports of fatalities there.
In Nicaragua, Vice President Rosario Murillo told TN8 television that 9,500 people had been evacuated to shelters.
Heavy rains and evacuations were also reported in Panama, Honduras and Costa Rica, where some highways were closed due to the downpours.
Hurricane Julia hit Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast on Sunday and dumped torrential rains across Central America before an expected reemergence over the Pacific.
Julia hit as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, though its winds had dipped to tropical storm force of 50 mph by the evening as it pushed across Nicaragua.
As of 5 p.m. ET, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Julia was centered about 45 miles west-northwest of Managua, the capital, and was moving west at 16 mph.
It said life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were possible across Central America and southern Mexico through Tuesday, with the storm expected to bring as much as 15 inches of rain in isolated areas.
Colombia’s national disaster agency reported Sunday that Julia blew the roofs off several houses and knocked over trees as it blasted past San Andres Island east of Nicaragua. There were no immediate reports of fatalities
In Nicaragua, Vice President Rosario Murillo told TN8 television that there had been no reports of deaths so far, but power and communications were cut to some areas. She said that 9,500 people had been evacuated to shelters.
Local news media showed images of trees toppled across roads and local flooding.
Heavy rains and evacuations were also reported in Panama, Honduras and Costa Rica, where some highways were closed due to the downpours.
Guillermo González, director of Nicaragua’s Disaster Response System, told official media that people at high risk had been evacuated from coastal areas by noon Saturday. The army said it delivered humanitarian supplies to Bluefields and Laguna de Perlas for distribution to 118 temporary shelters.
The storm was forecast to emerge over the Pacific and skirt the coasts of El Salvador and Guatemala, a region already saturated by weeks of heavy rains.
In Guatemala, storms since early May had already caused at least 49 confirmed deaths, with six people missing. Roads and hundreds of homes have been damaged, Guatemalan officials say.
In El Salvador, where 19 people have died this rainy season, the worst rainfall was expected Monday and Tuesday, said Fernando López, the minister of environmental and natural resources. Officials said they had opened 61 shelters with the capacity to house more than 3,000 people.
Hurricane Julia closed in on Nicaragua’s central Caribbean coast late Saturday after lashing Colombia’s San Andres island in a near pass soon after strengthening from a tropical storm in the afternoon. It could also bring heavy rainfall to Southern Mexico early next week, forecasters said.
Julia was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane Saturday night, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported. A storm is defined as a hurricane when its maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
As of late Saturday night, the storm was centered about 65 miles west of Columbia’s San Andres Island, and 80 miles northeast of Bluefields, Nicaragua. It was moving west at 16 mph.
Wind blows palm trees ahead of Hurricane Julia on San Andres Island, Colombia, on October 8, 2022.
MICHAEL AREVALO/AFP/Getty Images
There were no early reports on what effects the storm had in San Andres. The NCH said in an advisory that Julia could bring “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides from heavy rains” to several Central American countries and Southern Mexico.
Julia was expected to make landfall in Nicaragua by the early morning hours Sunday, the NHC forecasted. It would move across Nicaragua Sunday, and then reach the Pacific coasts of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala on Monday, the NHC said. It’s a region already saturated by weeks of heavy rains.
The NCH reported that Julia could dump anywhere from 5 to 15 inches of rain on Nicaragua. The rest of Central America could see anywhere from 4 to 12 inches.
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico could receive between 2 and 6 inches of rain early next week, the NHC said, and flash flooding is possible.
Fishermen paddle a canoe to safety ahead of Hurricane Julia’s arrival in the Bluefields, Nicaragua, on Oct. 8, 2022.
OSWALDO RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images
Colombian President Gustavo Petro had declared a “maximum alert” on San Andres as well as Providencia islands to the north and asked hotels to prepare space to shelter the vulnerable population. Officials on San Andres imposed a curfew for residents at 6 a.m. Saturday to limit people in the streets. Air operations to the islands were suspended.
Nicaraguan authorities issued an alert for all types of vessels to seek safe harbor as the hurricane followed a general path toward the area of Bluefields and Laguna de Perlas.
Guillermo González, director of Nicaragua’s Disaster Response System, told official media that people at high risk had been evacuated from coastal areas by noon Saturday. The army said it delivered humanitarian supplies to Bluefields and Laguna de Perlas for distribution to 118 temporary shelters.
In Bluefields, however, life appeared little changed Saturday night, and people expressed reluctance to leave their homes.
In Guatemala, officials said Julia could drench 10 departments in the east, center and west of the country — an area that has been most affected by this rainy season and where the poorest people are concentrated.
From May to September, storms have caused 49 confirmed deaths and six people are missing. Roads and hundreds of homes have been damaged, Guatemalan officials say.
In El Salvador, where 19 people have died this rainy season, the worst rainfall is expected Monday and Tuesday, said Fernando López, the minister of environmental and natural resources. Officials said they had opened 61 shelters with the capacity to house more than 3,000 people.
Tropical Storm Julia gained more strength moving westward in the southern Caribbean on Saturday as authorities prepared for a possible hurricane on Colombian islands and in Nicaragua. It could also bring heavy rainfall to Southern Mexico early next week.
Julia’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 70 mph Saturday evening, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The storm was centered about 55 miles east of Columbia’s Providencia Island, and 175 miles east of Bluefields, Nicaragua. It was moving west at 17 mph.
A storm is defined as a hurricane when its maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Julia was forecast to pass near or over Colombia’s San Andres and Providencia islands Saturday night on its way to landfall in Nicaragua on Sunday morning.
Fishermen paddle a canoe to safety ahead of tropical storm Julia’s arrival in the Bluefields, Nicaragua, on Oct. 8, 2022. Central America is on alert for the approach of Tropical Storm Julia, which is moving through the Caribbean and threatens to become a hurricane before making landfall on the coast of Nicaragua, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
OSWALDO RIVAS/AFP/Getty Images
Julia is “expected to be a hurricane when it reaches the coast of Nicaragua overnight,” the NHC said in its latest advisory Saturday evening.
The storm could bring “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,” to several Central American countries and Southern Mexico, the NHC wrote.
The storm’s remnants were forecast to sweep across Nicaragua and then skirt by the Pacific coasts of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala through Monday, a region already saturated by weeks of heavy rains.
Forecasters said a greater threat than Julia’s winds were rains of 5 to 10 inches – up to 15 inches in isolated areas – that the storm was expected to dump across Central America.
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico could see anywhere from 2 to 6 inches of rain early next week, the NHC said.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro declared a “maximum alert” on the islands and asked hotels to prepare space to shelter the vulnerable population. Officials on San Andres imposed a curfew for residents at 6 a.m. Saturday to limit people in the streets. Air operations to the islands were suspended.
Similar precautions were underway in the central area of Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, where authorities issued an alert for all types of vessels to seek safe harbor.
Nicaraguan soldiers began preparing the evacuation of inhabitants of islands and cays around the town of Sandy Bay Sirpi. The army said it delivered humanitarian supplies to the municipalities of Bluefields and Laguna de Perlas for distribution to 118 temporary shelters.
In Guatemala, officials said Julia could drench 10 departments in the east, center and west of the country – an area that has been most affected by this rainy season and where the poorest people are concentrated.
From May to September, storms have caused 49 confirmed deaths and six people are missing. Roads and hundreds of homes have been damaged, Guatemalan officials say.
In El Salvador, where 19 people have died this rainy season, the worst rainfall is expected Monday and Tuesday, said Fernando López, the minister of environmental and natural resources. Officials said they had opened 61 shelters with the capacity to house more than 3,000 people.
Tropical Storm Julia formed Friday in the Caribbean Sea, triggering hurricane watches and warnings for Nicaragua and Colombian islands. Several Central American countries could also see heavy rainfall and flooding by Monday.
Julia had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was moving west at 17 mph as of late Friday night, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Julia is “expected to become a hurricane” by the time its eye passes near or over Colombia’s Providencia and San Andres islands on Saturday night, and reaches the Nicaraguan coast Sunday morning, the NHC said.
It’s expected to weaken as it moves over inland Nicaragua Sunday, and then likely dissipate Monday, the NHC said, as its remnants move northwest over Central America.
However, Julia is expected to bring heavy rainfall to several Central American countries, with the risk of “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.”
Eastern Nicaragua could see anywhere from 5 to 15 inches of rain, according to the NHC, while San Andres and Providencia could get 6 to 12 inches. Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize are also expected to receive significant rainfall ranging anywhere from 3 to 12 inches.
The storm was about 360 miles east of Providencia Island late Friday night, the NHC said.
Nicaragua’s government issued a hurricane watch from Bluefields to the Nicaragua-Honduras border.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said via Twitter Friday that the government was preparing shelters on the islands. San Andres authorities announced a curfew on residents beginning Saturday at 6 a.m. to limit people in the streets. Yolanda González, director of Colombia’s Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies Institute said Julia could be a Category 1 hurricane when it passes the islands late Saturday.
EL PASO, Texas — A Mexican man fatally shot at a U.S. Border Patrol station in Texas had grabbed an “edged weapon” and was advancing toward agents when they opened fire, the FBI said Thursday.
Manuel Gonzalez-Moran, 33, died at an El Paso hospital Tuesday after he was shot by Border Patrol agents. The FBI said Moran was taken into custody at the Ysleta Border Patrol Station for reentering the country illegally.
Agents first used a stun gun on Moran after he charged out of a holding cell, the FBI said, and eventually opened fire.
Moran was released on parole earlier this year and deported to Mexico after serving 11 years in prison in Colorado, the FBI said. He had been convicted in 2011 in Pueblo, Colorado, of assault with a deadly weapon resulting in serious bodily injury, according to the FBI.
MEXICO CITY — Attackers gunned down a mayor, his father and 16 other people in the southern Mexico state of Guerrero on Wednesday, authorities said.
State Attorney General Sandra Luz Valdovinos told Milenio television late Wednesday that 18 people were killed and two were wounded in the town of San Miguel Totolapan. Among the dead were Mayor Conrado Mendoza and his father, a former mayor of the town, she said. Two additional people were wounded.
Images from the scene showed a bullet-riddled city hall.
Later Wednesday, in the neighboring state of Morelos, a state lawmaker was shot to death in the city of Cuernavaca south of Mexico City.
While attacks on public officials are not uncommon in Mexico, these come at a time when the security strategy of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is being sharply debated. The president has placed tremendous responsibility on the armed forces rather than civilian police for reining in Mexico’s persistently high levels of violence.
San Miguel Totolapan is a remote township in Tierra Caliente, which is one of Mexico’s most conflict-ridden areas, disputed by multiple drug trafficking gangs.
In 2016, Totolapan locals fed up with abductions by the local gang “Los Tequileros” kidnapped the gang leader’s mother to leverage the release of others.
In Cuernavaca, Morelos State Attorney General Uriel Carmona said two armed men traveling on a motorcycle fatally shot state Deputy Gabriela Marín as she exited a vehicle.
Local outlets said Marín, a member of the Morelos Progress party, was killed at a pharmacy in Cuernavaca. A person with Marín was reportedly wounded in the attack.
Morelos Gov. Cuauhtémoc Blanco condemned the attack and said via Twitter that security forces were deployed in search of the attackers.
The deaths of Mendoza and Marín brought the number of mayors killed during López Obrador’s administration to 18 and the number of state lawmakers to eight, according to data from Etellekt Consultores.
Mexico’s Congress this week is debating the president’s proposal to extend the military’s policing duties to 2028. Last month, lawmakers approved López Obrador’s push to transfer the ostensibly civilian National Guard to military control.
EL PASO, Texas — A Mexican citizen has died at a hospital after he was shot at a U.S. Border Patrol station in Texas, authorities said.
The man was in custody at the Ysleta Border Patrol Station in El Paso on Tuesday when he was shot, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, the FBI said.
The Border Patrol said its agents were involved in the shooting but no details were released about what preceded it.
The Mexican Consulate in El Paso said the man who died was a Mexican citizen who was being processed at the station when criminal charges against him were discovered. The FBI is leading the investigation into the shooting.
The shooting happened days after two migrants were shot, one fatally, while getting water along the U.S.-Mexico border in rural Hudspeth County, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of El Paso. In that case, two Texas brothers — including one who had been a warden at a detention center that has housed immigrants — were arrested and charged with manslaughter.
The man who was killed and the woman who was wounded in Hudspeth County were both from Mexico, the consulate said Tuesday.
Two brothers in Texas have been arrested after authorities say one of them opened fire on a group of migrants getting water near the U.S.-Mexico border, killing one man and shooting a woman in the stomach
AUSTIN, Texas — Two brothers in Texas have been arrested after authorities say one of them opened fire on a group of migrants getting water near the U.S.-Mexico border, killing one man and shooting a woman in the stomach, according to court documents filed Thursday.
The shooting Tuesday was in rural Hudspeth County about 90 miles from El Paso, where the woman was transported and recovering at a hospital, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
DPS said the victims were among a group of migrants standing alongside the road getting water when a truck with two men inside pulled over. According to court documents, the group had taken cover as the truck first passed to avoid being detected but the truck then backed up.
Michael Sheppard and Mark Sheppard, both 60, were charged with manslaughter, according to court documents. It was not clear whether either man had an attorney and no contact information could immediately be found Thursday.
Records show that Michael Sheppard was a warden at the West Texas Detention Facility, a privately owned center that houses migrant detainees and contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Scott Sutterfield, a spokesman for facility operator Lasalle Corrections, said Thursday that the center’s warden had been fired “due to an off-duty incident unrelated to his employment.” He declined further comment.
Authorities located the truck by checking cameras and finding a vehicle matching the description given by the migrants, according to court records.
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Associated Press writer Acacia Coronado contributed to this report.
The forum will examine Central America’s Northern Triangle security, governance and socio-economic challenges, as well as recent commitments by the Biden Administration and multilateral development banks for expanded aid to the region.
Press Release –
updated: May 25, 2021
LA JOLLA, Calif., May 25, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– The Institute of the Americas will convene a two half-day, virtual forum June 2-3, 2021 to examine Central America’s Northern Triangle region’s (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) challenges and opportunities. Admission is free but registration is required.
Central America’s Northern Triangle countries are experiencing a historic diaspora to the southern border of the United States and to neighboring countries. The exodus is precipitated by an unprecedented economic contraction. Back-to-back Category 4 hurricanes, a historic pandemic, heightened crime, violence, official corruption and weakening democratic institutions, have produced desperation feeding unprecedented migration.
The United States is a primary destination for Central American migrants. The Northern Triangle diaspora is also regional, affecting neighboring nations. The search for solutions and/or relief is multi-national and increasingly urgent. The Biden Administration’s recent four-year, $4 billion commitment of direct foreign assistance and a renewed focus from the IDB, IMF and World Bank hope to provide pandemic relief as well as support to strengthen democratic institutions and the economies of the region. If effective, they could help stem regional diaspora and, importantly for U.S. foreign policy, diminish the increasing attractiveness of investments from China. These commitments face equally historic challenges due to the region’s steadily weakening rule of law, rise of autocratic rulers, collapsing economies, insecurity and rapidly rising public needs at a time of steeply declining government revenues.
A consensus has developed that only a regional multi-pronged strategy to strengthen both democracy and the economies of Central American countries provides plausible hope for relief. Meaningful progress could take years, comes with risks and will most likely require a sustained commitment by multilateral partners providing foreign aid, funding from multilateral development banks, private foreign investment as well as support from the philanthropic sector.
The objective of the Institute’s forum is to discuss ideas on how to get from here to therewith sessions focused onaddressing security, justice & governance issues in Central America; COVID impact & regional economic outlook; the Northern Triangle’s regional business climate and the role of direct foreign assistance, philanthropy and impact investing towards catalyzing community development, economic opportunity and social enterprise.
Keynote speakers include Congresswoman Norma Torres, Co-Chair of the House Central American Caucus representing California’s Inland Empire and Congressman Juan Vargas, Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee representing the border region of San Diego and Imperial Counties.
Other speakers include: Alan Bersin, former Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; former Vice President of INTERPOL for the Americas Region; Adriana Beltrán, Director of Citizen Security, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA); Eric L. Olson, Director of Policy & Strategic Initiatives, Seattle International Foundation; Metodij Hadzi-Vaskov , Regional Resident Representative, Office of Central America, International Monetary Fund (IMF); Fernando Quevedo, Manager, Central America, Panama, Haiti, Mexico & DR, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); Pedro Luis Rodriguez, Lead Economist-Central America, The World Bank Group(WB); Juan Carlos Zapata, Executive Director, FUNDESA; Juan Pablo Carrasco, President, American Chamber of Commerce, Guatemala; Claudia Kattán de Jordán, President, American Chamber of Commerce, Honduras; Claudia Romero de Ibañez, President, American Chamber of Commerce, El Salvador; Caroline Boyd Kronley, President, The Tinker Foundation; Eliza Brennan, Senior Program Officer, Migration & Education, International Community Foundation; and Richard Ambrose, Managing Partner, Pomona Impact, Antiqua Guatemala.
Established in 1981, the Institute of the Americas (IOA) is an independent, nonpartisan Inter-American institution devoted to encouraging social and economic reform in the Americas, broadening communication and strengthening political and economic relations between Latin America, the Caribbean, the United States and Canada. For more information: https://www.iamericas.org
Contacts:
Richard Kiy, President & CEO, Institute of the Americas: rkiy@iamericas.org
Ernesto Grijalva, Practitioner in Residence, Institute of the Americas: egrijalva@iamericas.org
WASHINGTON, August 11, 2020 (Newswire.com)
– Creative Associates International is launching a specialized Center for Migration and Economic Stabilization to drive innovation and program responsiveness to this global phenomenon.
“Our launch is timely since the COVID pandemic has generated new urgencies around migration,” says Creative President and CEO Leland Kruvant. “This Center will combine technical rigor and ingenuity with Creative’s on-the-ground programmatic experience to address the pressing challenges that lure migrants into risking it all.”
The Center for Migration and Economic Stabilization builds on Creative’s 2019 groundbreaking research on the drivers of migration from Central America’s Northern Triangle.
Pablo Maldonado, Creative’s Chief Operating Officer, says those motivations to migrate North remain as present as ever and will combine with the effects of COVID-19 to generate a powerful impetus to migrate.
“Migration is connected and overlaps with other systemic challenges facing Central America, West Africa and elsewhere,” Maldonado says. “Unfortunately, long-standing development challenges will intersect with the economic hardship of COVID-19 to create a perfect storm for migration. We will see shifts in migration activity and trends, including changing attitudes, internal migration and relocations across borders all caused by the economic squeeze.”
The Center for Migration and Economic Stabilization will serve as a hub of thought leadership on the issue both as a cause and byproduct of other development challenges. The Center has a pointed focus on serving the underserved, those who are not typically touched by more traditional economic development, including youth, women and those working in informal economies.
The Center will continue and expand on Creative’s earlier migration pursuits, including methodical data gathering to track migration and its drivers, demystification of popular migration beliefs that are not supported by evidence and, more broadly, the creation of programs that are material to the decision to migrate — mostly in the economic arena, Maldonado says.
“The Center will help us stay at the forefront of understanding these issues and ultimately lead to better, locally focused programming to mitigate the causes of migration. It will be a much-needed resource for fresh thinking on migration,” Maldonado says.
Thought leader, practitioner to direct the Center
The Center for Migration and Economic Stabilization is led by noted expert Manuel Orozco, Ph.D., who joined Creative after more than 20 years at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C.
Orozco, a recognized researcher and analyst of global migration flows, including remittances, will complement Creative’s technical expertise in economic growth, youth, education, governance, citizen security and more to enrich programming and identify opportunities to respond thoughtfully to migration.
Most recently Senior Director of Remittances and Development at the Inter-American Dialogue, Orozco also led Creative’s 2019 study into the drivers of migration from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Details may be seen at: https://www.saliendo-adelante.com
“After getting to know Creative’s high-caliber work and its dedication to fully understanding the causes of migration, I’m honored by the opportunity to join the team and help Creative continue being a leader on this global topic,” Orozco says. “Through the Center, I hope to provide valuable insights to ensure that Creative’s programs help mitigate the causes of migration.”
The need for additional expertise and leadership on migration became more urgent as COVID-19 spread across the globe, leaving already fragile communities reeling and indicating a major impact on migration patterns for years to come.
“We know that COVID-19 will have a profound effect on migration,” Maldonado says. “With the creation of the Center for Migration and Economic Stabilization, we can meet this looming challenge and better serve communities and families grappling with the fallout of the pandemic.”
Orozco will convene a panel on COVID-19 and remittances at this year’s virtual Central America Donors Forum. Click here for more information and to register.
In addition to his new role at Creative, Orozco is a Senior Migration Fellow for the Center for International Development at Harvard University and Senior Migration and Remittances Advisor for the International Fund for Agricultural Development. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.A. in public administration and Latin American studies, and a B.A. in international relations from the National University of Costa Rica.
ABOUT CREATIVE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
Creative Associates International works with underserved communities by sharing expertise and experience in education, elections, economic growth, governance and transitions from conflict to peace.
Creative has grown to become one of the leaders among the U.S. private sector implementers of global development projects. Creative is minority owned and operated.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, March 22, 2018 (Newswire.com)
– While notably one of Central America’s most under the radar destinations, Honduras is making strides in its tourism sector. The country has enjoyed a steady increase in tourism arrivals over the past few years, having welcomed more than two million visitors in 2017, which represent more than U.S. $700 million in tourist spending. The country’s cruise offering is a main driver for its tourism industry, with several new cruise ships arriving in 2017. Honduras has also generated growth in its connectivity and announced new hotel developments. Below are the most recent achievements for the Honduras Institute of Tourism:
Connectivity
The International Airport of Juan Manuel Galvez in Roatan will soon undergo multiple upgrades including an extension of the runway and a new building for passengers. These upgrades will allow the airport to receive more planes, as well as better attend to passengers. Another important milestone for Honduras was the addition of Air Europa offering weekly direct flights from Madrid, Spain, to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. This new route has allowed greater connectivity for the country to more than 20 European destinations and more than one thousand sales channels for the marketing of airline tickets. The weekly Air Europa flight began in April 2017 when flight occupancy exceeded 85 percent. Since then, Air Europa expanded the capacity of the aircraft on that route with an Airbus 330-300 able to accommodate 388 passengers, adding 89 more seats. The possibility of increasing the frequency to two flights per week is currently under consideration.
Cruise
The cruise sector is an instrumental contributor to Honduras’ tourism industry, as the country welcomed more than a million cruise passengers in 2017 representing a nearly 5 percent increase over 2016. Most recently, Roatan has welcomed new cruise ships including Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Reflection, Viking Ocean’s Viking Sky and TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff from Germany.
New Tourism Experiences
While Honduras is well known for its impressive archeological sites such as Copan, and its unmatched diving on the Caribbean coast, the Honduras Tourism Board is now making an emphasis to showcase its exquisite Birdwatching experience. Honduras is one of the countries in Central America featuring the most protected land with 121 areas and is home to more than 770 species of birds. Most recently, efforts have focused on the promotion and development of services offered for Birdwatching, for which there are excellent guides and tour operators specialized in this area. The varied ecosystems in Honduras allow visitors to see many species of birds including the Ocellated Quail, Keel-billed Motmot, Lovely Cotinga, Agami Heron and the Honduran Emerald Hummingbird.
The Touristic Coffee Route, which allows visitors to visit coffee farms and have a complete tour of the process from seed to cup, is another experience being further developed. For years, Honduras has been acclaimed for its coffee and last year, the coffee beans grown by Honduras’ José Abelardo Díaz Enamorado were designated as the “Best of the Best” in the 2017 Ernesto Illy International Coffee Awards. There are six areas to experience the Coffee Route in Honduras: Copan, Opalaca, Montecillos, Comayagua, El Paraíso and Agalta.
Accolades
Some of Honduras’ attractions have also been recognized among the best by top media outlets. Mary’s Place, located in Roatan, was recently listed among USA Today 10Best Reader’ Choice 2018 as one of the Caribbean’s best dive sites. Mary’s Place provides a habitat for marine critters including coral, sponge and seahorses. Additionally, the Island of Utila, located in Honduras’ northern coast along the second largest barrier reef in the world, was listed the No. 1 Best Caribbean Dive Site by USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice 2017.
About Honduras
Set in the heart of Central America is Honduras, one of the region’s less discovered gems that is ready to be explored. Boasting a variety of ecosystems and a vast amount of protected land, Honduras is home to a wealth of nature and wildlife both above land and under the ocean. The country presents numerous unparalleled experiences: nature, including the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, designated a Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO; several archeological sites such as Copan, declared a Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO; adventure with river rafting and rappelling through the protected jungles; diving in pristine reefs on the Caribbean coast and connecting with authentic culture including several indigenous groups who have preserved their customs and tradition. Honduras, love outright. For more information, visit https://honduras.travel.
Press Contact
Diana Arellano Newlink Group 305-702-2776 diana.arellano@newlink-group.com
