Deportees in ES in judicial black hole - Kennedy and Cristosal
April 29, 2025
Human rights activist Kerry Kennedy said she was not permitted to meet with ten Venezuelan men sent by the U.S. government to a prison in El Salvador, who she is representing legally. She said the Salvadoran government denied her access to meet with her clients, reports Reuters.
At the same press conference, Cristosal, a prominent human rights group in El Salvador that has documented systematic abuses under President Nayib Bukele’s security crackdown, announced it is legally accompanying 140 of the migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador’s maximum security CECOT prison.
Cristosal head Noah Bullock said about 40 percent of the migrants had some form of legal protection in the U.S. — but that they are in a judicial black hole in El Salvador. Cristosal has presented 39 habeas corpus requests before El Salvador’s Constitutional Court. (EFE)
In parallel to the Kennedy-Cristosal press conference, Salvadoran police raided Cristosal’s offices. “It is not an isolated incident, and forms part of the current context of authoritarianism and shutdown of democratic spaces in El Salvador,” denounced Cristosal. (See also La Prensa Gráfica.)
Kennedy said the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights group will report to the United Nations and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on the human rights situation in El Salvador. (EFE)
U.S. children deported to Honduras
The U.S. Trump administration removed three children with U.S. citizenship to Honduras. They were deported with their mothers — lawyers for the families say they were not given the option to remain in the U.S., while government authorities said the mothers requested their children remain with them.
Both mothers were arrested when checking in with immigration authorities, and their lawyers said they were not given the opportunity to challenge the deportations, reports the New York Times.
Activists said the women were held in “complete isolation” and denied any opportunity to coordinate the care and custody of their children before being put on a flight.
In one case, a federal district judge raised concerns that he had a “strong suspicion that the government just deported a US citizen with no meaningful process,” reports the Guardian.
Even More Deportations
U.S. immigration authorities are seeking out unaccompanied immigrant children in operations nationwide, aimed at deporting them or pursuing criminal cases against them or adult sponsors sheltering them legally in the US, reports the Guardian.
Scores of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. have been, essentially, “disappeared” by the Trump administration. Juanita Goebertus, Human Rights Watch’s Americas director, told the Guardian that the method of detentions of Venezuelan migrants, deported with no notification to their families and then held incomunicado in prisons in third countries, conforms to the definition of enforced disappearances. It’s a pattern that is particularly chilling in Latin America, where it echos the modus operandi of the region’s dictatorships.
Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro accused Washington of committing a crime in the case of a two-year-old girl separated from her migrant parents, who were accused of gang membership and deported from the United States without her, reports AFP.
Pregnant women and new mothers are being rounded up in hospitals in the Dominican Republic and deported back to Haiti — critics say the DR’s policy is openly cruel, racist and misogynist, reports the Guardian.
Regional
BRICS foreign ministers met yesterday, in a context of global economic upheaval that has positioned the group “to seize the sort of global influence its most prominent members have long sought, especially after it expanded its roster to include new nations — Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates — in recent years. The bloc now accounts for roughly half of the planet’s population and about 40% of global GDP,” notes Bloomberg.
Mexico
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s popularity has surpassed that of her predecessor: 67% of Mexicans hold a positive image of Sheinbaum, according to a new AtlasIntel survey. While about 80% of Mexicans believe U.S. tariffs have hurt the economy, roughly three-quarters say they are confident Sheinbaum will be able to negotiate new agreements to reduce them, reports Bloomberg.
Mexico has agreed to send water to the United States and temporarily channel more water to the country from their shared rivers — the concession appeared to defuse a diplomatic crisis, and yet more Trump tariff threats, reports the New York Times.
Panama
Panamanian construction and teacher unions have been on strike for days. Yesterday security forces clashed with anti-government protesters who demonstrated against the Mulino administration’s social security reforms and his memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Trump administration. (Estrella de Panama, El Ciudadano)
Peru
China's Guangzhou Port opened a direct route to Chancay port in Peru today, reports Reuters.
Brazil
A woman who wrote on a statue using lipstick during unrest in Brazil’s capital in 2023 has been jailed for 14 years, reports the BBC.
Haiti
Gangs killed at least four people in the latest attack in Haiti’s central region, including an 11-year-old child, reports the Associated Press. At least 15 other people were injured by gunfire, and more than a dozen homes were burned in Petite Rivière, where fighting started last Thursday.
Trinidad and Tobago
The Trinbagonian opposition seems to have won a decisive victory in yesterday’s parliamentary election. The win by the centrist United National Congress party would mean that Kamla Persad-Bissessar will be appointed as the next prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, reports the BBC.
Venezuela
Zombie or phantom ships, which take on the identities of scrapped tankers to appear legitimate and avoid scrutiny from authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere are increasingly popping up in Venezuela’s oil trade, following new U.S. sanctions on countries importing oil from the South American country, reports Bloomberg.
Argentina
Argentina’s government released a trove of previously unseen documentation regarding Nazi criminals in Argentina. Presidential decrees that were also classified are now available for all to read, reports the Buenos Aires Herald.
U.S. Southern Command Chief Admiral Alvin Holsey arrived in Argentina for a three-day visit to strengthen bilateral defense and security cooperation, reports Mercopress.
Bolivia
Bolivia's ruling MAS party nominated President Luis Arce as its candidate for August’s general election, though polling overwhelming suggests he will lose, reports AFP.
Critter Corner
New York Times goes birdwatching in Panama - “The same reason that the Panama Canal was created in the early 20th century, revolutionizing world trade, explains why so many birds can be spotted here. This is a land between — between two continents, North and South America; between the world’s biggest oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic; and between dramatically different elevations and climates…”