El Salvador

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

After Arresting 1% of Nation, He Easily Wins Reelection

Nayib Bukele, who calls himself the 'world's coolest dictator,' cruises in El Salvador

(Newser) - Voters in El Salvador appeared to give Nayib Bukele a second term as president, putting him well on his way to a landslide victory in an election that for many hinged on the tradeoff of curtailed civil liberties for security in a country once terrorized by gangs . The Supreme Electoral...

Tattoos Sank His Green Card, and SCOTUS May Step In

High court to review case of Salvadoran man who says he was wrongly pegged as gang member

(Newser) - For nearly a decade, a Salvadoran man has missed Christmas after Christmas in the United States with his wife—not because he doesn't want to spend it in California with her, but because he can't. Luis Asencio-Cordero has long been denied a visa from the American government, partly...

This Country Gets Its First Miss Universe Crown

Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios wins 72nd edition of the beauty pageant

(Newser) - Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios won the Miss Universe competition late Saturday in El Salvador, the first to wear the crown from her country. Palacios is a 23-year-old communicologist, reports the AP , who says she wants to work to promote mental health after suffering debilitating bouts of anxiety herself. Miss Thailand,...

El Salvador Slaps $1,130 Fee on Travelers From 57 Countries

'Airport improvement fee' is believed to be effort to help US control migration

(Newser) - El Salvador's government has begun slapping a $1,130 fee on travelers from dozens of countries connecting through the nation's main airport, amid US pressure to help control migration flows to its southern border. Since the end of October, citizens of 57 largely African countries and India have...

An Entire Region of El Salvador Has Been Surrounded

Police, soldiers aim to find all gang members president says are hiding there

(Newser) - An entire region of El Salvador has been surrounded by police officers and soldiers as the government attempts to crack down on gangs. The goal is to break gangs' supply chains as well as to keep gang members from leaving the region, the BBC reports. "Since this morning, 7,...

El Salvador Hits Ex-President With 14-Year Sentence

Mauricio Funes was convicted in absentia of illegally negotiating with gangs

(Newser) - A judge sentenced former El Salvador President Mauricio Funes to 14 years in prison Monday for negotiating with gangs during his administration. Funes’ trial began in April with the former leader living in Nicaragua. El Salvador changed its laws last year to allow trials in absentia. Prosecutors had accused Funes...

Fans Storm Gate in Fatal Crush
'It Was a
Night of Terror'
in El Salvador
photos
May 22, 2023 3:45 AM CDT

'It Was a Night of Terror' in El Salvador

Hundreds are hurt at Salvadoran soccer match

(Newser) - Fans angry at being blocked from entering a Salvadoran soccer league match knocked down an entrance gate to the stadium, leading to a crush that left at least 12 people dead and hundreds injured, officials and witnesses said Sunday. The stampede took place late Saturday during a quarterfinals match between...

Troops Seal Off Town, Looking for Gang Members

El Salvador granted president emergency powers

(Newser) - The government of El Salvador sent 10,000 soldiers and police to seal off a town on the outskirts of the nation's capital Saturday to search for gang members. The operation was one of the largest mobilizations yet in President Nayib Bukele's nine-month-old crackdown on street gangs that...

Woman Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison Over Miscarriage

El Salvador has a history of sentences like this for pregnancy loss

(Newser) - A court in El Salvador has sentenced a woman who suffered an obstetric emergency that ended her pregnancy to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide, according to a nongovernmental organization assisting in her defense. The Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion said Tuesday in a statement that a...

Bitcoin Sinks, and One Nation Happily 'Buys the Dip!'

El Salvador, where the cryptocurrency is legal tender, has so far lost a lot of money on its bet

(Newser) - By Bloomberg's count, the government of El Salvador has shelled out $103 million since last year to buy 2,301 Bitcoins. As of Tuesday morning, those crypto coins were worth about ... $74 million. That is a sub-optimal return on investment. But President Nayib Bukele, who led the successful push...

El Salvador Has Deadliest Day in 30 Years

After 62 murders on Saturday, nation declares a state of emergency

(Newser) - El Salvador is now under a state of emergency after racking up a staggering 62 murders in a single day on Saturday. The killings are blamed on gangs, particularly MS-13 and Barrio 18, but the victims weren't necessarily gang members: The New York Times reports that gunmen were "...

Happy 'B-Day,' El Salvador
Happy 'B-Day,' El Salvador
Sep 7, 2021 8:19 AM CDT

Happy 'B-Day,' El Salvador

Starting Tuesday, bitcoin can be used as legal tender nationwide

(Newser) - Earlier this year, El Salvador became the first country to give bitcoin the green light as legal tender. And Tuesday is "B-day," the day that legislation goes into effect, with Salvadorans now able to use the cryptocurrency in any transaction. Residents in the country—which has had the...

World Bank Rejects a Nation's Plea for Bitcoin Help

Institution says it won't help El Salvador due to 'environmental and transparency shortcomings'

(Newser) - The first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender recently made a big ask of the World Bank, requesting that the international financial institution help it implement its plans—but it's a no from the group to El Salvador. "This is not something the World...

First Country Makes Bitcoin Legal Tender

'Nobody can refuse payment,' says El Salvador President Nayib Bukele

(Newser) - El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly has approved legislation making the cryptocurrency Bitcoin legal tender in the country, the first country to do so, just days after President Nayib Bukele made the proposal at a Bitcoin conference. The digital currency can be used in any transaction and any business will have...

Woman Freed a Decade After Being Jailed for Pregnancy Loss

She had been sentenced to 30 years under El Salvador's abortion ban

(Newser) - One of the many , many women jailed under El Salvador's harsh abortion ban was released Monday after serving nearly a decade of a 30-year sentence. Sara Rogel went to a hospital in 2012 with bleeding injuries from a fall, and was arrested after it was determined she had lost...

14 Bodies Found at Home of Cop Fired in 2005

Officials in El Salvador says case has turned up a murder ring

(Newser) - Fourteen bodies have now been found at the home of a former police officer who was arrested this month for murdering two women, Salvadoran prosecutors said Thursday. Authorities in El Salvador have said the case revealed the existence of a murder ring that may have operated for a decade, and...

Olympic Surfing Hopeful Fatally Struck by Lightning

Katherine Diaz planned to compete for El Salvador this summer

(Newser) - Katherine Diaz planned to compete for her home country of El Salvador when surfing makes its Olympic debut this summer. But the 22-year-old, the country's top surfer, was struck by lightning and killed Friday while training near her home in El Tunco, the Guardian reports. Per a Spanish-language newspaper,...

Salvadoran President Says 'Most Leaders' Take Drug

'We have been advised to take' hydroxychloroquine, Nayib Bukele says

(Newser) - El Salvador's president says he's taking hydroxychloroquine—and says most of the world's other leaders are doing the same. "I use it as a prophylaxis. President Trump uses it as a prophylaxis. Most of the world's leaders use it as a prophylaxis," Nayib Bukele...

They Sought Safety in US, Ended Up Dead at Home
The US Deported Them.
138 Are Now Dead
new report
Feb 5, 2020 7:11 AM CST

The US Deported Them. 138 Are Now Dead

Human Rights Watch documents cases of murdered Salvadorans

(Newser) - The report is called "Deported to Danger," and for at least 138 Salvadorans, danger is putting it too mildly. In its report released Wednesday, Human Rights Watch says that's the number of migrants and asylum seekers that were murdered after the US deported them back to El...

A Selfie, Then the UN Speech
Selfie
Holds Up
UN Speech
Sep 27, 2019 3:55 PM CDT

Selfie Holds Up UN Speech

Salvadoran president talks technology after a demonstration

(Newser) - For the 38-year-old president of El Salvador, his first speech to the UN was a big deal. Nayib Bukele's wife, Gabriela, was there to hear it, as was their infant daughter, Layla. So Bukele pulled out his smartphone, asked the world's diplomats to hold on for a second,...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>