Central America Archive

Far more than they appeared to at first glance, two news stories in recent days have framed America’s position in the world at the outset of Joe Biden’s presidency in unusually stark and powerful ways. The first trumpeted a $400 billion investment agreement between Beijing and Tehran, with China vastly increasing its trade with Iran. It comes at a moment when the United States is hoping to force the Iranian government back to the negotiating table to reinstate and even broaden the international agreement aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The Trump administration withdrew from that deal, reimposing […]

As expected, voters in El Salvador turned out overwhelmingly for President Nayib Bukele’s party in legislative and municipal elections last Sunday. Preliminary results suggested the Nuevas Ideas party, or New Ideas, had attained a two-thirds majority in the 84-seat Legislative Assembly, enough to pass laws and make key appointments without the support of other parties. While it remains uncertain whether Bukele and his allies will win the 63-seat supermajority that would allow them to limit certain constitutional rights of citizens, the vote is nonetheless transformative, paving the way for Bukele to govern with near-total control. In addition to the legislative […]

One of the areas where U.S. foreign and domestic policies intersect most tangibly, as we saw over the past four years during Donald Trump’s administration, is on immigration and refugees. President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to launch a sharply different strategy to deal with migrants and refugees, especially at the border with Mexico, but now his plans are facing new headwinds. In a legislative election last weekend in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele’s party, New Ideas, along with his ally the Grand Alliance for National Unity, won a landslide victory. Early results suggest that Bukele’s bloc will enjoy […]