The U.S. touts military ties with Panama, Honduras, and Guatemala, but tip-toes around El Salvador. Honduras calls the end of TPS a “humanitarian crisis.” El Salvador arrests a gang leader whom officials helped flee the country.

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández returns home after a Trump pardon. A couple forced to return to Guatemala from the U.S. is found dead. Salvadoran opposition leader Claudia Ortiz clashes with her party over electoral alliances.

Multiple reports indicate U.S. boat strikes received logistical support from Salvadoran soil. Guatemalan Indigenous leaders are granted house arrest pending trial on terrorism charges. Costa Rica declares security spending a state secret.

In Nicaragua, Ortega’s threat against the 2027 elections sparks regional condemnation. In El Salvador, an autopsy ignores signs of a fisherman’s violent death in prison. A Guatemalan general accused of genocide is granted house arrest.

Salvadoran TPS recipients hold their breath for a last-second renewal, Nicaragua sells off exiles’ properties and suspends lawyers, and former president and Trump ally Juan Orlando Hernández plans his return to Honduras.

In El Salvador, human rights attorney Ruth López’s family fears for her life in prison. Guatemalan prosecutors ease up on newspaperman Jose Rubén Zamora. Nicaragua, too, receives dozens of third-country deportees in Trump’s second term.

In El Salvador, Bukele registers to run for a third term in 2027 after scrapping term limits. In Guatemala, Trump’s nominee for ambassador steps down amid turmoil over U.S. policy. Trump’s threat to “take back the canal” looms over Panamanian neutrality.

A string of U.S. officials departs Trump’s mission to the OAS. The World Bank projects El Salvador’s economy will grow in 2026 by a hair. A trial for the murder of Roberto Samcam is expected to begin in Costa Rica in 2027.