El Salvador’s Congress approved President Nayib Bukele’s request for six months of leave to campaign despite a constitutional ban on consecutive presidential terms; Claudia Juana Rodríguez de Guevara, Bukele’s private secretary, will serve as interim president (ABC)
Prosecutors Consider Stripping Guatemala’s President-Elect of Immunity
They may attempt to try President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo de León for campus protests in 2022 and 2023; Arévalo and his party say they are being politically targeted, while Washington condemned the prosecutors’ plans and said it would sanction people who interfere with the transition of power (Bloomberg)
Thousands Join Anti-Government Marches in Honduran Capital
About ten thousand people protested against the government of President Xiomara Castro in Tegucigalpa after members of her ruling party used a committee vote to approve a new interim chief prosecutor without holding a full congressional vote (Reuters)
Nicaragua Pardons and Deports Twenty-One Hondurans
Those set to be released include a leader of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang; Nicaragua also pardoned forty-three Hondurans in October but has not provided a reason for them (Reuters)
United States Pressures Guatemala to Respect Democratic Process
The United States threatened to apply sanctions on Guatemala if the democratic process in the country is not respected as a presidential transition approaches, a top State Department official said; Washington and other international actors have criticized efforts to block President-Elect Bernardo Arévalo de León from taking office (Reuters)