Last week the environmental and human rights activist Berta Cáceres was murdered by gunmen in an early morning attack on her home which may have been carried out by or in collusion with state agents. Now her friend and colleague Gustavo Castro, himself wounded in the attack and the only witness to Berta's murder, has been detained for questioning.
Disastrous water pollution from gold mines in El Salvador has united government and people to oppose new metal mines, writes Lynn Holland. In Central America's most water scarce country, the imperative is to keep lakes, rivers and streams clean and wholesome. But there may be a heavy price to pay, with a Canadian mining company pressing a $300 million 'compensation' claim.
Work on Nicaragua's rival to the Panama Canal rival has begun amid growing fears over its human and environmental impacts, writes Maya Collombon - and a host of unanswered questions about China's role in the project and what benefits, if any, it will bring to ordinary people.
A mysterious Hong Kong company has won the concession to build a $40 billion canal through Nicaragua, duplicating the Panama Canal. Jorge Huete-Perez warns that it threatens human and ecological devastation, all for scant benefit to the country.