On January 10 2007, Daniel Ortega, former guerrilla commandant and leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) became president of Nicaragua for the second time. With the new Sandinista government in power, Nicaragua is likely to receive help from left wing forces emerging in Latin America as well as other countries such as China and Iran. At the same time, Ortega's declared intentions of maintaining relations with the US and financial organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could prove a complicated task.

Rising grain prices resulting from America's growing appetite for ethanol as an alternative to fossil fuel have led to a debate on the potential consequences of prioritizing automobiles at the expense of the world's food supplies. In developing countries like Guatemala, where corn is part of millions of indigenous people's staple diet, corn prices have risen by 37.5% over the past year. Researchers and environmentalists have warned that this trend could prove dangerous as it might displace corn production for human consumption.

A study carried out by the environmental organization Colectivo Madre Selva has accused Montana Exploradora de Guatemala, S.A (MEGSA), a subsidiary of the Canadian Gold Corporation (Goldcorp), of polluting the Tzalá River. Goldcorp has denied the allegation and declared the study is unreliable. The Ministry of Energy and Mining (MEM) has sided with the corporation, arguing that the latter has abided by international regulations on open pit mining. Following the publication of the study, more than 600 people took part in a protest against Montana and blockaded Tres Caminos, a transit point between Sipakapa and the Marlin mine in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán. Meanwhile, in El Estor, Izabal, where the Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN), a subsidiary of Canadian corporation Skye Resources, is seeking a license to extract nickel, five indigenous communities were violently evicted on January 8 and 9 in a combined military-police operation.

Interpol is looking for four former executives of suspended Banco de Comercio (BC), accused of exceeding the bank's lending limits for their own gain. BC's executives quadrupled normal lending of about US$5 million a month in November and doubled normal lending in December, claiming the loans were part of a rush of cash withdrawals by nervous account holders following the collapse of Bancafé in September. Police are also looking for 17 former executives of Bancafé, including a close friend of President Oscar Berger, for money laundering and fraud. Although five Guatemalan banks have failed in the last decade, those responsible have never been tried – strong media pressure regarding the two latest cases might change this situation. Meanwhile, the government continues to defend the banking authorities and the country's biggest bank, Banco Industrial, has absorbed BC's deposit base.