A several year effort to extradite a host of powerful Guatemalans accused of genocide appears to have come to an end. Guatemala's Constitutional Court recently ruled that Spain has no jurisdiction over the case, leading the Spanish judge Santiago Pedraz to step down. But Pedraz took the opportunity to take some parting shots: the judicial system here has been reluctant to prosecute, he said, and the court's decision was a clear violation of commitments to international treaties. It seems that the culture of impunity has won the day. Some analysts, however, are confident that the incipient administration of Álvaro Colom will take on impunity, while others insist that it has already been corrupted.

According to representatives from many social organizations, the only way to resolve the high level of conflict over the exploration and extraction of natural resources is to simply ask local communities what they think should happen. In recent years, this has occurred repeatedly through local “popular consultations.” But to date the consultations have not been respected. Congress now has before it three bills that, if passed, would officially recognize the right of indigenous and local populations to be consulted on issues that affect them.

By Joanna Wetherborn

Translated by Matthew Brooke

The CCA (Common Country Assessment) of the UN in Belize, the foundation on which the strategic framework for UN agencies' intervention in Belize 2007-2011 is built, found that despite Belize's relatively high development for the region the country was at a "crossroads" and could easily go into reverse gear. This is especially true now, as the general election is falling early this year.

The mining industry in El Salvador, virtually defunct, may soon be resurrected. After decades of hardly any activity, there is now a bill before the Legislative Assembly that environmentalists say will streamline the process for granting mining licenses. Meanwhile, a new study reveals that communities with pending licenses overwhelmingly oppose the industry.

The number of Nicaraguans migrating to Costa Rica, after declining for several years, has spiked. In recent years, workers had opted for new destinations, such as Belize, Panama, and El Salvador, but a sharp fall in purchasing power has caused many Nicaraguans to head out for Costa Rica once again. Employers in Costa Rica have been eager to take advantage of cheap labor. They encouraged their government to reach an agreement with Nicaragua that is to contract 41,000 temporary Nicaraguan workers. But the program has been delayed by a number of factors – from the reluctance of employers to bear the costs of the program to the lack of government identification amongst the Nicaraguan poor. Instead, undocumented workers are once again filling the ranks of the Costa Rican workforce.