Caribbean/Central America

Guatemala

Date: October 28th, 2003 |

Presidential elections will be held Nov. 9 and fears abound that violence will escalate between now and the vote. The latest killing of a regional party leader on Oct. 22 marked the 21st murder of a political activist or regional leader since the election date was set last May. The political opposition and the Organization [read more]

Guatemala

Date: September 2nd, 2003 |

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Officials expect a number of demonstrations in the months leading up to the presidential elections scheduled for November. Demonstrators increasingly have used roadblocks and blocking of facilities, including roads to airports, as a way to make their protests heard. Most such demonstrations have been peaceful but some have turned violent. Travelers who get caught behind [read more]

Guatemala

Date: April 9th, 2003 |

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Roadblocks have become a favorite mode of demonstration, and may be again in the coming weeks because former members of the civil defense patrol have not received promised payments. Last June they shut down all major roads in the Peten, including access to the archaeological site of Tikal, until promises of payments settled the unrest. [read more]

Trinidad and Tobago

Date: February 26th, 2003 |

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Crime that affects travelers, robbery and pick-pocketing, for instance, usually increases during holiday periods such as Carnival and Christmas, but the islands are generally safe. Crime that usually doesn’t affect tourists, such as murder and kidnapping for ransom, have increased in the past year and have occurred at a high rate already in 2003. A [read more]

Puerto Rico

Date: September 3rd, 2002 |

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U.S. Navy maneuvers have begun again at Vieques Island and may go on for several weeks. Some waters have been declared off-limits, and protesters vowed to disrupt the war games as they have in the past. Civilian and tourist areas of Vieques remain unrestricted, and the maneuvers have no impact on travel to the rest [read more]

Cuba

Date: October 28th, 2003 |

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The Bush administration vowed to step up prosecution of Americans who travel illegally to Cuba; the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate voted to ease the travel ban. What will happen is anyone’s guess, but the likely outcome for now is something akin to the status quo, where humanitarian and educational groups can travel legally [read more]

Dominican Republic

Date: July 7th, 2003 |

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The Dominican Republic will host the Pan American Games Aug. 1-17 in the city of Santo Domingo, and Americans attending should take the usual precautions against petty crime. In addition, use only hotel taxis or those ordered by phone from registered companies. Credit card fraud is high, especially at ATMs, so remain alert to persons [read more]

Guatemala

Date: March 5th, 2003 |

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Public school teachers striking since Jan. 20 disrupted travel at the international airport in Guatemala City Feb. 25-26 and shut down the regional airport in Flores serving Tikal National Park. They blocked highways all over the country and caused the closure of many border checkpoints. By Feb. 27 they had withdrawn from the airports but [read more]

Puerto Rico

Date: February 25th, 2003 |

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Annual protests against the U.S. Navy’s use of the island of Vieques as a bombing range have persuaded the military to abandon the site it has used since 1947 in favor of locations in Florida and other places in the U.S. Come May 1 the Navy will no longer use Vieques and will turn over [read more]

El Salvador

Date: July 28th, 2002 |

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The government declared a dengue fever emergency throughout the country July 25 when a new strain of the disease was identified in a patient. This new strain raises the risks that the disease will progress to dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be lethal. Since January, nine children and one adult have died from the disease, [read more]