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The design and implementation of targeted policies and programmes are crucial to addressing climate challenges. In this study, we sought to understand the means by and extent to which the Central American Climate-Smart Agriculture Strategy (EASAC) has contributed to addressing the specific climate challenges facing the regional agricultural sector. We applied a theory-based evaluation and contribution analysis to examine this policy and identified 252 changes at the national and regional levels that align with the EASAC theory of change (ToC). Contribution analysis revealed that none of the 23 changes we assessed could be attributed solely to the EASAC; however, it contributed directly, in combination with other actors and institutions, to 10 such changes. Our results question the efficacy of non-binding regional policies, such as the EASAC, in influencing national policy changes and highlight the dependency of climate policy implementation on international cooperation in the Central American Integration System region. Intersectoral and actor coordination, the availability of technical and research expertise, and research input appear critical to the successful implementation of regional climate policy. Key policy insights Theory-based assessments and contribution analyses are relevant and rigorous tools that can be effectively applied to climate policy. They enable a deeper understanding and more effective management of climate governance. International organizations play crucial roles in translating international agreements into policies, particularly in Central America, where public climate finance remains limited. Such organizations are responsible for developing and funding policies that align with these agreements. Many changes aligned with the EASAC ToC framework have been observed, reflecting the dynamic process of up-scaling regional climate-smart agriculture. Most changes have been focused on policy formulation and adjustment, with fewer related to establishing alliances and platforms for dialogue. The EASAC strategy of targeting non-binding regional governance to influence national governments is inherently limited and may be ineffective on its own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructed from the 1930s onward, the Pan-American Highway was envisioned as a massive artery connecting the American continents. In addition to its practical uses, the road also served as a reflection of the often-conflicting aspirations and self-representations of the United States on the one hand and the Latin American countries on the other. This article explores how the power relations and conflicting aspirations and goals embedded in the Pan-American Highway were constituted through, and given expression in, the thousands of photographs taken during the road’s construction in Central America between 1930 and 1960. The article draws on two corpora. The first belongs to the US Bureau of Public Roads, and is housed in the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The second actually comprises two separate corpora, both initially belonging to two Costa Rican men who were involved in the construction of the road and archived in the Costa Rican National Archive. Considering photographs taken by agents of various nationalities, ethnicities, and classes enables us to extricate the road from its consideration as a US initiative and underscores its Latin American and transnational framing. While acknowledging the US imperialism inherent in the PAHW initiative, the article brings to the fore the complexities within the dichotomy of an imperial visuality vs. countervisuality that is based on a division between US American images vs. Latin American ones, in favour of a more nuanced examination of relations of power that takes into account inter-Latin American relations of power and coloniality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between the categorization of migrants under U.S. immigration laws and how Central American migrant youth understand and make decisions about their journeys through Mexico on their way to the U.S. Drawing from four years of ethnographic research in Mexico and Central America, this article shows how youth migrants learn about different legal classifications of migrants under U.S. immigration laws while transiting through Mexico and assess how such categories take (or do not take) into account their experiences during the migration journey. These assessments transform the migrant youths’ journeys – they change their routes through Mexico, and families split before crossing to the U.S. – and make them less likely to denounce or call attention to the violence they suffer in Mexico. This article ultimately shows how U.S. immigration law has an externalized effect that transforms migrants’ journeys well before migrants ever reach the U.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork at a nongovernmental migrant shelter in Mexico to examine how aid workers coordinate apparently contradictory humanitarian orientations. Prior research has called attention to the institutionalization of grassroots humanitarian organizations as they take on the work of categorizing migrants as either 'good' or 'bad', 'worthy' or 'unworthy'. Studies also call attention to initiatives that oppose such institutionalization, with a particular focus on highly mediated acts of civil disobedience. We argue that in Mexico, where the ambiguous line between state and criminal authority makes such explicit claims potentially damaging and dangerous, knowledge practices that seem to signal the institutionalization of otherwise grassroots spaces—the work of registering, classifying, and documenting migrants—are also central to how aid workers discretely subvert such deservingness distinctions without taking explicit and potentially damaging moral and political stances. Our analysis engages with science and technology studies scholarship that understands knowledge practices to be performative in that knowing migration produces the reality that it describes, rather than merely reflecting a taken-for-granted reality. We suggest that attending to how aid workers enact and coordinate information about migrants illuminates how aid workers simultaneously resist and reify distinct legal and moral regimes in violent contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species of oribatid mites of the genus Oribatella (Oribatida, Oribatellidae)—O. paradechambrierisp. nov. and O. parastrinatiisp. nov.—are described, based on adults collected from rainforest litter in Guatemala. Oribatella paradechambrierisp. nov. is similar to O. dechambrieri but differs by the smaller body size, the length of the teeth of the lamellae, the relative length of the free distal and fixed mediobasal parts of the lamella, the size of the trapezoid region in basal part of the prodorsum, and the length of the interlamellar seta. Oribatella parastrinatiisp. nov. is similar to O. strinatii but differs by the smaller body size, the morphology of the rostrum, the morphology of the tutorial cusp, the presence of large dense foveolae in the centrodorsal part of the notogaster and between the genital and anal apertures, and dense short transverse ridges on the medioposterior part of the notogaster, and the number of genital setae. Oribatella dechambrieri is the first record of the species for Guatemala. The belonging of O. paradechambrieri to the genus Fenestrobates is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a qualitative comparative analysis, we examine how Mexican and U.S. newspapers cover the massive arrival of Central Americans in 2014 and 2016. We find that the representation of these migrants in these two countries reflects the specific characteristics of each country's liberal media system model. In the U.S. coverage, characterized by a "Liberal" media system model that is relatively independent from government sources, the arrival of Central Americans is portrayed as a chaotic situation that overwhelmed border agencies and the immigration system. In doing so, it prevails a legacy discourse on the "illegality" of the phenomenon, highly characteristic of how U.S. media has historically depicted this population. In contrast, Mexican newspapers coverage is heavily influenced by official voices, depicting Central Americans as victims of human rights violations and as "in-transit" foreigners trying to reach the U.S. In this coverage, the government emerges as less accountable for the immigration crisis, reflecting its "Captured Liberal" media system model. By bringing together research in developed and developing nations, our comparative findings offer initial evidence about the influence of two media system models in shaping immigration news. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the state of knowledge of climate change and tourism in South and Central America, with a special focus on the characteristics of the tourism sector, the particularities of climate risks of the region and the sectoral GHG contribution. We conducted a scientific literature review (by region and by country) in Spanish, Portuguese and English using publications in the Scopus and Google databases to the end of 2021. In parallel, we performed a search for institutional publications, programs, and strategies on climate change and tourism in South and Central American countries. This analysis identified the main challenges and potentialities between tourism and climate change in the region. Among the main findings is the limited number of studies and lack of primary data to inform policy formulation and tourism planning. Likewise, national, and regional public policies specific to tourism are scarce, while multisectoral climate plans have only recently been developed and, consequently, are difficult to evaluate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to assess sexual risk behaviours among young people in Central America. Secondary data were analysed from 15,807 school adolescents (mean age = 14.4 years) who were part of the most recent cross-sectional Global School Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) in six Central American countries. Results show that almost a quarter (24.3%) of participants had sexual initiation, with 19.7% in Guatemala and 40.9% in Panama. Among those students who had sexual initiation, 51.7% had it early (≤14 years), 27.7% had non-condom use, 45.1% had non-birth control use and 41.5% had multiple sexual partners. Older age (≥15 years), male sex, psychological distress, suicide attempt, bullying victimization, school truancy, in physical fight, history of alcohol intoxication, trouble from alcohol use, no physical education, physical injury, soft drink intake and low parental support were associated with sexual risk behaviours. One in four adolescents in the Central America had sexual risk behaviours, calling for interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article details a trade in Indigenous slaves that was controlled by the Miskitu, a group indigenous to the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and Honduras. During the eighteenth century, the Miskitu targeted other Indigenous communities from the Yucatan to Panama, capturing thousands of individuals whom they sold as slaves in the British Caribbean. This frustrated the Spanish government, who tried to stop these raids by advocating for increasingly harsh policies, including the extermination of the Miskitu. The British, on the other hand, ignored this slave trade until they were forced to confront it because of legal reasons (which happened three times from 1741 to the 1820s). The Miskitu's slave trade uprooted, relocated, and forced enslavement upon an enormous number of Indigenous people across Central America. This article details the immense scope of Miskitu attacks, lends insight into the many Indigenous groups impacted by these raids, and explores how European powers were forced to react. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oribatid mite genera Arcoppia (Oppiidae) and Cavernocepheus (Otocepheidae) are recorded for the first time in Guatemala. Two new species—Arcoppia tumulosasp. nov. and Cavernocepheus longicristatussp. nov.—are described. Identification keys to the known species of Arcoppia from the Neotropical region and to the known species of Cavernocepheus are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Hypoxys Amyot & Serville, 1843 was recently revalidated and reviewed. Hypoxys is the second most numerous genus in Edessinae, with around 50 species described so far. Here, 12 new species of Hypoxys, distributed in three species groups, are described: H. quadridens group (H. afasciatus sp. nov. H. ambiguus sp. nov. H. variegatus sp. nov.), H. oxyacanthus group (H. bimaculatus sp. nov. H. stenospilus sp. nov.) and H. balteatus group (H. caienensis sp. nov. H. colombianus sp. nov. H. montanus sp. nov. H. oblongus sp. nov. H. splendidus sp. nov. H. tapirapensis sp. nov. H. tucumensis sp. nov.). Diagnoses for the species, distributional maps, and updated identification keys for the species groups of Hypoxys are provided. The female paratypes of H. breddini Mendonça, Nunes & Fernandes, 2021 are transferred to H. venustus Mendonça, Nunes & Fernandes, 2021. The geographical distribution of H. venustus is expanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of the San Isidro archaeological site in El Salvador, providing significant insights into the development of Preclassic settlements in the region. Through analysis of ceramic sequences, radiocarbon dating, and excavations, the study traces the site's evolution and its contextual significance within Mesoamerican and Isthmo-Colombian spheres. We report on the discovery of over 50 mounds constructed around 400 b.c., indicating the emergence of a complex social structure at that time. The unearthed artifacts, including jade objects and Bolinas-type figurines, suggest cultural exchange with often distant regions of Mesoamerica and the Isthmo-Colombian area. This research not only contributes to understanding the chronological and geographic development of San Isidro but also highlights the site's role in broader Preclassic Mesoamerican cultural dynamics. Our findings challenge existing perceptions of cultural peripherality and emphasize the need for nuanced regional studies in reconstructing ancient Central American history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the period of the Cold War was characterized by coups d'état, revolts by competing military juntas, and anti-communist dictatorships. It was also a time of revolutionaries and insurgents, students taking up arms, churchgoers converted into radical rebels, Catholic priests and nuns transformed into guerrilleros, slum dwellers becoming members of underground leftist movements, and peasant associations joining insurrectional movements. Young people became radicalized, youth wings of political parties joined the underground resistance, and liberation movements appeared in nearly all of the countries in Latin American and in several Caribbean island states. Rather than provide any hypothesis about this insurgency and military counter-insurgency, this article draws attention to an additional layer of oral history by reviewing older, original documents and recording extensive interviews with key figures, giving voice to several operatives who hold direct insights into the workings of these movements over a long period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the roles of coastal environments in prehispanic settlement patterns and land use within the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca, México using interdisciplinary methods. We first compare population levels in the coastal zone—including areas by the estuaries and sea—to inland habitats such as the floodplain. Second, we discuss resource extraction and trade associated with the coastal zone. Excavations and a 224 km2 full-coverage survey indicate that, except during the initial Early Formative period (1600–1350 BC), coastal zone habitats were not a settlement focus. Land use concentrated on the extraction of resources such as fish, salt, and ornamental shell. These goods were consumed locally and exchanged via long-distance networks for obsidian, pottery, and during the Postclassic period (AD 800–1522), copper items. Archaeofaunal and isotopic data suggest that aquatic resources from estuarine and marine environments constituted a small proportion of the total caloric input, but may have been important sources of protein. Finally, we compare settlement patterns between the lower Verde and other Mesoamerican coastal regions. Lower Verde population in the coastal zone was low, especially relative to areas which practiced mixed subsistence into the Middle/Late Formative periods (ca. 700–150 BC). This is related to the proximity of arable lands to estuaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past several decades, a large corpus of studies has been published on the relationship between resource availability and settlement in coastal Mesoamerica, particularly regarding the prevalence of mixed subsistence systems early in the Formative Period (ca.1800–850 BC). Few recent comparative works, however, are available which draw together research on coastal human–environment interactions from several Mesoamerican regions. This article endeavors to contribute toward interregional comparisons by highlighting findings from case studies in this special section of The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology. I explore broadly relevant themes, including geomorphic impacts on the archaeological record and the significance of coastal resources to coastal settlement, subsistence, and trade. While common patterns illuminate archaeological debates, it is important to identify the distinctive environmental characteristics of different regions which impact the visibility of archaeological data as well as the resources available to local populations. I emphasize the utility of conducting high-resolution interdisciplinary research to capture such ecological variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research conducted since 2003 in and around the regional center of Tres Zapotes, Veracruz documents the importance of aquatic resources and transportation routes for subsistence and settlement over more than two millennia. Systematic archaeological survey over more than 400 km2 in the surrounding Eastern Lower Papaloapan Basin details a persistent focus of major settlements on streams and other bodies of water that would have provided an abundance of food and opportunities for water-born transport. Excavations at Tres Zapotes further indicate that exploitation of aquatic fauna was a significant component of a mixed subsistence strategy for the Olmec and Epi-Olmec inhabitants of the site, who obtained fish, turtles, and waterfowl from streams, lakes, estuaries and coastal marine environments over a range extending no less than 20 km from the center. Artifact inventories and landscape features further suggest an associated subsistence technology that included weighted nets and retention ponds in seasonally flooded areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Committee to Protect Journalists is a world-renowned press freedom organization that advocates on behalf of journalists being persecuted for doing their work. Launched in 1981, CPJ was originally imagined as a group of US journalists who would speak out on behalf of beleaguered colleagues working under both right-wing and left-wing dictatorships. CPJ was a product of the late Cold War, and its members found it particularly challenging to navigate US foreign policy—especially when advocating for journalists in Central America. This article tells the story of CPJ's first international mission to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, showing that the mission was riddled with internal tension. Such tension centered on the question of how to gain credibility with both conservative and liberal lawmakers in Washington. CPJ members each believed that they could and should gain this credibility by striking a political balance among the delegates themselves, as well as in the official statement that followed the mission. Yet, the political differences among the people who went on the mission ultimately led to bitter disagreements about how to represent journalists' persecution in that region of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of neurology schools in Latin America during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries profoundly influenced the French neurology school. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the neurology department at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris held a preeminent position as the global hub of neurology. Professor Jean-Martin Charcot, widely acclaimed as the father of modern neurology, was the most revered neurology professor of the nineteenth century. Many physicians from diverse countries across South America (notably Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Brazil, and Colombia), the Caribbean (Cuba), and Mexico pursued specialized training in neurology under Charcot’s tutelage, and even after his passing in 1893, they continued their training with his numerous disciples. As a result, nearly two centuries after the birth of Charcot, his enduring contributions to the field of neurology remain vibrantly influential, particularly in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing popularity of fusing adventure, humanitarianism, and travel has received attention from scholars within the fields of leisure and tourism studies, particularly regarding widespread activities such as volunteer tourism. Fewer have examined the phenomenon that we refer to as endurance philanthropy, in which participants journey long distances under challenging conditions to increase awareness and raise funds for specific causes. As more and more people become attuned to the idea, it is essential to interrogate the power dynamics and development discourses that frame such campaigns. To begin this necessary conversation, this paper investigates one subset of the endurance philanthropy movement: participants who have journeyed from North America to Central America to raise money and awareness for causes situated within the destination region. Using the lenses of spectacle and critical development, we analyze online media produced both by and about these journeyers. Our findings highlight key themes that weave across and through these events: actions not words, expedition completed, grit and determination, and donor commitment. We argue that these events – while emphasizing solidarity and advocating for social change – ultimately undermine the potential for such transformation due to the spectacular, individualizing, and apolitical characteristics of the campaigns. This results in the reproduction of neoliberal self-help models of progress, which reinforce the status quo and downplay larger structural issues that keep poverty and inequality in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although foreign policy between great power patrons and their client states is often studied, those of client states and third states within the context of patron-client relations receive little attention. We address this gap through a comparative historical analysis of Israel and Taiwan's defense ties with Central American states from the 1970s until 2019. We argue that clients' initially make decisions based on the preferences of their patrons, but subsequent defense relations with third states depend on how they benefit clients, which may not align with the patron's preferences. Our study, besides adding further theoretical and empirical context to the existing scholarship, compares Israel and Taiwan's long running defense ties with Central American countries, to reveal that both client states began supplying arms and training as surrogates of their patron U.S., but the type of defense goods they subsequently supplied and whether they institutionalised ties were contingent on their expected gains, be it economic, diplomatic, or security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed the geographical distribution of Habromys species based on distributional data from museum specimens, web databases, and literature. We recorded species-presence data of each species in 0.5° × 0.5° grid cells and biogeographic provinces in Mexico and Central America. We analyzed the association between vegetation types and land use. We carried out species distribution models of most species of Habromys and those tree species frequently harboring these mice, finding a high distributional congruence among mice and trees. Species of Habromys occur throughout the montane systems of Mexico and northern Central America, so they can be considered characteristic elements of the Neotropical montane cloud forests. All species of the genus occur in Mexico, whereas Guatemala and El Salvador have only one species. Although all species of Habromys are highly restricted and considered rare species, only one (H. simulatus) is currently protected by Mexican laws. We assigned two species to a high and four to the critical conservation risk. Habromys species contribute to the recognition of Mesoamerica as a biodiversity hotspot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of a new Cosmetidae species from Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama, with unusual sexual dimorphism and colouration, presented an identification challenge due to the limited knowledge of the taxonomy of cosmetids in Central America. The new species is notable for the extensive bright orange blots on the dorsal scutum and by the unusual structure of tibia IV of males, which is not incrassate, and bears two compact rows of strong spines. After examination of both type and non-type specimens of the type species of the genus Poecilaemula Roewer, 1912 (Meterginus signatus Banks, 1909), we decided that the new species should be assigned to this genus, and that the current circumscription of the genus is debatable as a natural group. Here, we propose a new definition of Poecilaemula, which includes three species: the type species from Costa Rica; Poecilaemula ichingsp. n. from western Panama; and the species Poecilaemula eutypa (Chamberlin, 1925) comb. n. from eastern Panama, which is newly transferred from Paecilaema C.L. Koch, 1839. Additionally, Paecilaemana reimoseri Roewer, 1933 is considered a new junior subjective synonym of Meterginus signatus Banks 1909 (currently under Poecilaemula). The five South American species currently included in Poecilaemula reveal a geographic discrepancy, and they should be transferred to other genera in future investigations because they do not share any special similarity with the type species of the genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite more than 40 years of counterdrug interdiction efforts in the Western Hemisphere, cocaine trafficking, or "narco-trafficking", networks continue to evolve and increase their global reach. Counterdrug interdiction continues to fall short of performance targets, due to the adaptability of narco-trafficking networks and spatially complex constraints on interdiction operations (e.g., resources, jurisdictional). Due to these dynamics, current modeling approaches offer limited strategic insights into time-varying, spatially optimal allocation of counterdrug interdiction assets. This study presents coupled agent-based and spatial optimization models to investigate the co-evolution of counterdrug interdiction deployment and narco-trafficking networks' adaptive responses. Increased spatially optimized interdiction assets were found to increase seizure volumes. However, the value per seized shipment concurrently decreased and the number of active nodes increased or was unchanged. Narco-trafficking networks adaptively responded to increased interdiction pressure by spatially diversifying routes and dispersing shipment volumes. Thus, increased interdiction pressure had the unintended effect of expanding the spatial footprint of narco-trafficking networks. This coupled modeling approach enabled the study of narco-trafficking network evolution while being subjected to varying interdiction pressure as a spatially complex adaptive system. Capturing such co-evolution dynamics is essential for simulating traffickers' realistic adaptive responses to a wide range of interdiction scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the 1970s and 1990s, state-led violence drove one-quarter of El Salvador’s population—most of them peasants—into exile. Studies of this phenomenon often adopt a bureaucratic, top-down approach, treating it as an anomaly, a problem to be solved by international leaders. Adopting a transnational social historical approach allows us to see this Cold War-era ‘refugee crisis’ as the peasants saw it—as part of much longer historical patterns of dispossession and resistance. This article traces their displacement narratives over thirty years. Drawing from two decades of work with displaced Salvadorans, public and private archives, and oral histories, it first brings to light how Salvadorans threaded together Spanish colonialists, Salvadoran oligarchs, US imperialists, and international humanitarian organizations into a noose of destructive outside interests. It then explores how, rather than submit to conventional portrayals of refugees as pawns or passive victims, Salvadorans identified as citizen-activists who harnessed displacement as an opportunity to continue progressing toward long-standing goals of building a more just and equitable world. Finally, the article moves to the present, as former refugees purposefully excavate the 1980s crisis to expose the roots of current mass migrations. The street gang wars that trigger today’s flights are nothing new, peasants argue; they are a living legacy of the Cold War. By emphasizing the past/present and local/global nexuses, these narratives recast the Cold War in terms of actors, causes, consequences, and chronology, while also demonstrating the value of looking beyond violence to consider the dreams of—and movements toward—a better tomorrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of unaccompanied immigrant minors (UIMs) and families from Central America seeking asylum in the U.S. continues to rise. This growth, combined with restrictive government policies, led to crowded and suboptimal conditions in Customs and Border Patrol and non-governmental organization facilities. COVID-19 further taxed facilities and exacerbated uncertainty surrounding length of detention, basic human rights, and family reunification. The current project features testimonies from the authors who work as clinical experts and providers in Texas – a top destination for Central American immigrants. In collaboration with a deputy director of a not-for-profit human rights organization, volunteer psychologists, and the director of a humanitarian respite center, we describe challenges faced by administrators and clinical staff in addressing the mental health needs of immigrant children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary themes identified were anti-immigrant policies that occurred concurrently with COVID-19; difficulty implementing COVID-19 protocols alongside scarcity of supplies and volunteers; increased mental health needs among UIMs and immigrant families; and challenges in UIM placement upon release from custody. Strategies for addressing clinical challenges in the near- and long-term and opportunities for improvement in care systems to immigrant youth, including correcting anti-immigrant policies, addressing ongoing COVID-19 protocols and challenges, meeting mental and physical health needs, facilitating release and reunification for unaccompanied immigrant minors, and maximizing youth resilience through trauma-informed interventions, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving inclusion and equity in international business (IB) education remains a challenge, given the rising costs of college tuition and the increasingly diverse and non-traditional student population. These changes may reduce the feasibility and relevancy of activities, such as study abroad programs, and an MNE-centric IB curriculum for a significant number of college students today. To overcome these challenges, in this paper, we share our findings from a case study on a virtual service-learning project that fostered cross-border interactions between undergraduate students in North America and small business owners in Central America. Over the course of one semester, students worked to draw connections between their unique individual backgrounds and skill sets, connect IB and global strategy concepts to small business operations, and deepen their understanding of sustainable development. Our findings demonstrate that this practice can enhance student enjoyment, academic learning, professional growth, and civic learning. Overall, virtual service-learning can be effective as an alternative teaching and learning approach to address the significant challenges in IB education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A seismo-tectonic map depicting the principal structural elements of the northern Central American region has been meticulously crafted to characterize the tectonic setting and the individual seismo-tectonic structures of this area. This region is subject to heightened seismic activity, with a large number of medium-high Magnitude occurrences transpiring annually. This map is presented alongside an informative dataset wherein fault trace locations, geometry and kinematics descriptors and other available metadata have been stored. Therefore, the map offers a detailed and up-to-date depiction of the brittle deformation across the region, serving as a valuable resource for a comprehensive assessment of the seismo-tectonic framework. Moreover, the map and its accompanying database summarize fault characteristics for seismic hazard analysts and for civil protection workers, proving to be useful instruments in pinpointing areas where urgent fault research should be conducted from a seismic risk standpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psittacanthus schiedeanus (Cham. & Schltdl.) G.Don., 1834, is a mistletoe species in the Loranthaceae, characteristic of the canopy in cloud forest edges and widely distributed in northern Mesoamerica. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of P. schiedeanus, the first for a species in the Psittacantheae tribe. The circularized quadripartite structure of the P. schiedeanus chloroplast genome was 122,586 bp in length and included a large single-copy region of 72,507 bp and two inverted repeats of 21,283 bp separated by a small single-copy region of 7,513 bp. The genome contained 112 genes, of which 96 are unique, including 65 protein-coding genes, 27 transfer RNA, and four ribosomal RNA. The overall GC content in the plastome of P. schiedeanus is 36.9%. Based on 43 published complete chloroplast genome sequences for species in the families Loranthaceae and Santalaceae (Santalales), the maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree with high-support bootstrap values indicated that P. schiedeanus in the Psittacantheae tribe is sister to the tribe Lorantheae. The chloroplast genome provided in this study represents a valuable resource for genetic, phylogenetic and conservation studies of Psittacanthus species, and an important advance for unraveling the evolutionary history of these hemiparasitic plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research conducted in southern Sonora, Mexico provides an opportunity to revisit debates about interaction between Mesoamerica and the North American Southwest (NAS). In the borderland between these traditions, communities show few signs of cultural amalgamation, instead exhibiting either an avoidance of overt identity markers or an emphasis on more local connections. This pattern contrasts with most discussions of Mesoamerican influence on the NAS that focus on regionally atypical centers of foreign goods consumption or evidence of foreign religious traditions in distant localities. By recentering on local contexts where cultural amalgamation is expected but minimal, we raise important questions about why more distant groups found Mesoamerican societies to be worthy of emulation. The results suggest researchers should devote equal attention to cases in which distinct identities are erased or suppressed as they do to cases in which social boundaries are maintained or created anew. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nightjars (Family Caprimulgidae) are insectivorous birds with crepuscular and nocturnal habits. Their coloration and cryptic behavior make this group extremely difficult to register, being more easily heard than sighted. The rufous nightjar (Antrostomus rufus) is a widely distributed species from Southern Central America to Northern Argentina, but most aspects of its life history remain unknown. By the employment of an acoustic remote unit, we evaluated the vocal activity and environmental variables of vocalizations by rufous nightjars during a complete annual cycle at one site in the Yungas Andean Forests of Northwestern Argentina. The results, based on one sampled site, indicate that the vocal activity of this species is performed during the breeding season (between September and November). During these months, this species showed a peak of vocal activity at midnight (between 00:00 and 01:00 hs) and at dawn (06:00 hs). In addition, most vocalizations were recorded during full moon nights, and temperature was negatively related to the vocal activity. We highlight the importance of using passive acoustic monitoring as a tool for understanding the life history of nocturnal neotropical birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dieffenbachia standleyi Croat is a plant belonging to Araceae and is native to Central America, and South America. While there have been studies on the Dieffenbachia species, Dieffenbachia standleyi Croat has yet to be studied in depth. Dieffenbachia was used as a folk remedy to prevent inflammation and treat gout, erectile dysfunction, and coldness. Thus, this study investigates the pharmacological function of Dieffenbachia standleyi Croat's methanol extract (DSE). When RAW 264.7 macrophages were treated with DSE and stimulated with lipopolysaccharide, DSE reduced the expression of inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase and cyclooxygenase-2, thereby decreasing NO and prostaglandin E2 production and pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1ß, IL-18, IL-6, and TNF-a. By confirming DSE's anti-inflammatory mechanisms, we determined that DSE inhibits IκBa phosphorylation in the nuclear factor κappa B pathway, and inflammasome formation, without affecting MAPK pathways. This study suggests that Dieffenbachia standleyi Croat is a potential anti-inflammatory agent for inflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational companies in Honduras are suing the government for lost profits, following President Xiomara Castro's decision to overturn laws that supported economic development projects. The companies are seeking international arbitration under the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), claiming that the government's actions threaten their ability to make a profit. The U.S. Embassy in Honduras has been critical of Castro's policies, and there is concern that the U.S. government is supporting opposition to her administration. These investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases pose a significant challenge to the Castro administration's proposed reforms and the future of Honduras. [Extracted from the article]

The article explores the town of Metetí in Panama, which has become a hub for migrants crossing the perilous Darién Gap from Colombia to Central America. The town has experienced significant changes due to the influx of migrants, with an estimated 3,500 to 4,000 migrants arriving daily. The article highlights the challenges faced by migrants, the impact on the local economy, and the emergence of a humanitarian industry in the town. It also emphasizes the solidarity and care exhibited by migrants and local communities. [Extracted from the article]

Building on recent scholarly interest in Latin America's Cold War, this paper breaks new ground in using a broad range of original documents from previously largely overlooked voices – the foreign ministries, parties, and security services agencies of Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Romania – in discussing Cuba's Cold War involvement in Central America and the Caribbean from the First Congress of the Cuban Communist Party until the U.S. Grenada invasion. The candid reports provided by contemporary East European observers help us attain a more nuanced picture of Havana's complex policy dilemmas as it sought to negotiate and navigate between its vast ambitions, limited abilities, Soviet bloc restraint, and the ever-present threat of a U.S. invasion. Finally, further in line with the latest advancements in the globalized Cold War historiography, in hearing the voices of Moscow's junior partners, this article casts the events surrounding the tumultuous period in a broader Transatlantic setting beyond the shadows of the superpowers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Epichernes Muchmore, 1982 has three Neotropical species with specific rodent hosts. Epichernes vickeryae sp. nov. is here described from Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica: the specimens were collected from a spiny pocket mouse Heteromys nubicolens. The new species, named E. vickeryae, is closer to E. navarroi by the position of trichobothria setae ist and isb, which are adjacent and the number of teeth on the movable finger, known from Mexico. The new species is characterized by trichobothrium ist adjacent to isb, femur L/B 1.71–1.85, it has 22–31 external accessory teeth, 58 teeth on fixed finger and 62 on movable finger. The carapace ranging from 1.12 mm to 1.33 mm in length, central tergites with 21–22 setae, chelicera with five setae on the hand, sb and b denticulate. The new species represents the second known species of Epichernes from Costa Rica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central America is experiencing rapidly-accelerating displacement crises. 400,000 have fled to neighboring states, and 500,000 throughout the Americas. In response, the international community implemented the Global Compact on Refugees through the MIRPS regional mechanism (Marco Integral Regional de Protección y Soluciones). Though framed as a platform for responsibility-sharing, MIRPS focuses narrowly on host states, and ignores resettlement or regularized mobility pathways. This article uses an International Relations lens to argue that the absence of regional governance means the scope for responsibility-sharing is dictated by hierarchical power dynamics and extraterritorial containment agendas, with regional states complying through coercion or allying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debates about race in the United States are front and center in the 21st century. From the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement to the caging of indigenous migrant children from Mexico and Central America to rising Asian American and Pacific Islander discrimination during COVID-19, the urgency for an explicit definition of racial equity planning and examples of how the ethic evolved could not be more pressing. Historically, social justice–oriented planners focused efforts on racial equity despite a lack of a collective understanding of the topic. By demonstrating diverse, applied approaches through an analysis of 17 municipal and community-led plans at various scales, we traced the primacy of race in equity planning through four key eras: civil rights, Model Cities and successive programs, HOPE VI and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Sustainable Cities Regional Planning Grants, and contemporary. How and why has racial equity planning evolved in the academic planning literature and representative racial equity plans in the last 60 years? Racial equity planning has always been a cornerstone of the field, and lessons from the literature and relevant plans merit deeper attention, especially as White supremacy gains stronger ground. Planners should affirm a unified definition of racial equity planning informed by relevant scholarship and operationalize its tenets in their work. Recognizing key milestones where racial equity has successfully informed contemporary urban policies offers progressive planners a rich set of alternative policies, strategies, and programs to use across diverse communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article utilises logistic regression analysis to determine the factors that influence people from Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala deciding to flee to other countries. By broadening the traditional migration literature, we argue that organised crime, violence, and insecurity, not purely economic calculations, play a crucial role in one's decision to emigrate to the U.S. Although concretely economic motivations, such as the household's wage level, and social capital-related factors like having family ties in the destination country, are strong correlates in our models, we show that victimisation and fear of crime also affect the decision to live or work abroad. We contend that these factors are directly related to the presence of gangs and other criminal organisations in all three countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of word classes has a long-standing tradition in the European history of the language sciences. Amongst scholars of Otopamean languages there is a rather clear agreement that little positive evidence for the existence of a proper class of adjectives is to be found in this very language family. Such analyses are not at all rare for Mesoamerican languages. The paper will focus on the representation of this discussion in old colonial and postcolonial grammars, dictionaries and texts about the Pamean subgroup – works which mostly stem from the context of missionary writers in the first place. Specifically, it will try to illustrate the indecisiveness and sometimes seemingly hesitant treatment of how to deal with the European concept of 'adjectives' in those languages – even in postcolonial times. We will argue that the critical points brought up in the recent theoretical and descriptive discussion reflect problems that authors in the history up to the 20th century had with this very category (like overlaps with certain verb types or with nouns, according to adjective classes). With varying breadth and depth, the sources taken into account concern Pamean, namely Northern, Southern and Central Pame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within an emerging body of work on queer mobilities, a marked interest in sexuality and migration/asylum has left ample room to consider the complex experience of everyday mobility and displacement. In addition, despite its centrality to survival and its imbrication with mobility, work has been given little attention in queer migration and trans scholarship. Based on detailed narratives created over a number of years with two Central American trans women as they continue to move, the paper explores the ways in which material and social realities of work shape and are shaped by marginal queer(ed) mobility. It proposes the idea of messy survival to explore the complex navigation of marginal existence, and uses this to explore the intersections between work, mobility and trans subjectivity, arguing that this framework is a useful means of engaging with the gap between how trans, mobile lives are written, and how they are lived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our current global political system is being challenged, and one focal point of that struggle can be found in Central America. There, the Panama Canal has become a piece in a larger geopolitical game. For many years the canal has been of immense importance to international trade as well as to international security. While the United States was once the guarantor of its security, China has now established a large presence in the region. This has been accomplished by using corporations as fronts for a civilian-led take-over of ports and harbors in the Canal Zone. China's current posture has ramifications for the security in and around the Canal, to the effect that China now has a strategic choke-hold on the US in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article examines the interventions of different official and non-official actors of Mexican origin in the Costa Rican civil war in 1948. The article demonstrates that during the early Cold War years, Mexico's international relations with Central America were conducted by multiple actors, part of different transnational networks, in part due to the ruptures surrounding the pacts of what was known as the Mexican revolutionary family. This article reconstructs the different historical trajectories, interests, agendas, and actions of these actors, shedding light on a topic often neglected by Mexican foreign policy historiography. Taking up recent debates over Mexico's stance during the Latin American Cold War, this article contributes to filling the gap in the early Cold War Mexican foreign policy towards the region, stressing nuances over the existence of a non-intervention, homogeneous foreign policy that prioritized the relationship with the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thousands of ballcourts are known throughout Mesoamerica, as they are usually a main component of public architecture at mostly high-ranking archaeological sites. These buildings appear in different designs and layouts and were deeply tied to politics, religion, sacred belief, ritual, ceremonies, and sport. Considering that the construction of public buildings followed well-established architectural standards in accordance with social norms and religious concepts, I hypothesize that ballcourts were designed using closed polygon layouts with lengths and areas that displayed significant worldview numbers and time counts. Analysis of the layouts of 28 ballcourts from 17 archaeological sites indicates that Mesoamericans intentionally plotted short- and long-term annual and ritual calendric counts, and lunar and Venus synodic cycles. It is concluded that these buildings hosted public events to commemorate the completion or beginning of a new time cycle and to honor the related deities for whom they were built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigration from Mexico and Central America to the United States has resulted in dramatic demographic changes in communities across the country since the early 1990s. Newcomers and longstanding residents make sense of and construct their shared society and the rules and norms by which they live alongside one another, and this construction of citizen identity is especially relevant to the work of schools. Schools in receiving communities in the New Latinx Diaspora (NLD)—new receiving sites in which Latinx newcomers have not traditionally settled—face the unique work of responding to and transforming (or not) in response to their new demographics. Framed by an overarching question of how newcomers construct citizen identities in school, three themes emerged from this thematic review of peer-reviewed scholarship exploring school responses to newcomers in the NLD: 1) the many ideological and practical challenges of the mismatch between schools' longstanding policies and processes and newcomers' realities, 2) the ways in which improvisation and ideologies limit newcomers' access to equitable educational experiences, and 3) a handful of cautiously optimistic strategies and opportunities toward equity and inclusion for all students. Taken together, these themes reveal the problematic nature of the spaces in which newcomers construct citizen identities wherein they are regarded as a problem and in which their rights are qualified based on assimilation. However, they also demonstrate how newcomers assert citizen agency – through various forms of resistance and by claiming space – to transform the nature of their schools and communities and the notion of citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Politics and religion are usually considered to be strongly interlinked in Latin America. Despite the fact that discourses about religion, Christianity, and God are assumed to play an important role in political competition, we are still confronted with a gap of systematic comparative large N analyses. This work attempts to map the religious discourses of 87 parties and presidential candidates in 15 Latin American countries based on quantitative content analyses of 14,379 posts on Facebook. We found that religious references serve to emphasise one's own closeness to God and Christianity, to promote traditional morality, and to portray competitors as immoral and corrupt. Religious discourses mainly occur in Central America and Brazil, where evangelical groups are on the rise and where societies are particularly religious. The evangelical rise may therefore have a substantial impact on society and political campaigning. Religious discourses in society without relevant evangelical groups can be explained by strongly conservative parties and an extremely religious population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversification is key for agroecological transformations, but little is known about how it relates to farmers' dietary diversity and food sovereignty. Our team and coffee cooperative staff conducted a participatory action research mixed methods study, including 171 surveys and 50 interviews. Over 70% of the farmers reported self-initiated diversification activities. Statistical analysis showed a significant positive correlation between crop diversity and dietary diversity, while controlling for farm size and income. To assess gender relations females responded to 41% of the surveys, and we separated focus groups by sex. Average male-owned farms were 1.8 ha larger than women-owned farms, yet we found no significant differences in household food security or dietary diversity. Additional disparities included male vs. female perceptions about who does additional diversification work and who decides about strategies. Although the co-op has a strong gender equity and technical assistance program, our analysis of extension training documents identified useful content and a smaller percent of female participants in diversification vs. gender sessions. Suggested strategic actions for co-op planning include supporting: (1) female land ownership, (2) diversification focused farmer-led experimentation, and (3) more training for men on gender, women on diversification, and all participants in feminist agroecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores causes and implications of the foreign indebtedness of Central American countries in the 2010s, that is, during what has been defined the second phase of global liquidity, marked by the quantitative easing (QE) of central banks in developed economies. Looking at their balance of payments and their contemporary sources of funding, we find that the international bond market became an important source of debt for Central American economies during that decade. We also find that non-financial corporations' foreign bond issuance has been increasing in some of the countries under study, even though less than in larger emerging economies. Classifying these countries' international debt securities by residence and nationality of the issuer, we identify another peculiarity with important implications about financial fragility. In fact, as opposed to what occurred to larger emerging economies, the general governments issuing foreign bonds has been a more relevant source of risk than the issuance by financial and non-financial corporations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Neotropical otter Lontra longicaudis is a top predator in aquatic ecosystems from North, Central, and South America and is subjected to substantial environmental distress due to historic and contemporary anthropogenic disturbance. Currently, L. longicaudis is considered 'near threatened' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. This study renders the first genomic resource for L. longicaudis; its mitochondrial genome was assembled and characterised in detail. The AT-rich mitochondrial genome of L. longicaudis was 16,436 bp in length and encoded 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and a 994 bp long putative control region (CR). The heavy use of CTA (Leu), ATA (Met), and ATC (Ile) codons in PCGs contributes to the AT-rich nature of this genome. Out of 22 tRNAs, tRNA-Ser (AGY) (trnS1) lacked a typical 'cloverleaf' secondary structure. In the CR, numerous microsatellites and two tandem repeats were detected as well as multiple 'hairpin' structures. Ka/Ks values estimated for all but one PCG were < 1, indicating purifying selection in most PCGs. atp8 experienced neutral selection. A phylogenomic analysis based on PCGs confirms the monophyly of the family Mustelidae and also supports the monophyletic status of the subfamilies Guloinae, Helictidinae, Melinae, Mustelinae and Lutrinae; Ictonychinae was found to be polyphyletic. In the Lutrinae, L. longicaudis had an early branching position. The characterisation of a complete mitochondrial genome in the Neotropical otter L. longicaudis constitutes the first step towards supporting conservation efforts using genomic tools in this and other mustelids inhabiting aquatic neotropical environments under considerable contemporary anthropogenic disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]