Central America

The Trump administration announced new tariffs of 10–12.5% on imports from 60 countries, citing insufficient efforts against forced labor; Honduras faces a 10% additional tariff alongside Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

An integrated food-security analysis projects that 157,000 people across Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala in the Rio Lempa border region will face acute hunger from July through October 2026, driven by seasonal grain depletion, inflation, and El Niño drought risk.

Family remittances to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras totaled $20.15 billion in the first five months of 2026, an 8.6% increase from the same period a year earlier.

Analyst Luis Cruz attributes Honduras's lowest investment percentage in Central America to weak legal protections and investor uncertainty, arguing that strengthening the legal framework and offering greater certainty to investors are key to attracting capital and creating jobs.

The Inter-American Development Bank says Central American and Dominican economies face heightened global volatility and must build fiscal space, strengthen currency flexibility (especially Honduras and Nicaragua), and shore up foreign reserves to cushion external financial shocks.

A CEPAL report finds Guatemala and Honduras have the highest rates of multidimensional poverty in Central America—measuring deprivation in health, education, housing, employment, and services—with Honduras at 12% and Guatemala at 28.9%, and both countries showing severe housing overcrowding above 40%.

Tropical Storm Cristina weakened to a tropical depression but continues to threaten Central America with heavy rainfall, high surf, and flooding alerts; Costa Rica reported five people missing after two boats capsized off Guanacaste.

Migration authorities from Central America and the Dominican Republic are holding a two-day annual meeting in Punta Cana to discuss border security, human mobility challenges, and coordinated responses to migration flows, with Belize set to assume leadership of the regional migration body.

Military leaders from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic convene June 9–12 in Roatán to coordinate on regional security challenges, transnational threats, peacekeeping, and humanitarian operations.