In a particular deli store in South Melbourne, a tongue-and-cheek message is attached to the cash register. “Bitcoin accepted there,” it proclaims brightly. Naturally, it is nothing of the sort, a teasing ruse for the punters and those casting an eye in the direction of the store. Cold hard cash remains king, albeit one with a…
In El Salvador, reports of dead bodies abandoned on side of the road or in poorly traveled areas are commonplace. The country remains on the list of violent countries in Central America. In May alone, the number of homicides reached 484 deaths. Meanwhile, the government refuses to treat the issue of disappearances as a problem…
Did El Salvador just add another nail in the coffin for the US dollar? El Salvador just made Bitcoin the country’s legal tender that can possibly bypass the future use of the US dollar. The bold move must have made the US government and the Federal Reserve bank very nervous at this point in time…
Two recent electoral regime changes in Central America pose serious challenges for China’s regional strategy since the incoming leaders of El Salvador and Panama have pledged to take a tougher stance towards the People’s Republic than their predecessors and thus appear poised to reach out to the US in an effort to play it off…
The new Salvadoran president promised to reassess relations with China. The secretary general of President-elect Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas party told his countrymen that their new leader will reconsider his government’s relations with China, which it surprisingly recognized last August after breaking relations with long-term ally Taiwan in exchange for what was later revealed to…
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Central America late last week when he criticized China’s rising influence there by questioning the intentions behind its investment activity, which prompted the country’s media to angrily respond earlier this week and lambast the US for trying to “drive a wedge” into Sino-Latin American relations. Washington is…
