Tropical Depression 19 strengthened into Tropical Storm Sara Thursday afternoon in the western Caribbean. Life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flash flooding and mudslides are expected in Honduras through the weekend, the National Hurricane Center reported.

A disturbance tracking south of Jamaica Wednesday morning – designated Invest 99L by the National Hurricane Center – is expected to organize into Tropical Storm Sara over the coming days and could strengthen into a powerful hurricane by this weekend as it hangs about off the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua.

A Miami-based professor is warning that heightened deportation efforts under potential Trump administration policies could impact over a million immigrants in Florida alone, with local communities and families facing serious consequences.

A broad area of low pressure near the coast of Nicaragua today is expected to slowly organize this week and is likely to become a tropical depression or named storm by the middle of the week as it heads northward toward the U.S. Gulf Coast for Thursday into Friday.

You could feel the pain through the screen Friday as Silvia Molina Cruz spoke to Local 10 News from Nicaragua.

Nicaragua’s government has closed another 151 nongovernmental organizations, among them some of the most important trade organizations, including the American Chamber of Commerce.

Registration has begun under President Joe Biden’s offer of a path to citizenship to spouses of U.S. citizens without having to first leave the country.

The top United Nations court has rejected a request by Nicaragua to order Germany to halt military and other aid to Israel and renew funding to the U.N. aid agency in Gaza.

The Nicaraguan government says it has released Bishop Rolando Álvarez and 18 Catholic clergy members from jail and handed them over to Vatican authorities.

The persecution of Roman Catholics in Nicaragua under the administration of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, includes the detentions of two bishops, 15 priests, and two seminarians, according to activists who are tracking the cases.

Nicaraguan authorities arrested six more Catholic priests.

A charter plane grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation has arrived in India carrying 276 Indians blocked inside a rural French airport for days.

Judges in France are expected to decide Sunday whether about 300 Indian citizens who are suspected of being victims of human trafficking should continue to be sequestered in a small airport in Champagne country.

Authorities in France say about 300 Indian citizens heading to Central America are sequestered in a French airport for a third day because of an investigation into suspected human trafficking.

Miss Nicaragua, Sheynnis Palacios, has won the Miss Universe competition in El Salvador, the first to wear the crown from her country.

El Salvador’s government has begun slapping a $1,130 fee on travelers from dozens of countries connecting through the nation’s main airport.

For several days, forecast models have signaled possible tropical development in the western Caribbean by week’s end, but we’re now beginning to get a clearer picture of the system’s trajectory into the weekend.

Haiti’s government has banned all charter flights to Nicaragua that migrants fleeing poverty and violence had been increasingly using in their quest to reach the United States.

Sigmund Garcia, who was born in Venezuela and moved to South Florida about a year ago, said in Spanish that he lives with the fear of deportation.

Nicaragua has increased human rights violations and persecution of the opposition as it ratchets up its efforts to stifle dissent, a United Nations group of experts monitoring the country says.

A key portion of President Joe Biden’s immigration policy that grants parole to thousands of people from Central America and the Caribbean is being debated in a Texas federal courtroom.

Thousands of migrants from the West African country of Mauritania have arrived in the U.S. in recent months, following a new route taking them to Nicaragua and up through the southern border.

Patrick Hamilton, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War who covered civil wars in Central America as a photojournalist for The Associated Press,and later worked at Reuters covering the first Gulf War in Iraq, has died after a long struggle with cancer.

Odamyis Gomez, a married mother of two in Cuba, said she dreams of a family reunion in Miami-Dade County, and she had put her hope on President Joe Biden’s parole program. But in January, a group of 20 states challenged the case-by-case basis program to help Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.

The United Nations’ top court has rejected a case brought by Nicaragua in a decades-long dispute with Colombia over maritime borders and entitlements in the Caribbean.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is offering to help try to gain the release of a Roman Catholic bishop imprisoned in Nicaragua.

Roman Catholics in Nicaragua have had to hold traditional “Stations of the Cross” and other Holy Week processions on church grounds or inside the churches amid a ban on public demonstrations.

The references seem endless, and they can come from anywhere.

Eugenio Suárez and Anthony Santander had two hits each as Venezuela beat Nicaragua 4-1 and improved to 3-0 in the World Baseball Classic.

In the last 18 months, an estimated 250,000 migrants and asylum-seekers, mostly from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti, have arrived in the Miami area, often only on temporary legal status that doesn’t allow them to work.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava met with recently-released Nicaraguan political prisoners Wednesday morning.

A senior Biden administration official says 222 inmates considered by many as political prisoners of the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega are on their way to Washington.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Monday in Miami-Dade County that the new program for refugees and asylum seekers from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua is already working.

As President Joe Biden announced the recent expansion of an immigration policy for migrants coming from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, sponsors in South Florida are stepping up to help people who might not even know about the program.

After President Joe Biden announced nearly one week ago that he is expanding a program to accept up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, many South Floridians are already benefitting.

Immigration attorney Willy Allen is in favor of President Biden’s new asylum policy affecting migrants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua.

Nicaragua’s Sandinista National Liberation Front has completed its political domination of the country by winning local elections decried as unfair in all 153 of the country’s municipalities.

Former hurricane Julia has dissipated, but is drenching Guatemala and El Salvador with rain after reemerging in the Pacific.

Julia, which made landfall early Sunday on the Caribbean side of Nicaragua, scooted quickly across the rugged terrain of Central America Sunday, emerging over Pacific waters by Sunday night largely intact as a tropical storm, becoming only the third Atlantic-Pacific crossover storm to keep its name on both sides since the tropical cyclone naming rule took effect in 2000.

The disturbance we’ve been following in the Caribbean – dubbed Invest 91L – is taking a familiar track south along South America’s northern shoreline like other systems we’ve tracked this season, including the disturbance that became Bonnie back in June and more recently the tropical wave that later became Hurricane Ian.

At 100 PM CDT (1800 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Julia was located inland near latitude 12.4 North, longitude 86.2 West. Julia is moving toward the west near 16 mph (26 km/h), and this motion is...

U.S. authorities say the number of Venezuelans taken into custody at the U.S. border with Mexico soared in August.

The U.N. General Assembly has voted to allow Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deliver a pre-recorded address to next week’s gathering of world leaders because of his need to deal with Russia’s invasion.

Cubans are fleeing their country in the largest numbers in more than four decades. The migrants choose to stake their lives and futures on a dangerous journey to the United States by air, land and sea to escape the island’s political and economic woes.

Nicaraguan police have raided the residence of a Roman Catholic bishop, detaining him and several other people holed up inside for two weeks.

A strengthened Hurricane Bonnie is moving in the Pacific roughly parallel to Mexico's southern coast, after crossing over Central America from the Caribbean, dropping heavy rain and contributing to two deaths.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a storm that has hurled rain on the southern Caribbean and the northern shoulder of South America is expected to hit Central America as a tropical storm over the weekend and eventually develop into a hurricane over the Pacific.

President Joe Biden plans to meet on July 12 at the White House with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

At 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Bonnie was located near latitude 11.2 North, longitude 85.8 West. Bonnie is moving toward the west near 14 mph (22 km/h), and a continued...

Wednesday didn’t bring any favors to Invest 93L – the fledgling low pressure drifting over the southwestern Caribbean.

The disturbance we’ve been following in the southwestern Caribbean – now dubbed Invest 93L by the Hurricane Center – has with it a small area of low pressure centered along the east coast of Nicaragua.

The National Hurricane Center continues to monitor a large, disorganized area of storminess across the southwestern Caribbean near the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

A Roman Catholic bishop in Nicaragua has begun an “indefinite fast” inside a church to protest increasing harassment from national police, who he said followed him throughout the entire previous day.

In seven months, from October to April, close to 115,000 Cubans have been processed at the border.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine comes at a time when tensions between Colombia and Venezuela have been escalating.

Many are questioning the legitimacy of the country's election after President Daniel Ortega had many of his opponents arrested.

On Sunday millions of Nicaraguans will head to the polls in what the international community is calling a "sham" election, following several arrests of potential political opponents, carried out by longtime President Daniel Ortega's government.

Nicaragua's legislature has ordered the closure of 15 more non-governmental organizations, bringing to 45 the number whose permits to operate in the country have been cancelled in the last month.

It's a freedom rally event not only for Cuba, but Venezuela and Nicaragua as well.

City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Commissioner Joe Carollo held a news conference Friday to announce new details regarding the Call for Freedom of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua event.

A judge in El Salvador has ordered the pre-trial arrest of 10 former government officials, including ex-President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, on corruption charges.

A Miami commissioner and local activists met Wednesday at Miami City Hall to announce an upcoming public rally to send a message to the White House.

A former CIA operative known for his exploits everywhere from Miami to Nicaragua to Afghanistan has a book deal.

International pressure is mounting on Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega over a recent rise in human rights violations.

Miami U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar said on Thursday that there is a bipartisan effort in Congress to put more pressure on a dictator in Central America with new sanctions.

Giuliana Cabrera moved to the United States from Nicaragua when she was seven. More than a decade later, her hard work paid off. She plans to be the first in her family to get a college degree and she will be doing so at one of the most prestigious schools in the world.

The organization of American States held an emergency meeting on Tuesday, to discuss the ongoing political situation in Nicaragua. An overwhelming majority voted to condemn the recent arrests.

At least 12 opposition leaders have been arrested in Nicaragua, and pressure is mounting against President Daniel Ortega, who is in his fourth term in office.

The U.S. State Department has called on Nicaragua to free opposition figure Cristiana Chamorro, who is being held incommunicado at her home after her laptops and cellphones were taken away.

El gobierno del presidente Joe Biden reestructura la manera en que utiliza una medida relacionada con la pandemia para expulsar de manera expedita a los migrantes.

The Biden administration is reshaping how it’s using pandemic-related powers to rapidly expel migrants from the country and effectively end asylum at the border.

Space-related news is not just flowing from the world’s richest, biggest nations.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. Este material no puede ser publicado, difundido, reescrito o redistribuido sin permiso. El gobierno de Nicaragua no reaccionó de inmediato a la declaración del Departamento de Estado. La AP solicitó un comentario oficial sobre el tema, pero no obtuvo respuesta. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.

A nurse shows to the press a vial of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 during a vaccination campaign inside River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)MANAGUA – Nicaragua’s government said Wednesday that it had approved Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. “Nicaragua is advancing in its negotiations with Russia to supply” the vaccine, said the government outlet El 19 Digital. It was the first vaccine approved in Nicaragua, which still awaits its first doses. Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela are among other left-leaning governments in the hemisphere that have approved the vaccine.

(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)MEXICO CITY — Mexico reported a near-record 1,707 confirmed coronavirus deaths Wednesday, as the country runs out of vaccines. Ad___THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:Spain surpasses 60,000 confirmed virus deaths. British officials say Oxford study backs up their decision to delay second vaccine shot for up to 12 weeks. Ad___OKLAHOMA CITY -- About 11,500 doses of the coronavirus vaccine will be shipped to pharmacies across Oklahoma next week, state health officials said. ___MANAGUA, Nicaragua — Nicaragua’s government says it has approved Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for emergency use.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. “Esos no son nicaragüenses, no sé cómo se les ocurre pensar que con esa actitud van a participar en una elección”, insistió. “Son terroristas, son criminales y vendepatria, porque siguen pidiendo más sanciones”, agregó. “Aquí el que no defiende a Nicaragua y pide sanciones... perdió el derecho de optar a cargos públicos cuando vengan elecciones. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.

ISLA DE LA PROVIDENCIA, Colombia – Thousands of homeless Colombians are trying to find their way out of a remote hurricane-ravaged island off the coast of Nicaragua. Eight days ago, Category 5 Hurricane Iota destroyed Providencia, a mountainous Colombian island in the Caribbean. Colombian authorities set up a temporary hospital with limited resources on the island of some 5,000 residents. The Colombian government released this picture of Providencia, Colombia after Hurricane Iota on Nov. 17, 2020. Colombian President Ivan Duque promised humanitarian aid and tasked a Colombian Navy team to assist with the Herculean task of rebuilding the island.

The center of what’s left of Hurricane Iota is dying out over El Salvador, but moisture continues to be pulled into the mountainous areas in Central America, especially in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. But the flash flooding at high elevations continues, and that water cascades down the mountains in the gullies, valleys, and rivers. Conditions will slowly ease as what’s left of Iota drifts toward the Pacific Ocean and dies out tomorrow. It would have very little time to organize before it moved across Central America late this week or over the weekend. An upper-level disturbance that is helping to drive the cool air south might kick off a non-tropical system east of the Bahamas.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. Los periodistas de The Associated Press Christopher Sherman en la Ciudad de México, Marlos González en Tegucigalpa y Manuel Rueda en Bogotá contribuyeron en este despacho. En Nicaragua el alcance total de los daños no estaba claro porque gran parte de la región afectada no tenía electricidad ni servicio de teléfono o internet, y los fuertes vientos obstaculizaron las transmisiones por radio. Iota tocó tierra a apenas 25 kilómetros (15 millas) al sur del lugar donde lo hizo Eta, también de categoría 4, el 3 de noviembre. El campesino Miguel Rodríguez, trabajador de la finca San Martín, dijo a The Associated Press que él vio al menos “siete cadáveres regados” en la zona.

A woman standing near a fallen house, brought down by the winds of Hurricane Iota in Siuna, Nicaragua, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. That was just 15 miles south of where Hurricane Eta made landfall on Nov. 3, also as a Category 4 storm. Fallen tree branches cover a house after the passage of Hurricane Iota in Siuna, Nicaragua, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. Hurricane Iota tore across Nicaragua, hours after roaring ashore as a Category 4 storm along almost exactly the same stretch of the Caribbean coast that was recently devastated by an equally powerful hurricane. SOUTH FLORIDAHow to help as need for emergency relief grows in Nicaragua, HondurasThere is a need for non-perishable food, over-the-counter medications, first-aid kits, sleeping bags.

Iota became a Category 2 hurricane late Sunday afternoon, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center warned it would likely be an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm when it approached the Central America mainland late Monday. It was already a record-breaking system, being the 30th named storm of this year’s extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. It hit Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane, killing at least 120 people as torrential rains caused flash floods and mudslides in parts of Central America and Mexico. Eta was the 28th named storm of this year’s hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms. The official end of hurricane season is Nov. 30.

Tropical Storm Iota formed a bit ahead of schedule yesterday under a supportive upper-level pattern and warm Caribbean water. The official forecast is for Iota to be at Category 3 strength when it makes landfall. It’s hard to believe that another intense hurricane is forecast to head in that same direction. This fall weather pattern will push the tropical moisture well to the south with a major dose of dry northern air covering the entire state. Long-range computer models maintain the fall weather pattern over Florida for the foreseeable future, which will be hostile to tropical systems.

Eta weakened from the Category 4 hurricane to a tropical storm after lashing Nicaragua's Caribbean coast for much of Tuesday, its floodwaters isolating already remote communities and setting off deadly landslides. (AP Photo/Carlos Herrera)ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Tropical Storm Iota was strengthening in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday, threatening a second major hurricane strike for Nicaragua and Honduras, countries recently clobbered by a Category 4 Hurricane Eta. The Caribbean island of Providencia and parts of Nicaragua and Honduras were under hurricane warnings. Iota is already a record-setting system, being the 30th named storm of this year’s extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Eta was the 28th named storm of this year’s hurricane season, tying the 2005 record for named storms.

The remnants are moving toward the west near 12 mph (19 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue today. Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1006 mb (29.71 inches). Portions of Nicaragua and El Salvador: 2 to 4 inches (50 to 100 mm), with isolated maximum totals of 6 inches (150 mm). SURF: Swells generated by Iota will affect much of the coast of Central America and the Yucatan Peninsula during the next day or so.

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – There is “sloppy, sloppy weather” in the South Florida forecast as Tropical Depression Eta moves north, Local 10 Chief Certified Meteorologist Betty Davis says. Eta is the storm that slammed Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane on Tuesday before weakening to now a depression. The National Hurricane Center projects it to strengthen into a tropical storm again heading into the weekend. Click here to read more analysis on Eta from Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross. You can also get the latest information on Local 10′s Weather Authority Page.

A pregnant woman is carried out of an area flooded by water brought by Hurricane Eta in Planeta, Honduras, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)TEGUCIGALPA – The rain-heavy remnants of Hurricane Eta flooded homes from Panama to Guatemala Thursday as the death toll across Central America rose to at least 57, and aid organizations warned the flooding and mudslides were creating a slow-moving humanitarian disaster across the region. Eta had sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) and was moving north at 8 mph (13 kph) Thursday. When what’s left of the storm wobbles back into the Caribbean it will regain some strength and become a tropical storm again, forecasts show. “Whatever comes out (of Central America) is going to linger awhile,” said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.

(AP Photo/Delmer Martinez)MANAGUA – Eta moved into Honduras on Wednesday as a weakened tropical depression but still bringing the heavy rains that have drenched and caused deadly landslides in the country's east and in northern Nicaragua. Before the center of Eta had even reached Honduras, hundreds of people had been forced from their homes by floodwaters. Eta left a path of destruction across northern Nicaragua starting with the coastal city of Bilwi. Northern Nicaragua is home to most of the country’s production of coffee, a critical export. In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Odalys continued to move across the open ocean and posed no threat to land.

Hurricane Eta is on track to be a catastrophic event in Central America — especially Nicaragua and Honduras. About Friday, what’s left of Eta is forecast to move north into the Caribbean Sea south of Cuba. The National Hurricane Center will make the call based on what they are able to track of Eta’s original center. The consensus of the afternoon computer forecast models is that that dip will scoop up the disturbance, whatever shape it’s in, and lift it toward South Florida. A satellite look at Hurricane Eta on Tuesday evening, Nov. 3.

MANAGUA – Hurricane Eta churned inland through northeast Nicaragua Tuesday night with devastating winds and rains that destroyed rooftops, caused rivers to overflow and left at least three people dead in the region. The hurricane had sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, down from an overnight peak of 150 mph (240 kph). Even before it made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Honduras reported the first death after a mudslide trapped a 12-year-old girl in San Pedro Sula and two miners were killed in a mudslide in Bonanza, Nicaragua. Eta tripled in strength in about 24 hours, rapidly intensifying from a 40 mph (65 kph) storm Sunday morning to a 120 mph (190 kph) hurricane around midday Monday, and continuing to gain power throughout the day. Hurricane season still has a month to go, ending Nov. 30.

MEXICO CITY – Hurricane Eta erupted quickly into a potentially catastrophic major hurricane Monday as it headed for Central America, where forecasters warned of massive flooding and landslides across a vulnerable region. Eta was a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 kph) late Monday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Storm surge up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) above normal tides was possible for the coast of Nicaragua. Eta tripled in strength in about 24 hours, rapidly intensifying from a 40 mph (65 kph) storm Sunday morning to a 120 mph (190 kph) hurricane around midday Monday, and continued gain power throughout the rest of the day. Hurricane season still has a month to go, ending Nov. 30.

Location 85 miles SE of Wilmington North Carolina Wind 45 mph Heading ENE at 21 mph Pressure 29.65 Coordinates 76.8W, 33.3NDiscussionAt 400 AM EST (0900 UTC), the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Eta was located near latitude 33.3 North, longitude 76.8 West. The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the east-northeast near 21 mph (33 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue with an increase in forward speed through Saturday. On the forecast track, Eta is expected to gradually pull away from the southeast U.S. Coast today. Eta could intensify a little as an non-tropical cyclone during the next day or so before it becomes absorbed by a larger non-tropical cyclone on Saturday or Saturday night. Tropics Models at 3:34 Friday Night, November 13thLand HazardsSURF: Swells generated by Eta will affect portions of the southeastern United States coast today.

MANAGUA – Nicaragua’s unicameral legislature approved legislation on Tuesday mandating prison sentences for those who use online platforms to spread false information or information that could raise alarm among people. The bill had been pushed by President Daniel Ortega’s ruling Sandinista Front party and had raised alarm among opposition and human rights groups, who described it as a threat to free speech. Azucena Castillo, a legislator from the conservative Liberal Constitutionalist Party called the law “an attack on freedom of expression." “This law seeks to control and censor information on the internet, which is the only space that dictators cannot control,” the country's Independent Press Forum, a media group, said in a statement earlier this month. The other new law will monitor and control those who receive funding from abroad, including nongovernmental organizations and those working for foreign media outlets, by making them register as “foreign agents” and tracking the money they receive.

PASADENA, Calif. – The Trump administration can end humanitarian protections that have allowed hundreds of thousands of people from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan to remain in the United States, a divided appeals court ruled Monday. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction that blocked the government from ending Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for people from those four countries that are affected by natural disasters and civil conflict. Since 1990, the policy has granted temporary legal status, which is often extended. But the Trump administration decided to end it for several countries, saying the conditions that justified protections in America no longer exist. More than 400,000 people from 10 countries have the protected status, including some 250,000 from El Salvador, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Throughout Latin America, a traditionally Catholic region with a surging evangelical presence in nearly every country, evangelical churches have kept spreading the Gospel despite government measures meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In at least two countries, evangelical pastors have died in alarming numbers during the pandemic. Some have attended evangelical services in the city of Atalaia do Norte and then brought the virus to our lands," he said. In Nicaragua, evangelical churches large and small stayed open too at least at first. Back in Nicaragua, many evangelical churches have reopened, some with health precautions, like Bethel where congregants are asked to bring their own hand sanitizer.

Ana Marcelo, an agroindustrial engineer from the city of Esteli, poses with the crown after being chosen Miss Nicaragua, in Managua, Nicaragua, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020. Marcelo was crowned in front of a limited audience (two people per contestant spaced safely) plus a production crew of 85. The masks were off the contestants, but the judges wore them and were spaced at a safe distance. And when eight contestants vying to be Miss Nicaragua did finally start in-person practices, they did so with masks covering their faces. On Saturday night, 23-year-old Ana Marcelo, an agroindustrial engineer from Estel, was crowned Miss Nicaragua in front of a limited audience (two people per contestant spaced safely) plus a production crew of 85.