Latin America

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday will announce commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration from the region.

MIAMI (AP) — Bolivia’s former interior minister has been arrested in the U.S. for allegedly taking part of $602,000 in kickbacks from Florida-based businessmen accused of selling tear gas at inflated prices to the conservative government of former interim President Jeanine Áñez.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Former banker Guillermo Lasso was sworn in as president of Ecuador on Monday, saying he will escalate efforts to vaccinate people to protect them from COVID-19 and work to revive an economy hit hard by the pandemic.

“Throw them in jail, take their cell phones!” yelled Nicaraguan riot police in a Managua office building complex last Thursday morning as they chased down reporters from international and local outlets.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is allowing eligible Haitian nationals residing in the U.S. to apply for a new 18-month designation for temporary protected status, reversing a Trump administration effort that had sought to end the special consideration.

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Seven health professionals who tended to Diego Maradona in the days before his death have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — With a pencil and a notebook, artist Edilberto Jiménez walks the streets of Lima and cities in the Andes mountains collecting stories and images about the coronavirus health crisis that has devastated Peru.

At around 6 a.m. on Thursday, May 6, Rio de Janeiro was waking up to yet another massacre.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with a group of leading voices on Guatemala’s troubled justice system Wednesday, sending yet another signal to Central American governments that the U.S. government is interested in addressing the region’s corruption.

Under the pandemic, the number of people living in extreme poverty had already grown by 2.8 million.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — A rebel leader who abandoned the 2016 peace accord with Colombia’s government and had been at large for three years was killed by Colombian troops in Venezuela, his new armed group said Tuesday.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Biden administration has agreed to let about 250 people a day through border crossings with Mexico to seek refuge in the United States, part of negotiations to settle a lawsuit over pandemic-related powers that deny migrants a right to apply for asylum, an attorney said Monday.

MIAMI (AP) — As the streets of Colombia smolder amid the biggest anti-government unrest in decades, a former rebel leader who would undo antinarcotics cooperation with the U.S. is looking to capitalize on the growing discontent and ride it to the presidency next year.

Until we all access these basic rights, la protesta y la lucha no deben de parar.

A divided opposition at the ballot box, independent analysts widely believe, will pave the way for Ortega to secure his fourth consecutive five-year term.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Hours after a “cordial” meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, White House Special Envoy Ricardo Zúñiga told Salvadorans that he conveyed a message of concern over the country’s direction.

Latino Rebels asked some senators on Monday afternoon at the Capitol if the United States should reconsider its relationship with Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez, who has been criticized for his lack of response towards the violence but has also called for dialogue with national strike leaders.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hundreds of people observed Mothers Day in Mexico’s capital Monday by marching to demand authorities find their missing children.

BUCARAMANGA, Colombia (AP) — Thousands of Colombians have protested across the country against a government they feel has long ignored their needs, allowed corruption to run rampant and is so out of touch that it proposed tax increases during the coronavirus pandemic.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — For a week, people from all over the world have looked on in horror as the Colombian government’s crackdown on a national strike has been unforgiving. Different organizations have different tallies, but they all indicate tragedy.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — As COVID-19 deaths climb to new peaks in Argentina, the intensive care unit at the San Andres clinic in the capital is oddly silent.