Latin America

There’s been a sharp increase in reports of religiously motivated crimes in Rio de Janeiro since 2016, in particular attacks on “terreiros”—the temples of the Candomblé and Umbanda faiths.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — The first woman to be elected mayor of Colombia’s capital city has married her partner in a private civil ceremony before taking office.

HAVANA (AP) — At midday on Dec. 17, 2014, the sound of church bells echoed in Havana as presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro announced that the United States and Cuba would reestablish diplomatic relations and end nearly 60 decades of hostility.

President Benítez said President Trump agreed to continue supporting intelligence efforts and provide training for federal employees.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s Supreme Court opened criminal cases Monday against four National Assembly lawmakers opposed to President Nicolás Maduro, accusing them of rebellion and treason for their part in a failed military uprising.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Mexico moved quickly Monday to defuse a dispute over President Donald Trump’s revamped North American trade pact.

HAVANA (AP) — For 60 years, Cuba’s communist government has monopolized virtually every aspect of life on the island, including dozens of state-controlled organizations that serve as official advocates for groups ranging from LGBT people to animal lovers.

The U.S. made additions that afforded the country five new labor attaches in Mexico tasked with overseeing labor reforms, which Mexico called unnecessary “political decisions.”

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Unrelenting pain in her hips and weeks of insomnia left Nelly Valbuena desperate for relief from her metastatic breast cancer.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Just days after a landmark agreement on a trade pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico objected Saturday to legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress as part of an eventual ratification of the deal.

MIAMI (AP) — Erik Prince, a major Trump donor and the founder of controversial security firm formerly known as Blackwater, traveled to Caracas last month for a secret meeting with Venezuela’s vice president, according to several people familiar with the visit.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A song protesting sexual violence that has become an anthem for women across Latin America was the focus of a demonstration Friday in the capital of Brazil, where women are increasingly willing to denounce aggressors.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — A court in El Salvador has sentenced 373 convicted members of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang to prison terms of up to 74 years for crimes ranging from murder and arms trafficking to terrorist association in a mass trial historic for the sheer number of defendants, authorities said Friday.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A U.N. human rights report released Friday accused Chilean security forces of serious human rights violations against protesters over the past two months, including deaths, torture, sexual abuse and the use of excessive force.

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Growing up along the U.S.-Mexico border, hotel clerk Joe Luis Rubio never thought he’d be trying to communicate in Portuguese on a daily basis.

DNP Petronic, a publicly purchased company, has allegedly been used to funnel money into the Ortega family through non-competitive Nicaraguan contracts.

Despite economic woes and enduring violence, López Obrador’s government has made considerable progress dismantling a system that almost solely benefits the political and economic elite and keeps more than 50 million Mexicans in poverty.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala on Thursday received the first families of migrants sent by the United States under an agreement to return non-Guatemalans who passed through that country on their way to the U.S. border.

Claim a few large countries are hindering climate talks.

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Former Bolivian President Evo Morales has flown to Argentina, where the new center-left government said Thursday that it had granted him political asylum.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Searchers combing Antarctic seas have recovered parts of a military transport plane and human remains belonging to some of the 38 people aboard who vanished en route to the frozen continent, Chilean officials said Thursday.