Latin America

A massive plume of Saharan dust has shrouded swathes of the Caribbean, turning blue skies into a milky-brown haze and sparking health warnings across the region as air quality fell to unhealthy levels. Strong warm winds over the Sahara desert typically whip up sand at this time of year and …

A strong earthquake hit southern Mexico on Tuesday, shaking buildings in the center of the capital Mexico City hundreds of miles away, and sending people fleeing their homes into the streets. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake’s magnitude was 7.4, revised down from an earlier estimate of 7.7. The …

Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro has expressed his willingness to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, noting that any conversation between them should be based on respect. “As I met Joe Biden, we talked long with a spirit of respect … I am ready to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump with …

Iran has sent its sixth cargo ship to the sanctions-hit South American nation, due to reach its destination on Sunday. Unlike previous vessels, which were carrying gasoline, this one is set to deliver food to Venezuela. The ‘Golsan’ is set to moor at one of Venezuela’s ports on June 21, …

Another Iranian ship has sailed into Venezuela’s territorial waters and is expected to dock in the Latin American country’s ports over the next couple of days, the American media say. According to a report by the Associated Press on Saturday, the Iranian-flagged freighter Golsan left Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran’s …

On Friday night, Brazil became the second country in the world to surpass 1 million cases of the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The nation is on track to overshadow the U.S. for the most coronavirus deaths in the world by the end of July, according to …

Nearly 80 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to violence and persecution, marking a near-doubling of global displacement in a decade, the UN said Thursday. By the end of 2019, one out of every 97 people in the world was living uprooted and displaced, according to …

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has warned the European Union to stay out of Caracas’ internal affairs, stressing that the Latin American country is not the bloc’s backyard. Maduro made the remarks during a meeting with the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) on Tuesday, after the EU’s European Council …

Anti-government demonstrations broke out in several Brazilian cities on Sunday as President Jair Bolsonaro suffers growing backlash against his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Protesters carrying signs in defense of democracy and against racism gathered in Brazil’s largest cities despite medical recommendations of social distancing, many encouraged by U.S. demonstrations …

Brazil’s government has stopped publishing a running total of coronavirus deaths and infections in an extraordinary move that critics have called an attempt to hide the true toll of the disease in Latin America’s largest nation. The Saturday move came after months of criticism from experts saying Brazil’s statistics are …

Ten men were killed on Saturday when gunmen opened fire on a drug rehabilitation center in the Mexican city of Irapuato, the government of Guanajuato state said. Guanajuato, a region in central Mexico, has become one of the principal flashpoints of surging gang violence which President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador …

With its overall Covid-19 death toll exceeding 34,000 people, Brazil is now the country with the third-highest number of deaths in the world, surpassing Italy. Brazil is widely regarded to be the current global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, with more new daily deaths and cases than any other country. …

France has rejected allegations that Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido has been holed up inside the nation’s diplomatic mission in Caracas. Venezuelan authorities earlier labeled Guaido a “fugitive from justice.” “Juan Guaido is not at the French residence in Caracas. We have repeatedly confirmed this to the Venezuelan authorities,” French …

Mexico’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic may reach 30,000, a senior health official said in a newspaper interview published on Wednesday, while suggesting fatalities could be even higher if social distancing measures were relaxed too fast. With 10,637 deaths registered so far, Mexico has the seventh-highest coronavirus death toll …

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit northern Chile early on Wednesday morning, the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) has said. The quake struck at a depth of 145 km (90 miles), GFZ added. The US Geological Survey said the epicenter of the earthquake was about 62 km southwest of …

With nearly 30,000 dead in Brazil and more than 10,000 dead in Mexico, the novel coronavirus epidemic threatens to shatter hospital systems across Latin America – while France, which is emerging from a similar nightmare scenario, begins on Tuesday a gradual return to normalcy. Four of the 10 countries showing …

The fourth tanker of a five-vessel Iranian flotilla carrying much-needed gasoline to Venezuela has entered Venezuelan waters, approaching its fuel-starved final destination. The tanker, Faxon, will be escorted by the Venezuelan armed forces en route to its destination, as in the case of its three predecessors. The data released by …

The first of five Iranian tankers carrying fuel for gasoline-starved Venezuela has entered the Latin American country’s territorial waters despite the US threats. The Iranian-flagged tanker, named Fortune, arrived in Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Saturday evening, online tracking data shows. When entering the Venezuelan waters, the tanker was …

US President Donald Trump has rebuffed suggestions the US was behind what appears to have been a bungled incursion into Venezuela to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro. “If I wanted to go into Venezuela I wouldn’t make a secret about it,” he told Fox News. Venezuela foiled what it said was …

The Venezuelan military thwarted an attempted naval invasion by heavily-armed mercenaries coming from Colombia in speed boats on Sunday morning, neutralizing eight fighters and capturing two people Caracas says are US nationals. Venezuelan television has broadcast footage of the confession of Silvercorp USA mercenary Luke Alexander Denman, one of the …