Latin America

Twenty-six inmates escaped from a Brazilian prison in the northwestern state of Acre early on Monday, with all but one remaining at large, the state prison authority said. The jailbreak comes just a day after 75 inmates escaped from a Paraguay jail on the Brazilian border. Paraguayan authorities had said …

Puerto Rico has been hit by another earthquake after a string of such incidents over the past several weeks, with the latest striking inland and registering as a preliminary 5.2 magnitude quake. The earthquake comes in the middle of a window that scientists with the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) …

A new earthquake of a magnitude of 6 Saturday shook Puerto Rico, a country which since Friday afternoon records aftershocks of different intensity after the 6.4 earthquakes that hit the island last Tuesday and caused one death, about 2,000 refugees, and thousands of damaged homes. The Puerto Rico Seismic Network …

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Puerto Rico early Tuesday morning, just one day after a 5.8 magnitude quake shook the island, according to the US Geological Survey. The 6.4 quakes struck at 3:24 a.m. local time about 6 miles south of Indios, Puerto Rico, the USGS said. The mayor of Guayanilla, …

At least 16 inmates in a central Mexico prison were killed and five more were wounded in a riot that closed out a violent 2019 for the country, authorities said. Zacatecas state security secretary Ismael Camberos Hernández told local press that authorities confiscated four guns that they believe were introduced …

Uruguay says it has seized a record haul of 6 tonnes of cocaine, calling it the biggest setback for traffickers in the country’s history. Naval and customs officers seized 4.4 tonnes of the drug in Montevideo port. It had been hidden in four soy flour containers destined for Lome, the …

Mexico’s government said on Thursday it was appealing to the International Court of Justice to ensure its diplomatic facilities were respected in Bolivia following its decision to grant asylum to nine people there. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told a regular news conference that Mexico wanted the court, based in The …

Helicopters on Wednesday dropped water on the outskirts of the Chilean port city of Valparaiso to extinguish a fire that destroyed about 150 homes. Dozens of people living in the city’s Rocuant and San Roque hills sifted through the ruins of their homes after the fire, fanned by strong winds, …

Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from hospital on Tuesday, having spent the night under observation after falling at his official residence in the capital Brasilia, his office said in a statement. Bolsonaro, 64, was given a brain scan at the hospital that detected no abnormalities, the president’s office …

Brazil’s President blamed an unusual candidate this week as a cause of the Amazon forest fires: actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio. President Jair Bolsonaro made the claim Thursday on a webcast, arguing that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) contributed to the forest fires that ravaged the Amazon rainforest earlier this year. “The …

Clashes erupted between Colombian police and protesters, who took to the streets of the capital, Bogota, against the US-backed government of President Ivan Duque, in what became one of the biggest rallies in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in the streets of Bogota on Thursday to protest …

Bolivia’s political crisis deepened Sunday as President Evo Morales resigned amid allegations of “serious irregularities” during last month’s election and pressure from the country’s armed forces. Morales faced mounting protests in the aftermath of the October 20 vote as demonstrators and the Bolivian opposition accused electoral authorities of manipulating the …

The Chilean government has agreed to write a new constitution to replace one dating back to the Pinochet dictatorship, bowing to the demands of protesters who have taken to the streets in often violent demonstrations in recent weeks. Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel said the president, cabinet members, and political allies …

Clashes erupted between anti-government demonstrators and the riot police during the so-called ‘Super Monday’ of protests on the streets of Chile’s capital city of Santiago on Monday. The riot police used water cannons and tear gas as they tried to disperse the protesters gathered near Plaza Italia square, who, in …

Bolivian President Evo Morales is slated for victory in a highly contentious election after authorities issued a fresh vote tally, prompting claims of fraud from the opposition and chaotic protests across the country. Following a 24-hour pause in the vote count by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the agency updated …

The Chilean Army has declared another curfew as it struggles to contain violence that was triggered by transport fare hikes in Santiago but has since spilled over beyond the capital, fueled by outrage over social inequality. To prevent looting and arson attacks, thousands of armed troops have been patrolling the …

At least three people have died after a small plane crashed into a residential street and burst into flames in Belo Horizonte in Brazil. The aircraft smashed into a street in the Caicara area just minutes after taking off from the nearby Carlos Prates Airport on Monday morning. A spokesperson …

Harrowing photographs show the mayhem in downtown Santiago, following violent protests sparked by a recent fare hike for public transport in the Chilean capital. The country’s president has announced a state of emergency. Addressing the nation in the early hours of Saturday, President Sebastian Pinera said that he would invoke …

Heavily armed fighters surrounded security forces in a Mexican city on Thursday and made them free one of drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman’s sons after his capture triggered gunbattles and a prison break that sent civilians scurrying for cover. Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said a patrol by National Guard …

The United Nations (UN) and the Catholic Church say the government and indigenous groups in Ecuador have agreed to hold talks for the first time to end the crisis engulfing the Latin American country over fuel subsidy cuts. The UN office in Ecuador and the Church said in a statement …