Latin America

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China Plots Own Panama Canal&mdash; in Nicaragua

 China Plots Own 
 Panama Canal— 
 in Nicaragua 
in case you missed it
Jun 15, 2013 8:55 AM CDT

China Plots Own Panama Canal— in Nicaragua

Chinese-aided project could double Nicaragua's GDP

(Newser) - The Panama Canal could soon have a rival to the northwest. Nicaragua is itching to get started on a new route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, one that would measure 130 miles and take as long as 11 years and $40 billion to dig. And just as the US...

Why the World's Murder Capital Is So Messed Up

Drug trafficking, geography make Honduras the most dangerous country on Earth

(Newser) - Honduras has officially taken the crown as the world's most violence-riddled country, with an average of 20 people killed a day in a country the size of Tennessee, reports NPR , which took a trip there to get a look at what's causing all this killing. As in many...

El Salvador Woman Denied Abortion Has C-Section

Baby dies as docs move to save mom

(Newser) - After being denied an abortion despite serious health concerns, a Salvadoran woman known only as Beatriz has undergone a cesarean section to save her life, the AP reports. The baby girl was born without a brain 27 weeks into the pregnancy and died five hours later, the Guardian reports. El...

El Salvador Denies Woman a Life-Saving Abortion

Doubles down on laws as others in region relax them

(Newser) - El Salvador's highest court has denied a young mother's request for an abortion that could save her life, in a ruling her lawyers are blasting as "misogynistic" that underscores the country's fierce commitment to its anti-abortion laws. The 22-year-old woman, Beatriz, has complications from lupus that...

Ex-Dictator, 86, Gets 80 Years for Genocide

Efrain Rios Montt of Guatemala convicted in mass deaths of villagers

(Newser) - A former Guatemalan dictator earned an awful place in history yesterday when he became the first former head of state convicted of genocide in his own country, reports the BBC . A court sentenced 86-year-old Efrain Rios Montt to 50 years for genocide and another 30 years for crimes against humanity,...

Obama in Mexico: Time to Kill 'Old Stereotypes'

President addresses young audience in Mexico City

(Newser) - Calling for an end to "old stereotypes," President Obama today portrayed Mexico as an emerging nation that is remaking itself and said the US-Mexico relationship should be defined by shared prosperity, not by threats that both countries face. "It's time to recognize new realities," he...

Peru Proves Missing Couple Are Safe, Gives Them Booze

'I may delete my Facebook,' writes Jamie Neal about the fuss over her 'disappearance'

(Newser) - Garrett Hand's mother can rest easy: After vanishing for more than a month while on a biking trip in Peru, her son has turned up alive. The simple explanation, which Hand and girlfriend Jamie Neal posted to Facebook on Wednesday: They were traveling through Amazon villages that had no...

Peru: Missing Calif. Couple Alive, Having a Blast

Pair in 'remote, paradise-like' Amazon region

(Newser) - A young American couple reported missing in Peru are alive and having the time of their lives, according to Peruvian authorities. The country's tourism minister says Jamie Neal and Garrett Hand are currently on a small boat heading up a jungle river in a "remote, paradise-like region,"...

Guatemala Ex-Dictator Heads for Genocide Trial

Montt accused of overseeing atrocities against Mayan civilians

(Newser) - A former US-backed dictator who presided over one of the bloodiest periods of Guatemala's civil war will stand trial on charges he ordered the murder, torture, and displacement of thousands of Mayan Indians, a judge has ruled. Human rights advocates have said that the prosecution of Jose Efrain Rios...

Honduras City Now World's Most Violent

San Pedro Sula becomes murder capital

(Newser) - A surge in drug-related violence has made San Pedro Sula in Honduras the murder capital of the world. Some 1,143 of its 719,447 residents were murdered in 2011, giving it a murder rate of 159 people per 100,000 citizens—even higher than Mexico's Ciudad Juarez, which...

Chavez Wins in Venezuela
 Chavez Wins in Venezuela 
Oct 8, 2012 12:03 AM CDT

Chavez Wins in Venezuela

He fends off younger challenger in presidential race

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez's reign in Venezuela will extend to 20 years, assuming he's telling the truth about having beaten his cancer. The 58-year-old defeated 40-year-old challenger Henrique Capriles in today's presidential election by 54% to 45%, reports Reuters . Capriles had figured to make oil-rich Venezuela more business-friendly and...

Ecuador Saved Assange to Settle an Old Score

President Correa is also grabbing the limelight: Anita Isaacs

(Newser) - You think Ecuador welcomed Julian Assange because his work on WikiLeaks is so vital to democracy? Not at all: Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, granted asylum to Assange in order to settle an old score with Washington, writes Anita Isaacs in the New York Times . Tensions arose between the two...

New Roadblock for Immigrants: Tattoos

US scans them for possible gang affiliations

(Newser) - Immigrants applying for a green card might want to think before they ink. In recent years, US immigration officials have been scrutinizing the tattoos of foreigners seeking documentation in what some say is a misguided effort to prevent organized crime in Latin America from crossing the border, reports the Wall ...

Bolivia Seizes Spanish-Owned Power Firm

Morales nationalizes power grid

(Newser) - Bolivian President Evo Morales marked May Day by ordering the country's armed forces to seize the assets of the country's main electricity company. Spanish-owned Red Electrica owned and operated around 85% of Bolivia's power grid, and Morales announced that he was nationalizing the company because it had...

Guatemala Prez: Regulate the 'War on Drugs' to Death

Pérez Molina says experience proves drugs health issue, not criminal

(Newser) - Guatemala's President Otto Pérez Molina, due to his old job as head of intelligence services of the army, has been at the forefront of his country's drug war for more than 20 years. But despite "decades of big arrests and the seizure of tons of drugs,...

25 Anonymous Hackers Busted in 4 Countries: Cops

Interpol targets group's Latin American operations

(Newser) - Some 25 suspected members of the Anonymous hacking collective have been arrested in Europe and South America, according to Interpol. The international police agency says 250 items of IT equipment were seized in raids in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Spain, the BBC reports. The suspects—including "Pacotron," the...

Fox Apologizes to Jews for 'Jesus Killer' Poll

Poll asked who viewers blame for death of Christ

(Newser) - A Fox staffer in Latin America thought a good way to promote a Christmas special would be with an online poll asking people whether they thought the Jewish people were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Other options included Pontius Pilate or the high priests. Fox pulled the poll...

Chavez Suggest US Gave World Leaders Cancer

Secret cancer-causing technology could be at work, he speculates

(Newser) - Argentina's Cristina Fernandez has become the latest Latin American leader to be diagnosed with cancer , prompting Hugo Chavez to wonder if the US is to blame. "Would it be strange if they had developed a technology to induce cancer, and for no one to know it?" pondered the...

Chile Prez Slammed for Summit Sexist Joke

Pinera's CELAC remarks were 'prehistoric,' opposition says

(Newser) - Opposition lawmakers in Chile say President Sebastian Pinera embarrassed the country by telling a sexist joke to the other 32 heads of state at a regional summit over the weekend. "Do you know what the difference between a politician and a lady is?" he asked. "When a politician...

Eva Peron Helped Nazis, Hid Jewish Treasure: Book

And Simon Bolivar was a racist, it alleges

(Newser) - A new book is giving Argentina a new reason not to cry for Eva Peron: She helped a number of Nazis who fled Europe after World War II, and was rumored to have harbored treasures taken from their Jewish victims. The accusations come from The Politically Incorrect Guide to Latin ...

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