Latin America

Venezuelan voters approve referendum that would take over disputed area with Guyana

5:04am December 04, 2023

by John Otis

Venezuela's election board says voters on Sunday approved a referendum called for by the government to claim sovereignty over an oil- and mineral-rich piece of neighboring Guyana.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro leaves after giving a speech during the closing campaign on Venezuela Referendum on dispute territory with Guyana in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023.

World News

Venezuelans approve referendum to claim territory in neighboring Guyana

11:21pm December 03, 2023

by The Associated Press

The 61,600-square-mile territory accounts for two-thirds of Guyana and borders Brazil, which says it has "intensified its defense actions" and boosted its military presence because of the dispute.

World News

Venezuela to hold referendum upholding its claim on what Guyana says is its territory

8:30am December 03, 2023

by John Otis

Venezuela and neighboring Guyana are at loggerheads over Venezuela staking a claim on more than half of Guyana's oil-rich territory. On Sunday, Venezuela will hold a referendum to uphold its claim.

More than 30 rivers flow in and around the city of Santa Marta from the snowy caps of the Sierra Nevada, one of the highest coastal ranges in the world.

Health & Safety

Waiting for water: It's everywhere in this Colombian city — except in the pipes

7:32am December 03, 2023

by Ben de la Cruz

The country is rich in water resources. Yet many people in the city of Santa Marta struggle to get enough to meet daily needs. They improvise, strategize — and rely on a tangle of 1-inch pipes.

Achuar people ply the Rio Wichimi in a solar canoe. The nonprofit Kara Solar has helped fund a fleet of six sun-powered craft in hopes of benefitting the Indigenous Achuar while reducing pressure to build roads in the rainforest.

Why solar-powered canoes could be good for the future of the rainforest

7:37am December 02, 2023

by Peter Yeung

The Indigenous Achuar people in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest sail in six solar-powered canoes. And it's not just to save money on fuel — the trees of the rainforest will benefit too.

Palestinian culture burns brightly in this soccer club in Chile

6:12pm November 30, 2023

by John Bartlett

In Santiago, Chile, Deportivo Palestino is a soccer club at the heart of the largest group of Palestinian diaspora outside the Middle East — where the Palestinian cause and culture burns brightly.

Kissinger's troubling legacy in Chile can still be felt 50 years later

5:27pm November 30, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Peter Kornbluh, director of the National Security Archives' Chile Documentation Project, about Henry Kissinger's role in Chile.

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A work brigade sponsored by Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA, which critics blame for the oil spills, use shovels and rakes to remove congealed petroleum from a Lake Maracaibo beach.

In Venezuela, harmful oil spills are mounting as the country ramps up production

5:45pm November 29, 2023

by John Otis

After the U.S. lifted its sanctions, Venezuela is trying to revive its beleaguered oil industry. But ramping up production is causing more oil spills.

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Armed with barriers made of human hair, Venezuelans take on massive oil slicks

6:42pm November 28, 2023

by John Otis

Venezuelans attempt to tackle the massive oil slicks that are clogging up one of South America's largest bodies of inland water — by using human hair.

World News

Mexico's military is reviving one of its oldest airlines

8:08am November 25, 2023

by James Fredrick

Mexico's military is trying to relaunch the country's oldest airline — part of a worrying trend of militarization in the country.