Latin America

World News

Migrants In Mexico Seeking U.S. Asylum Wait Amid Dangerous Conditions

7:34am August 23, 2019

by John Burnett

More than 30,000 asylum-seekers are waiting in border towns such as Nuevo Laredo, where cartels and gangs wreak havoc. Criminal elements target migrants who fled their Central American homes.

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In Brazil, Tens Of Thousands Of Fires Ravage Amazon Rainforest

6:41am August 23, 2019

NPR's David Greene talks to Jake Spring, a reporter for Reuters, about much of Brazil's Amazon rainforest being ravaged by fire. There's been an 80 percent increase in fires over the last year.

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Satellites Show Thousands Of Fires Sweeping Through Brazil's Amazon Rainforest

4:36pm August 22, 2019

by Philip Reeves

Fires are always burning in the Amazon. But wildfires have surged 83% since this time last year, according to Brazil's space agency. Satellites have spotted more than 9,500 wildfires this past week.

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Several of the fires burning in the Amazon rainforest can be seen even from space, as evidenced by this satellite image provided by NASA this month. Brazil's National Institute for Space Research said the country has seen a record number of wildfires this

Tens Of Thousands Of Fires Ravage Brazilian Amazon, Where Deforestation Has Spiked

11:32pm August 21, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

Researchers say there's been a huge rise in the number of fires compared with last year. That's likely linked with a similar leap in deforestation since President Jair Bolsonaro took office.

Octavio Dotel, then a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, seen during a 2007 game. Dominican Republic authorities arrested the former MLB player, saying both he and ex-infielder Luis Castillo were linked with an alleged drug trafficker.

Ex-MLB Players Luis Castillo, Octavio Dotel Linked To Alleged Dominican Drug Lord

7:05pm August 20, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

The Dominican attorney general said Tuesday that the former professional baseball players supported a drug running and money laundering network led by César Emilio Peralta.

Evelyn Hernández (center) is embraced by supporters after she was acquitted of aggravated homicide in her retrial related to the loss of a pregnancy.

World News

Salvadoran Woman Who Lost Her Pregnancy Is Acquitted Of Homicide In Retrial

6:20pm August 20, 2019

by Merrit Kennedy

Evelyn Beatriz Hernández was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison in El Salvador, which has one of the strictest abortion laws in the world.

A corridor of newborns at the San Jose de Maicao Hospital in Maicao, Colombia. Venezuelan migrants have given birth to more than 25,000 infants in Colombia over the past two years.

Health & Safety

Colombia Kindly Offers Free Health Care To Venezuelans – Up To A Point

10:09am August 20, 2019

by Luisa Torres

The government has promised to welcome migrants from neighboring Venezuela as "blood brothers." But more than 1 million newcomers are adding to the stress on an already strained health-care system.

World News

Critics Complain Mexico's Austerity Plan Has Gone Too Far

7:40am August 20, 2019

by Carrie Kahn

Mexico's president has cut thousands of government jobs to fight corruption. Critics say he is putting the country in danger — especially when it comes to attracting foreign investment.

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Maybe The Way To Control Locusts Is By Growing Crops They Don't Like

10:56pm August 19, 2019

by Joe Palca

A lab at Arizona State University tries to find new ways to combat the global scourge of locusts. One solution may have to do with farming practices.

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World News

Brazil's Amazon Rainforest Is Disappearing Under President Jair Bolsonaro

5:52pm August 19, 2019

by Philip Reeves

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon is soaring under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. It is even happening in a vast highly protected reserve named after a murdered environmentalist.

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