Latin America

World News

Violence On Pace To Reach Record Highs In Mexico

7:49am July 06, 2017

by Carrie Kahn

At least 26 people died in a shootout between drug traffickers in a Mexican town just south of the U.S. border. It's the latest in a spike of violence in Mexico as authorities go after drug lords.

Queue Listen Now

World News

Venezuela's Opposition Plans Referendum

7:01am July 06, 2017

by John Otis

Opposition leaders in Venezuela plan to hold an unofficial plebiscite July 16 over President Maduro's designs for a constitutional rewrite.

Queue Listen Now

Opposition lawmakers brawl with pro-government militias trying to force their way into the National Assembly in Caracas on Wednesday.

Violence Breaks Out At Venezuela's National Assembly

8:18pm July 05, 2017

by Amy Held

Pro-Maduro groups stormed the building and attacked opposition lawmakers, as the political crisis deepens. The vice president reportedly had urged the president's supporters to come and show support.

Archaeologists working at the Templo Mayor site of Aztec ruins in Mexico City, in August 2015. Scientists say the remains of women and children are among those found at a main trophy rack of human skulls, known as "tzompantli."

Aztec 'Tower Of Skulls' Reveals Women, Children Were Sacrificed

12:00pm July 05, 2017

by Scott Neuman

Some 650 skulls unearthed in Mexico City are believed to be the legendary Huey Tzompantli, a site for victims of human sacrifice first mentioned by Spanish conquistadors.

Can Cuban Charcoal Turn Up The Heat On U.S.-Cuba Relations?

7:53am July 05, 2017

by Carrie Kahn

Only 2 Cuban exports are allowed to be sold in the U.S. One is coffee, the other is an artisanal charcoal, coveted for its long burning properties. It's also a weed taking over areas of the island.

Queue Listen Now

Faced With Peace, Former Rebels In Colombia Find New Ways To Survive

4:48pm July 04, 2017

by John Otis

Rebel fighters in Colombia have laid down their arms ending a more than 50-year conflict. But now comes the tough part: Former guerrillas have to figure out how to make a living.

World News

In Brazil, Some Inmates Are Using A Novel Way To Get Out Of Prison Earlier

4:48pm July 04, 2017

by Philip Reeves

Brazil's prisons are dangerous places, blighted by overcrowding and drug gangs. But literacy is offering a way to shorten some inmates' sentences: Read books, reduce your time behind bars.

World News

Fighting Among Drug Traffickers Leads To Surge Of Murders In Mexico

5:47pm July 03, 2017

by Carrie Kahn

There's been a surge of murders in Mexico. Forty-five people were killed over the weekend in violence largely attributed to fighting among narco-traffickers. Among the victims, authorities found a suitcase filled with human remains in Los Cabos.

A Look At The Ongoing Upheaval In Venezuela

8:01pm July 02, 2017

by Michel Martin

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Javier Corrales, a professor at Amherst College who studies Latin American democracies, about Venezuela's economic and political crises.

Queue Listen Now

On Saturday Brazilian Federal Police arrested Luiz Carlos da Rocha — who they call their most wanted drug trafficker.

Elusive 'Drug Baron' Of Brazil Nabbed

4:09pm July 02, 2017

by Amy Held

Luiz Carlos da Rocha earned the nickname White Head because he lived like a "ghost," say police, evading capture for close to three decades, thanks in part to facial plastic surgeries.