Latin America

For Cuba, Hostile Relationship With U.S. No Longer An Alibi

5:20pm January 13, 2015

by Michele Kelemen

The U.S. rapprochement with Cuba seems to be on track. On Monday, the State Department confirmed that Cuba has kept its pledge to release 53 political prisoners and a top state department official is moving ahead with her plans to visit the island next week.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is welcomed by Saudi Crown Prince Salman in Riyadh on Sunday. The meeting was part of Maduro's diplomatic tour of OPEC members to discuss falling oil prices, which have hit Venezuela's economy hard.

World News

OPEC Members Feeling The Pain Of Falling Oil Prices

3:20pm January 13, 2015

by Krishnadev Calamur

Venezuela's leader was in Qatar this week seeking billions to shore up his flagging economy. Oil prices have fallen by nearly 50 percent since last year and are now near a six-year low.

After the earthquake in 2010, about 1,000 people were living in tents on the median of Highway 2, one of Haiti's busiest roads. Five years later, tens of thousands of people in Port-au-Prince still live in tents and other temporary housing.

5 Years After Haiti's Earthquake, Where Did The $13.5 Billion Go?

8:39am January 13, 2015

by Richard Knox

Governments and nonprofits have insisted on keeping control of their projects in Haiti. So projects have cost several times more than they should. And Haiti is a long way from "building back better."

Donating A Single Rollerblade Is Not Going To Help Disaster Victims

7:09am January 13, 2015

by Kathryn G. Kempton

Yet that's what someone gave after the Haitian earthquake. A staffer at one nonprofit offers a plan to discourage unuseful donations from individuals and corporations and get what's really needed.

As Rumors Spread, More Cubans Try To Reach The U.S. By Sea

5:06pm January 12, 2015

by Greg Allen

The Coast Guard has seen a spike in the number of Cubans trying to sail to Florida. The cause, it says, is a false rumor that the U.S. will soon change its policy toward Cubans who reach U.S. shores.

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Cuban performance artist and activist Tania Bruguera was arrested Dec. 30 when she and 50 other dissidents tried to set up an open mic session at Revolution Square.

Concern Over The Future Of 36 Released Cuban Dissidents

4:16pm January 12, 2015

by Jasmine Garsd

Activists are concerned over the future of prisoners reportedly let to by the government. Rights groups say officials attached conditions to the dissidents' freedom.

A woman in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, hangs her laundry to dry in front of her home. Her family made the shelter out of tin and tarps on land where their home stood before a massive earthquake devastated the nation in 2010. An estimated 80,000 Haitians displa

World News

In Haiti, Politics And An Earthquake Anniversary Collide

2:59pm January 12, 2015

by Carrie Kahn

It's been five years since an earthquake devastated Haiti. Meanwhile, opposition lawmakers are blocking a compromise that would avert the dissolution of Parliament and the president ruling by decree.

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World News

Recovering From Disaster, Haiti Faces A New Crisis

6:45pm January 11, 2015

Monday marks the fifth year since a powerful earthquake devastated Haiti's capital. It's also the deadline for a political crisis that may leave Haiti in electoral limbo. NPR's Arun Rath checks in with reporter Carrie Kahn .

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Mexican Carpoolers: A Photographer's View Of Truck Bed Commuters

7:03am January 11, 2015

by Rena Silverman

In the backs of pickup trucks, construction workers lie among tools and blankets, headed to the city for a day's work. Alejandro Cartagena turned his camera on the carpoolers.

Vatican Committee Reportedly Declares Slain Archbishop A Martyr

8:42pm January 09, 2015

by Scott Neuman

Oscar Romero was gunned down in 1980 after he denounced a crackdown by El Salvador's junta on its left-wing opponents at the start of a 13-year civil war.