South America

The José Antonio Anzoátegui industrial park for crude oil and petrochemicals in Anzoátegui state, Venezuela, on March 17.

World News

The U.S. is trying to mend ties with Venezuela. One big reason? Oil

1:31pm November 03, 2022

by John Otis

The Biden administration has extended an olive branch to Venezuela. It might sway Caracas to resume talks with the opposition for elections, and eventually let Venezuelan oil back on the world market.

President Bolsonaro rides a motorbike with a supporter during a campaign rally in Santos on Wednesday.

World News

What you need to know about Brazil's presidential election

9:46am September 30, 2022

by Carrie Kahn

As one of the world's largest democracies heads to the polls on Sunday, here are the main candidates and issues in the Brazilian election.

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A worker performs maintenance on pipes used during brine extraction at a lithium mine in the Atacama Desert in Chile on Aug. 24.

In Chile's desert lie vast reserves of lithium — key for electric car batteries

6:00am September 24, 2022

by John Otis

Chile is part of a South American region known as the "lithium triangle," where miners are trying to meet skyrocketing demand for the material.

A visitor holds a weapon during the Shot Fair Brasil, an arms exhibition held at the Expoville Conventions and Exhibitions Center in Joinville, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, on Aug. 5.

World News

Brazil's firearm ownership booms, and gun laws loosen, under President Bolsonaro

5:10pm August 13, 2022

by John Otis

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has issued more than a dozen decrees in favor of Brazilians' right to bear arms. Sales have spiked and gun shops and shooting ranges have opened up all over Brazil.

Colombian presidential candidate Rodolfo Hernández receives a warm welcome at the National Congress of Oil Palm Growers in Bucaramanga, Colombia, on June 3.

World News

After Colombia's election surprise, a populist TikTok star poses stiff competition

10:09am June 15, 2022

by John Otis

A 77-year-old populist who campaigns over TikTok and promises budget cuts and jail for corrupt officials is now neck and neck with his leftist opponent ahead of Sunday's runoff election.

Attendees during a closing campaign rally for presidential candidate Gustavo Petro in Bogotá, Colombia. Petro is ahead in the polls for this Sunday's election, but it's expected to go to a second round in June.

World News

Colombia goes into elections Sunday with a leftist looking to make history

4:20pm May 27, 2022

by John Otis

Colombia's presidential election is Sunday, and for the first time, a leftist candidate is favored to come out ahead. Business elites are nervous.

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Colombian cowboys are known as llaneros, Spanish for plainsmen.

World News

South America's traditional cowboys are still at home on the range in Colombia

7:00am May 15, 2022

livestock in Colombia are raised on vast, open ranges. Overseeing the herds requires the special skills of Colombian cowboys who are known as llaneros — Spanish for "plainsmen."

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Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro speaks during a campaign rally in Medellín, Colombia, on April 7. Petro is polling first ahead of the May 29 election.

World News

He's running to be Colombia's 1st left-wing president. Here's what he plans to do

5:13am April 28, 2022

by John Otis

Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro sits down with NPR and talks about his time in a guerrilla group and proposals to tackle poverty and climate change.

The Inca citadel known as Machu Picchu is pictured with the Huayna Picchu mountain in the background.

World News

Historians say explorers got it wrong: It's not Machu Picchu, it's Huayna Picchu

10:04pm March 27, 2022

by Vanessa Romo

A Peruvian historian and an American archeologist say the site's re-discoverer was given bad information when he arrived at the ancient Incan ruins — and we've all been going along with it.

This photo released by the the National Galapagos Park communications office shows lava from the eruption of Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, on Friday.

Tallest Galapagos volcano erupts, spewing lava and ash

2:54am January 08, 2022

by The Associated Press

Ecuador's Emergency Operations Committee said the eruption on Isabela Island didn't represent a risk to humans or to native local species.