Latin America News

A man sells a newspaper with a front page headline that reads in Spanish 'Let's vote' in Santo Domingo Thursday, May 15, 2008. Dominicans go to the polls Friday for presidential elections. In the background a campaign poster of Domincan President Leonel Fernandez, who is running for re-election.(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President is favored in today's Dominican election

AP - 16 minutes ago

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - President Leonel Fernandez was favored to win a third term on Friday, despite concerns over long-serving politicians in this Caribbean nation with a painful history of rule by strongmen.

  • A thoroughbred who suffers an intestinal obstruction rests on the grass at the veterinary clinic at Camarero racetrack in Canovanas, Puerto Rico, Friday, April 11, 2008. For thoroughbreds in this U.S. Caribbean territory, being fast enough to win, place or show is a matter of life and death. About 450 horses, many in perfect health, are killed each year by lethal injection at a clinic tucked behind Puerto Rico's only racetrack, as a shortage of options, like becoming jumping or riding horses, often means a death sentence for retired thoroughbreds. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
    Losing racehorses in Puerto Rico condemned to die AP - Fri May 16, 6:52 AM ET

    CANOVANAS, Puerto Rico - For thoroughbred racehorses in Puerto Rico, success can be a matter of life and death. Many losers don't make it off the racetrack grounds alive.

  • Venezuela weapons worry US, Colombia AP - Fri May 16, 4:10 AM ET

    CARACAS, Venezuela - The United States and Colombia have long been wary of Venezuela's peacetime military buildup, suspecting the weapons could end up in the hands of drug-trafficking Colombian rebels.

  • Interpol's Secretary General Ronald Noble speaks at a press conference in Bogota, Thursday, May 15, 2008. Noble said Interpol found no evidence of tampering in computers Colombia says it seized from slain rebel Raul Reyes, of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
    Interpol: Colombia has real rebel data AP - Fri May 16, 12:02 AM ET

    BOGOTA, Colombia - Interpol said Thursday that computer files suggesting Venezuela was arming and financing Colombian guerrillas came from a rebel camp and were not tampered with, discrediting Venezuela's assertions that Colombia faked them.

  • Failed Haiti PM nominee lashes out AP - Thu May 15, 7:23 PM ET

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - An international banker whose nomination for Haiti's No. 2 political post was rejected by the lower house of Parliament said Thursday he was hamstrung by corrupt legislators.

  • Retired Chilean officer charged in singer's death AP - Thu May 15, 1:25 PM ET

    SANTIAGO, Chile - A retired army colonel has been charged in the killing of renowned Chilean folk singer Victor Jara following the 1973 coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

  • Colombia says no US base planned near Venezuela AP - Thu May 15, 12:06 PM ET

    CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez is warning Colombia against any U.S. military base near its border with Venezuela, though neither Colombia nor the United States have publicly suggested such a plan.

  • Peru's President Alan Garcia, left, shakes hands with Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission President, after a news conference at the presidential palace in Lima, Wednesday, May 14, 2008. Leaders from nearly 60 Latin America and European countries will attend a summit on Friday in Peru to discuss climate change, trade, poverty and the global food crisis. (AP Photo/Karel Navarro)
    Latin American, European leaders gather for summit AP - Thu May 15, 10:57 AM ET

    LIMA, Peru - European and Latin American leaders gathering for their fifth summit in a decade this week plan to tackle climate change, high food prices and poverty.

  • A detainee covers his face with his hands in Camp 4 at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base in Cuba Wednesday, May 14, 2008. Camp 4 is a medium security facility for cooperative prisoners who get to wear white uniforms and are allowed to share a cell with up to 9 other detainees. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
    Guantanamo official says he's not resigning AP - Thu May 15, 1:14 AM ET

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A Pentagon official said Wednesday he will not resign as legal adviser to war-crimes tribunals at Guantanamo, despite his removal from the trial of Osama bin Laden's driver because of a lack of impartiality.

  • Gunmen kill 2 police officers in Mexico AP - Wed May 14, 8:32 PM ET

    MEXICO CITY - Officials say two police officers were shot and killed in northern Mexico when they tried to stop gunmen from kidnapping a family.

  • Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez gestures during an oil agreements ceremony with Portugal's Prime Minister Jose Socrates, unseen, at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Behind is a painting of Venezuela's independence hero Simon Bolivar. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
    Chavez again to seek hostage release AP - Wed May 14, 8:06 PM ET

    CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday he will try to re-establish contacts with Colombian rebels in an attempt to win freedom for more hostages held by the guerrillas.

  • Colombia seizes $25M in properties from warlord AP - Wed May 14, 7:54 PM ET

    BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian police seized US$25 million (euro16 million) in properties Wednesday from a paramilitary warlord extradited to the U.S. on drug-trafficking charges.

  • In this photo released by Colombia's National Police, former paramilitary leader Diego Murillo, known as Don Berna, arrives to the military airport in Bogota before being extradited to the US, Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Colombia extradited 14 paramilitary leaders on charges related to drug trafficking, saying they violated the peace pact under which they demobilized. (AP Photo/Colombia's National Police)
    Colombian warlords' victims uneasy about extradition AP - Wed May 14, 6:02 AM ET

    BOGOTA, Colombia - Victims of Colombia's far-right militias fear the surprise extradition of 14 paramilitary warlords may keep them from learning their loved ones' fates and getting reparations.

  • US wants to boost Trinidad energy ties AP - Tue May 13, 10:59 PM ET

    PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - A top U.S. energy official says Washington wants to boost ties with Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean nation that is the No. 1 supplier of liquid natural gas to the United States.

  • Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, talks to Environment Minister Marina Silva during a ceremony at the presidential palace in Brasilia, Thursday, May 8, 2008. Silva resigned Tuesday, May 13, 2008, her spokeswoman said, ending an often stormy six-year term that set her in conflict with developers of the Amazon rainforest.(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
    Brazil Environment Minister Marina Silva resigns AP - Tue May 13, 9:59 PM ET

    RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Renowned rain forest defender Marina Silva resigned as Brazil's environment minister on Tuesday, saying she lacked the necessary political support to protect the Amazon.

  • Colombian warlords extradited to US AP - Tue May 13, 6:17 PM ET

    BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia extradited 14 paramilitary warlords to the United States on Tuesday to stand trial on drug trafficking charges in a surprise move applauded by the Bush administration as evidence that Colombia deserves a trade deal.

  • Sept. 11 families fear war-crimes trial AP - Tue May 13, 4:57 PM ET

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - People who lost relatives in the Sept. 11 attacks fear alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will use his upcoming war-crimes trial to boast about his role and rally support for al-Qaida.

  • Blacks to outnumber whites in Brazil AP - Tue May 13, 4:41 PM ET

    RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Blacks will outnumber whites in Brazil this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge, according to a government study released Tuesday.

  • Military soldiers remove ashes produced by the erupting Chaiten volcano in Futaleufu, Chile, Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Chile's government announced a plan to help victims of the erupting Chaiten volcano in southern Chile including cash bonuses, housing and education subsidies, tax relief and recovery of jobs and small businesses. (AP Photo/Ferran Majol)
    Chile to compensate volcano victims AP - Tue May 13, 3:37 PM ET

    SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile's government will give victims of an erupting volcano cash, tax relief and financial help rebuilding their farms and businesses in a bid to get them to return to their homes, the interior minister said Tuesday.

  • A woman prays at the grave of American nun Dorothy Stang in Anapu, Brazil, in Nov. 2007. Bishop Flavio Giovenale was crushed by the acquittal last week of a rancher accused of ordering the killing of Dorothy Stang, a 73-year-old nun from Dayton, Ohio, in Feb. 12, 2005. Giovenale, who spends much of his time battling child prostitution, police corruption and drug abuse, fears the verdict means it's open season again on activists in the Amazon jungle state of Para. (AP Photo/Renato Chalu)
    Brazil activists fear death squads back AP - Tue May 13, 9:20 AM ET

    ABAETETUBA, Brazil - Bishop Flavio Giovenale was crushed by the acquittal last week of a rancher accused of ordering the killing of a crusading American nun — and not just because he admired Dorothy Stang.

  • Mexico police say drug cartel killed No. 2 cop AP - Mon May 12, 11:58 PM ET

    MEXICO CITY - A police officer and four other people with suspected ties to a powerful drug cartel have been arrested in the assassination of Mexico's acting federal police chief, authorities said Monday.

  • Cuban migrants land in Mexico after 17 days at sea AP - Mon May 12, 8:24 PM ET

    CANCUN, Mexico - An attempt to reach Florida turned into 17 days at sea for Cuban migrants crammed aboard a rickety sailboat that drifted ashore in Mexico near the Belize border.

  • In this photo released by Miraflores Press Office, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks on his weekly radio and television show 'Hello President' in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Sunday, May 11, 2008. Chavez said that the documents Colombia unveiled as proof that he sought to help arm and finance Colombian rebels are fake. (AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office)
    Chavez criticizes Germany's Merkel AP - Mon May 12, 6:30 PM ET

    CARACAS, Venezuela - Hugo Chavez accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party of sharing the same ideals as Adolf Hitler and warned he might confront her at Friday's summit of Latin American and European leaders in Peru.

  • Bolivia's President Evo Morales, right, accompanied by Bolivia's Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera, attends a press conference at the presidential palace in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, May 8, 2008. Morales agreed to stand for election in a nationwide recall vote, gambling that Bolivians will re-elect him after just two years in office. (AP Photo/Joao Padua)
    Bolivia's Morales approves August recall vote AP - Mon May 12, 3:58 PM ET

    LA PAZ, Bolivia - President Evo Morales committed himself and Bolivia's nine governors on Monday to face recall votes on Aug. 10, gambling that his unfinished term will survive a referendum whose peculiar rules tilt in the populist leader's favor.

  • A fisherman uses a branch to pull the body of a victim of a capsized boat to the shore in Gressier, Haiti, Monday, May 12,2008. An overloaded ferry carrying 100 people capsized off the coast of southern Haiti on May 10, 2008, killing at least 11 people, U.N. and Haitian authorities said. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
    Death toll from capsized ferry in Haiti hits 13 AP - Mon May 12, 2:51 PM ET

    PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A U.N. official says the bodies of two teenagers have been found near a capsized Haitian sailboat, raising the death toll to 13.

  • Cuba: Bush chat with dissidents a 'show' AP - Mon May 12, 12:45 PM ET

    HAVANA - Cuba on Monday dismissed a videoconference between President Bush and three key dissidents as a stunt to bolster the U.S. leader's low approval ratings, claiming there would be no political opposition on the island without funding from Washington.

  • Real-life skull worship inspires new 'Indy' film AP - Sun May 11, 5:53 PM ET

    PALENQUE, Mexico - There is a legend that the ancient Maya possessed 13 crystal skulls which, when united, hold the power of saving the Earth — a tale so strange and fantastic that it inspired the latest Indiana Jones movie.

  • Ecuadorian soldiers look at weapons and equipment found in this March 2, 2008, file photo, in Angostura, Ecuador, near the border with Colombia, were Colombian security forces killed Saturday 17 leftist rebels including Luis Edgar Devia, known as Raul Reyes, a top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC. A newly disclosed set of documents, on Friday, May 9, 2008, that Colombia's government says were recovered from a slain rebel's computers indicate senior Venezuelan officials tried to help arm Colombia's main guerrilla army. (AP Photo/Diego Norona)
    Documents indicate that Chavez helped Colombia rebels AP - Sun May 11, 3:46 PM ET

    BOGOTA, Colombia - Documents that Colombia says it recovered from a slain guerrilla leader give the clearest indication yet that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sought to arm and finance insurgents across the border.