Latin America News

CARACAS, Venezuela - Hundreds of leftists gathered in Venezuela's capital have set plans for a regional movement in Latin America and are expressing support for insurgent groups like the rebels in Colombia. Full Story »

BRASILIA, Brazil - Iran's leader got a welcoming bear hug from the Brazilian president, who urged Western nations to drop threats of punishment over the Iranian nuclear program and instead negotiate a fair solution. Full Story »

MONTERREY, Mexico (AFP) - Fourteen people were killed in northern Monterrey, including 11 drug traffickers and a woman passerby in a shootout with police, and two police officers during a prison breakout, state officials said. Full Story »

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Former Costa Rican President Rodrigo Carazo Odio has died of complications from open-heart surgery. Full Story »

NEW YORK (AFP) - Britain walked away with five International Emmy Awards on Monday, including for best performances, while Brazil joined the television elite for the first time at a gala ceremony in New York. Full Story »

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia on Wednesday demanded Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government clarify whether it tolerated support for terrorist organizations after Colombia's leftist rebels were lauded at a forum in Caracas. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY - More than 100 kidnapping victims freed from a rehab center said Friday they were snatched from the streets and held in slave-like conditions — beaten, robbed and forced to work 18 hours a day making clothespins and shopping bags destined for a department store. Full Story »

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - One of Puerto Rico's most-wanted fugitives has been extradited from New Jersey to face charges that he killed a leader of a sewer workers union on the U.S. island. Full Story »

BRASILIA (AFP) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has urged his visiting Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to find a "just solution" with the West to Tehran's contested nuclear program. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY - Foreign migrants caught while in Mexico illegally can now at least fight boredom while mourning their bad fortune. Full Story »

CARACAS, Venezuela - Hundreds of university students held protests in Venezuela on Wednesday to condemn the fatal shooting of an undergraduate during a demonstration earlier this week. Full Story »

BRASILIA (AFP) - Visiting Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said Monday that US and Israeli military threats against Iran were a thing of the past, and that, in any case, "they don't have the courage" to attack Iran. Full Story »

TIJUANA, Mexico (AFP) - Gunmen shot and killed a former police commander and opposition politician in his office in the Mexican border town of Tijuana, officials said. Full Story »

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Where some see only an edible, hog-sized jungle rodent, others see economic opportunity. Full Story »

BRASILIA (AFP) - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday began a controversial visit to Brazil, the key leg of a tour to sympathetic Latin American and African countries he sees backing Tehran's vision of "a new world order." Full Story »

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 - WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) commends President Barack H. Obama for the nomination of Mari Carmen Aponte as United States Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador.  A highly qualified and distinguished leader, Ms. Aponte was one of the first Latinas to earn the prestigious White House Fellowship and has worked in the government, private, and non-profit sector over her long and illustrious professional career.  Full Story »

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican police freed 107 people on Thursday who were imprisoned and forced to work in a clandestine factory in the capital, the prosecutor's office said. Full Story »

KOUROU, French Guiana - Officials have postponed the rocket launch of a military observation satellite for France's defense ministry. Full Story »