Latin America News

MEXICO CITY - Mexican federal prosecutors will review their witness protection program after gunmen killed a drug case informant in a Starbucks coffee shop in the capital, officials said Wednesday. Full Story »

TEHRAN (AFP) - Faced with mounting pressure over his country's atomic ambitions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left on a five nation tour Sunday, including Brazil in a bid to boost ties with Latin America's biggest economy and a rare backer of Tehran's nuclear programme. Full Story »

NEW YORK (AFP) - A New York court on Wednesday sentenced a cocaine kingpin from one of Mexico's bloodiest gangs to 27 years in prison for trafficking at least 200 tons of cocaine to the United States. Full Story »

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad left Tehran on Sunday for a five nation tour, including Brazil and Venezuela, both supporters of the Islamic republic's controversial nuclear programme. Full Story »

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's attorney general contends exiled opposition leader Manuel Rosales has violated his asylum in Peru by speaking out in Washington about Venezuelan issues. Full Story »

SAN DIEGO - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says Mexican authorities discovered an incomplete tunnel that extends into San Diego and is equipped with a lift system, ventilation and lighting. Full Story »

BRASILIA, Brazil - Famed 101-year-old Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer is reportedly back at work just weeks after surgery for gallstones and an intestinal tumor. Full Story »

CARACAS (AFP) - US President Barack Obama may be well-intentioned but he's still stuck in the past when it comes to supporting Honduras' recent, post-coup election, President Hugo Chavez charged. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court is weighing whether owners of beachfront homes in Florida must be compensated because a beach-widening project cost them their exclusive access to the Gulf of Mexico. Full Story »

SALVADOR, Brazil (AFP) - Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian territory must stop immediately, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday as he seeks to position Brazil as a player in the Middle East. Full Story »

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez said Monday that Venezuela has received thousands of Russian-made missiles and rocket launchers as part of his government's military preparations for a possible armed conflict with neighboring Colombia. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - A gunman opened fire in a Mexico City Starbucks coffee shop, killing an ex-police chief involved in drug-related corruption and wounding two other people, authorities said. Full Story »

SALVADOR, Brazil - Brazil's President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is joining his Palestinian counterpart in calling on Israel to stop building new settlements in areas claimed by Palestinians. Full Story »

SANTIAGO, Chile - A Chilean judge ruled Monday that former President Eduardo Frei Montalva was assassinated nearly 30 years ago and his killing covered up by people linked to the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Six people were charged in the case. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY - The mother of the man Mexico's government has identified as Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos has died at Mexico City's airport. Full Story »

SALVADOR, Brazil (AFP) - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday received Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas here Thursday for the first in a series of discussions on forging peace in the Middle East, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Full Story »

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A Chilean judge on Monday charged figures from Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship with the murder of former President Eduardo Frei Montalva, which could boost support for Frei Montalva's son in Sunday's presidential vote. Full Story »

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AFP) - Seven women were murdered in Mexico, including one who was beheaded in the southern beach resort of Cancun, authorities reported Monday. Full Story »