Latin America News

In this undated picture, Argentina's former coast guard officer Hector Febres, 66, right, leaves a Buenos Aires courthouse. Febres, who was accused of kidnapping and torturing dissidents during the past military dictatorship, died in his cell at a navy brig, four days before an expected verdict in his high-profile trial. (AP Photo/Clarin)

Defendant's wife, kids held in Argentina

AP - 2 hours, 56 minutes ago

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Police detained the wife and two grown children of a former coast guard officer who died mysteriously in jail amid a dictatorship-era human rights trial, hours after an autopsy found cyanide in his blood, a judge said Friday.

  • Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, right, jokes with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, left, during a signing agreement ceremony at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. The man in the center is an interpreter. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
    Some Chavez allies slow to shed luxuries AP - Fri Dec 14, 2:16 PM ET

    CARACAS, Venezuela - Hugo Chavez constantly urges his supporters to reject "savage capitalism," but allies of Venezuela's president have been slow to embrace his socialist values — and some are struggling to explain their consumption of luxury goods.

  • A man takes a picture with his cell phone of a car dragged by floodwaters caused by Tropical Storm Olga in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. Dominican authorities reported 11 more deaths Thursday in floods caused by Tropical Storm Olga, raising the Caribbean-wide death toll to 25. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
    Olga survivors complain of late warning AP - Thu Dec 13, 7:13 PM ET

    SANTIAGO, Dominican Republic - Survivors of a devastating flood lashed out at authorities Thursday for not warning that a dam's floodgates were being opened during Tropical Storm Olga, unleashing a deadly wall of water that killed as many as 20 people.

  • Argentine President Cristina Fernandez talks at the government palace in Buenos Aires, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Martin Zabala, DyN)
    Argentine leader riled by US cash charge AP - Thu Dec 13, 5:54 PM ET

    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentina's new president reacted furiously Thursday to accusations by U.S. prosecutors that an intercepted suitcase full of cash from Venezuela was meant to finance her election campaign, calling the charge "garbage in international politics."

  • Argentine President Cristina Fernandez talks at the government palace in Buenos Aires, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Hugo Villalobos)
    Argentine leader rebukes US over cash AP - Thu Dec 13, 4:28 PM ET

    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Argentina's new president reacted angrily Thursday to U.S. charges that a suitcase full of Venezuelan cash seized by customs was intended to finance her campaign, calling it an example of "garbage in international politics."

  • Alleged plot to take Uribe's kids foiled AP - Thu Dec 13, 2:59 PM ET

    BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia's police chief said Thursday that his forces have foiled an alleged plot to kidnap President Alvaro Uribe's two adult children after monitoring the cell phone calls of jailed guerrillas.

  • American citizen Frederick Calvin Louderback, center, and wife Barbara Louize Anne, left, are arrested for allegedly sexually abusing minors at a nudist colony in Taquara, in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Emilio Pedroso/Agencia RBS)
    US couple deny Brazil sex abuse charges AP - Thu Dec 13, 2:56 PM ET

    SAO PAULO, Brazil - A U.S. couple accused of sexually abusing minors at a nudist colony in southern Brazil deny the charges and don't understand why police arrested them earlier this week, one of their lawyers said Thursday.

  • Colombian bandits set bus afire, 10 die AP - Thu Dec 13, 12:14 PM ET

    BOGOTA, Colombia - Highway bandits set fire to a bus during a botched robbery near Colombia's capital, burning to death 10 people, authorities said Thursday.

  • Lula loses as Brazil financial tax nixed AP - Thu Dec 13, 10:45 AM ET

    SAO PAULO, Brazil - Brazil's Senate on Thursday refused to renew a financial transaction tax that fills the government's coffers, handing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a political defeat that could threaten his social programs for the poor.

  • A U.S. Army guard stands in a corridor of cells in Camp Five, a detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in this September 4, 2007 file photo. (Joe Skipper/Files/Reuters)
    US repatriates 15 from Guantanamo AP - Wed Dec 12, 10:33 PM ET

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. announced Wednesday that it has sent 15 prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay prison back to their home nations.

  • A Sudanese prisoner released from the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, Salim Mahmoud Adam, 49, speaks at a press conference after his release along with another prisoner in Khartoum, Sudan Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. The two men, released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay after nearly five years, returned home Thursday, complaining of their treatment and expressing fears over the health of a fellow Sudanese prisoner - a journalist for Al-Jazeera TV - who is on hunger strike. (AP Photo/Abd Raouf)
    UN expert: Guantanamo hearings unfair AP - Wed Dec 12, 8:33 PM ET

    GENEVA - A U.N. human rights expert said Wednesday he found on a recent visit to Guantanamo Bay that the prison camp is not meeting international justice standards.

  • FBI agents escort a detainee after an anti drug operation at a public housing project in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007. Federal agents and local police launched raids in several Puerto Rican cities with arrest warrants for 121 drug suspects, the FBI director for the U.S. Caribbean territory said. (AP Photo/Herminio Rodriguez)
    61 drug suspects arrested in Puerto Rico AP - Wed Dec 12, 4:17 PM ET

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Federal agents and local police launched raids in several Puerto Rican cities Wednesday with arrest warrants for 121 drug suspects, the FBI director for the U.S. Caribbean territory said.

  • Chilean judge makes priest recite psalms AP - Wed Dec 12, 3:54 PM ET

    SANTIAGO, Chile - A judge in southern Chile has sentenced a Catholic priest to recite seven psalms daily during three months as punishment for illegal parking.

  • Brazil's architect Oscar Niemeyer holds a glass of champagne as his wife Vera reacts after he was honored by France's ambassador to Brazil Antoine Pouilliete, unseen, in commemoration of his 100th birthday in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007. Niemeyer was born on Dec. 15, 1907. (AP Photo/Ricardo Moraes)
    France honors Brazilian architect AP - Wed Dec 12, 3:44 PM ET

    RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - France honored Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer with the Legion of Honor Wednesday, days before his 100th birthday.

  • Pilgrims carrying the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, enter the Basilica of Guadalupe, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. Thousands of people from all over the country are converging on the Basilica bringing images to be blessed Wednesday during the Virgin of Guadalupe's Day. (AP Photo/Miguel Tovar)
    Mexico's Virgin of Guadalupe celebrated AP - Wed Dec 12, 3:42 PM ET

    MEXICO CITY - Hundreds of thousands of people, some crawling on hands and knees, others carrying her image to be blessed, gathered Wednesday to honor the Mexico's beloved patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe.

  • US court grants motion on Gitmo suspect AP - Tue Dec 11, 9:57 PM ET

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A federal court on Tuesday ordered the U.S. government to preserve any evidence of torture while it weighs a defense motion in the case of a Guantanamo prisoner who alleges he was abused in overseas CIA prisons.

  • In this photo released by Peru's Justice Palace, Former Peru's President Alberto Fujimori attends an audience of his trial at a police base in Lima, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. Fujimori who was extradited from Chile last September, faces charges of human rights and corruption. (AP Photo/Justice Palace, Francisco Medina)
    Fujimori sentenced for abuse of power AP - Tue Dec 11, 9:03 PM ET

    LIMA, Peru - Former President Alberto Fujimori was convicted of abuse of authority and sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday at the end of the first in a series of trials on charges that include murder, kidnapping and corruption.

  • A demonstrator holds a sign that reads in Spanish ' Vote Guatemala, Vote for the dignity, Vote for the new Adoptions Law', during a protest in front of the Congress, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. Guatemalan legislators approved a new law Tuesday that tightens adoptions, while allowing pending cases, mostly involving U.S. couples, to go through without meeting stricter requirements. (AP Photo/Jesus Cuque)
    New Guatemala adoption law approved AP - Tue Dec 11, 6:59 PM ET

    GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemalan legislators approved a new law Tuesday that tightens adoptions, while allowing pending cases — mostly involving U.S. couples — to go through without meeting stricter requirements.

  • Cuban government supporters chant pro-Fidel Castro slogans as the shout down opposition activists, unseen, calling for improved human rights in Havana, Monday, Dec.10, 2007. The dissidents marched to commemorate the Human Rights Day.(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
    Human rights march interrupted AP - Mon Dec 10, 10:26 PM ET

    HAVANA - Cuba said Monday it would sign an international agreement on civil and political rights while a few blocks away government supporters shoved and shouted down activists calling for improved human rights on the communist-run island.

  • Cruise, cargo ships collide off Uruguay AP - Mon Dec 10, 9:01 PM ET

    MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - A cruise ship carrying some 1,700 passengers collided with a cargo vessel Monday in a Uruguayan port, but no injuries were reported.

  • An aerial view of the Yasuni National Park, in Ecuador's northeastern jungle, Thursday, May 17, 2007. Ecuador will open bidding for a major oil project in Yasuni National Park next June if the country does not raise international funding to abandon the proposal, the oil minister said. The jungle area, which holds close to 1 billion barrels of crude, is part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Some environmentalists say the reserve has more varieties of plant life than the United States and Canada combined. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
    Ecuador to drill park unless world pays AP - Mon Dec 10, 8:56 PM ET

    QUITO, Ecuador - Ecuador will open bidding for a major oil project in a jungle nature reserve in June if the poor Andean country does not receive international funding to abandon the proposal, the oil minister said Monday.

  • Gitmo inmate's lawyer urges US on photos AP - Mon Dec 10, 7:57 PM ET

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A lawyer for a Guantanamo prisoner has urged U.S. authorities to preserve CIA photos that would prove his client was tortured when the spy agency allegedly sent him to Morocco for questioning about al-Qaida links.

  • Former Peru's President Alberto Fujimori is seen gesturing on a screen during the first day of his trial on charges of alleged human rights violations and corruption during his government at a police base in Lima, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. The screen is located at the press center of the police base where the trial takes place. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
    Peru's Fujimori goes on trial AP - Mon Dec 10, 5:22 PM ET

    LIMA, Peru - Waving his arms in outrage and shouting that he is innocent, Alberto Fujimori went on trial Monday on charges of using a death squad to kill leftist guerrillas and collaborators.

  • Cristina Fernandez wears the presidential sash after being sworn in as Argentina's first elected female president at the National Congress in Buenos Aires, Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. At left Argentina's departing President Nestor Kirchner, and second left, Argentina's Vice President Daniel Scioli. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
    Fernandez becomes Argentina's president AP - Mon Dec 10, 5:08 PM ET

    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Cristina Fernandez was sworn in Monday as Argentina's first elected female president, completing a rare husband-wife transfer of power that the nation hopes will ensure continued recovery from an economic meltdown.

  • Mexico's Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora gestures during a news conference in Mexico City, Monday Dec. 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Miguel Tovar)
    Mexico: Cuban-Americans fund smugglers AP - Mon Dec 10, 3:46 PM ET

    MEXICO CITY - Cuban-Americans are financing the smuggling Cuban immigrants through Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, an illegal trade that is fomented by the U.S. policy of granting Cubans automatic asylum, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said Monday.

  • UN representative held hostage in Brazil AP - Mon Dec 10, 2:49 PM ET

    RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A U.N. representative and three other people have been taken hostage by Indians, and federal officials were flying to the jungle on Monday to negotiate their release.

  • Judge on Pinochet kin trials steps down AP - Mon Dec 10, 2:46 PM ET

    SANTIAGO, Chile - The judge handling the embezzlement trials of relatives and aides of the late Gen. Augusto Pinochet submitted his resignation from the case on Monday after defense lawyers accused him of bias against the former dictator.