Latin America News

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's biggest television network canceled a popular news show to protest the kidnapping of four reporters in what media advocates said Friday is an escalation of a campaign by drug gangs to control information. Full Story »

SANTIAGO, Chile - The former chief of Chile's feared secret police who was convicted in the 1974 assassination of Gen. Augusto Pinochet's biggest enemy in exile says the CIA committed the crime. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY - One of the world's most powerful drug cartels took a major hit when soldiers killed a top kingpin in a gunbattle, and his death will likely will mean more violence as factions fight for the cocaine and methamphetamine empire that he left behind. Full Story »

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - The U.S. State Department said Friday it is evaluating threats surrounding the consulate in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez as hundreds with appointments for visa applications and other services stood outside the shuttered office wondering what to do. Full Story »

LIMA, Peru - A Peruvian journalist whom the U.S. deported to Russia this month in a spy swap is free to return home but her Russian husband could be charged with lying on his citizenship application, Peru's foreign minister said Friday. Full Story »

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - After a 27-year courtship, two men on Friday became the first gay couple to wed under Argentina's historic same-sex marriage law — the first of its kind for a Latin American nation. Full Story »

PANAMA CITY - A U.S. couple was deported in shackles Thursday from Nicaragua to Panama, where they face charges of killing two Americans and questioning in the disappearances of 5 other people. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY - US Consulate in Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez temporarily closes for security review. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY - Gunmen who abducted four journalists in northern Mexico are demanding their media outlets broadcast videos apparently taped by a drug cartel that accuse officials of favoring a rival gang. Full Story »

HAVANA - Cuban opposition activist Guillermo Farinas returned home from the hospital Thursday three weeks after ending a 134-day hunger strike that left him sluggish, with neck pain and difficulty walking. Full Story »

Mexico City; and São Paulo, Brazil - Three years ago, the abundant "pre-salt" oil reserves found off Brazil's coast epitomized the country's optimism and rise on the world stage. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi signed on Friday a four-year cooperation accord with Mexico aimed at boosting political and economic ties. Full Story »

BRASILIA, Brazil - The Galapagos Islands have been removed from the UNESCO list of sites endangered by environmental threats or overuse. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Friday approved the toughest reforms ever to offshore energy drilling practices, as Democrats narrowly pushed through an election-year response to BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Full Story »

SAO PAULO (AFP) - A Brazilian television presenter accused of ordering murders to boost his crime show's ratings has died of an infection while hospitalized, media reported Wednesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday downgraded Mexico's aviation safety rating, which restricts new service to U.S. cities and limits airlines ability to carry out marketing agreements. Full Story »

BILOXI, Mississippi (Reuters) - BP Plc said on Friday it could seal its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well by next week as the House of Representatives voted to toughen regulation of offshore energy drilling. Full Story »

RIO DE JANEIRO - A former TV crime show host and state legislator accused of commissioning killings to boost ratings has died, a hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday. Full Story »