HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Mexican murders, American victims

At least 230 U.S. citizens have been slain in Mexico's escalating wave of violence since 2003 — an average of nearly one killing a week, according to a Houston Chronicle investigation into the deaths.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Shine is off FARC rebel army

Colombian military officials say the 20% increase in FARC desertions last year from the 2007 level is compelling evidence of their increasing battlefield dominance over the FARC, which the military has been fighting for more than 40 years.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Brazil police try war tactics in violent slums

Rio de Janeiro police have regularly launched large operations in Brazil's favelas, or slums, in their battle against drug gangs over the years, but authorities say the occupation of Santa Marta, a relatively small, contained neighborhood, is part of a new approach, a pilot project for the future of crime fighting in this violent city.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Mexico's Subcomandante Marcos makes a rare appearance

Fifteen years after his uprising shocked Mexico's status quo, and a year after he more or less dropped out of public view, Subcomandante Marcos had made a comeback appearance. At least, it seemed to be Marcos. He was, after all, wearing his trademark black ski mask.

THE CUBAN REVOLUTION

50 years ago, Cuba's rebels took control

Cuban history was made on New Year's Eve 1958 when Fulgencio Batista fled and insurgents led by Fidel Castro declared victory.

Guatemala hopes the road leads to peace

Guatemala's government is hoping the steep, rutted road to Cocop is a path to lasting peace.

After 50 years, Cuba's economy still isn't self-sufficient

Fifty years after the Cuban revolution, the island nation still has not been able to break the ties of dependency.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Mexican shoppers go north, seeking bargains

Mexican shoppers with fists full of cash and long Christmas lists are pouring across the border into hotels, restaurants and shopping malls here, providing an economic boost in a downward spiraling economy.

About the Cuban freedom flights database project

The database -- an Ellis-Island style registry -- contains the names of Cuban exiles who entered the U.S. through the Freedom Flights, between 1965 and 1973.

Cuba's revolution at 50: gains fade, despair endures

Fifty years ago, an attorney turned bearded guerrilla marched triumphantly into Havana and declared victory over a departing dictator. Then he became a despot himself.

For exiled Cubans, a mix of pain, nostalgia, hope

For Cuban exiles, people who left it all behind and started their lives anew, el exilio is a foster fatherland, a waiting room and safe haven to collectively yearn for a free Cuba.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Some in Mexico want the death penalty reinstated

Anger and frustration over rampant killings and kidnappings have ignited an improbable debate here over legalizing the death penalty, a punishment that has been effectively banned in Mexico for nearly half a century.

TICO TIMES

Nicaragua | Church-state relations start to strain

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega seems to be trying to use religious symbols as part of his effort to consolidate his Sandinista party's control over the country.

Nicaraguans fight with sticks and stones

Thousands of supporters of Nicaragua's leftist ruling party armed with rocks tried to block an opposition march on the capital to protest alleged vote fraud, setting off clashes that injured at least five people on Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

In Colombia, ground crews a bigger part of the cocaine battle

Aerial spraying is still the preferred method of coca eradication in Colombia, but the use of manual laborers is expanding. Many take the dangerous job because of good wages; some have more personal reasons.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Peru Economy Grows, But Problems Abound

These should be good times for president Alan García. His country posted 9.9 percent economic growth in September at a time when world economies were crashing. He nailed down a free-trade agreement with the United States and is negotiating similar accords with China, Japan, Singapore, Canada and the European Union. And yet, times are tough for García.

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

U.S.-Colombia ties turning to human rights

Spare a thought for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in these waning days of the Bush administration. Few foreign leaders were banking more heavily on Republican continuity in the White House. After all, his country has received some $5.5-billion in U.S. aid over the last eight years to help fight a tough war with drug traffickers and illegal armed groups on both the left and the right.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Protecting herself as much as her drug lord clients

Sitting down with Silvia Raquenel Villanueva can be a nerve-racking experience and not just because she is a sharp-tongued lawyer who cusses like a sailor if provoked. There is also the delicate question of the people who want her dead.

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES

Colombia inches toward justice in paramilitary killings

For months the sometimes headless bodies, cut up by chain-saws, washed up on the banks of the muddy Cauca River.

Embattled Puerto Rico gov. soundly defeated

Puerto Rico Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, facing charges of campaign finance fraud, was trounced at the polls Tuesday by the island's nonvoting representative in Congress, who easily sailed to victory in what his supporters called a ``historic landslide.''