Mexico to create police unit to search for missing

Mexico's government says it will create a special investigative unit to search for the missing, heeding a request by relatives of the disappeared who have been on a hunger strike for nine days.

Gay artist Gilberto Diez, 18, left, a gay transvestite artist known as "Ashenal," tests out some makeup as his companion Ernesto Nogues, 22, sits in a nearby armhair in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, May 16, 2013. A week of drag shows, colorful marches and social and cultural events in Havana culminates Friday with celebrations of the International Day Against Homophobia. Gays were persecuted for decades after the 1959 Cuban Revolution, sometimes sent to grueling rural work camps along with others considered socially suspect by the Communist government. But there has been a gradual shift away from macho attitudes, and Fidel Castro himself has publicly regretted the mistreatment of people seen as different.

AP PHOTOS: Cuba's LGBT community celebrates

A week of drag shows, colorful marches and social and cultural events in Havana culminates Friday with celebrations of the International Day Against Homophobia. Photo Gallery Available

Correction: Honduras-Death Squads story

In a story May 13 about suspects disappearing or dying after being in the custody of the Honduran National Police, The Associated Press misquoted U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield as suggesting that the Honduran armed forces have engaged in vigilantism. In fact, Brownfield was speaking of the danger of communities carrying out vigilantism.

Burmese Python caught in Puerto Rico river

Authorities in Puerto Rico have caught a 12-foot (3.6-meter) Burmese Python that they had been trying to find for several weeks following complaints from residents in the area.

An old message from the chief of the Guantanamo guard force found posted on a wall in the Camp 6 command center on Tuesday, April 16, 2013 at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Photos sought of Guantánamo man hit in clash

A lawyer for a Guantánamo Bay prisoner is calling on the U.S. Justice Department to release photos of wounds the man suffered when struck with non-lethal rounds at a recent clash with guards at the prison.

Hundreds of dead animals wash up on Chile's shores

Chilean officials are investigating the death of hundreds of penguins, pelicans and other animals that are washing up on the county's shores.

Brazil approves law to modernize ports

Brazil plans to modernize and expand its overcrowded ports, attract private investments to the sector and make it easier for companies to hire skilled foreign workers, in a bid to spur economic growth,

OAS drug study eyes marijuana legalization

An Organization of American States study released Friday is calling for a serious discussion on legalizing marijuana. Photo Gallery Available

In this May 14, 2013 photo, a National Guard soldier frisks a man outside his car at a checkpoint that is part of the "Secure Homeland" initiative in Petare, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Caracas, Venezuela. Since Monday, this scene is playing out day and night at dozens of military checkpoints set up here in the socialist government's latest attempt to control the oil-rich country’s pandemic of violence.

Venezuela's military enters high-crime slums

Stern-looking soldiers clutching assault rifles wave down the beat-up Chevy Caprice entering this sprawling slum on the outskirts of Caracas. Photo Gallery Available

FILE - In this June 1978 file photo, Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla talks to journalists at the Buenos Aires Government Palace, in Argentina. The former Argentine dictator died of natural causes Friday, May 17, 2013, while serving life sentences at the Marcos Paz prison for crimes against humanity. Videla took power in a 1976 coup and led a military junta that killed thousands of his fellow citizens in a dirty war to eliminate "subversives." He was 87.

Argentine dictator Videla dies in prison at age 87

Former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, who took power over Argentina in a 1976 coup and led a military junta that killed thousands of his fellow citizens in a dirty war to eliminate so-called "subversives," died quietly in his sleep Friday while serving life in prison for crimes against humanity. He was 87. Photo Gallery Available

In this image released by Jaime Awe, head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology on Monday May 13, 2013, a looks at the damaged sloping sides of the Nohmul complex, one of Belize's largest Mayan pyramids on May 10, 2013 in northern Belize. A construction company has essentially destroyed one of Belize's largest Mayan pyramids with backhoes and bulldozers to extract crushed rock for a road-building project, authorities announced on Monday.

Road-builder: landowner allowed pyramid excavation

The owner of a road-building company in Belize that has been blamed for the near destruction of one of the country's biggest Mayan pyramids said Thursday that the landowner gave permission to extract the material. Photo Gallery Available

Bolivia's Morales faces 11th day of protests

Hundreds of miners, teachers and other workers have marched in Bolivia's capital on the 11th day of protests called by the country's largest union to demand higher old-age pensions. Photo Gallery Available

Use of Internet and cellphones soars in Brazil

A government survey says the number of Brazilians using the Internet and cellphones has soared more than 100 percent since 2005.

Jamaica woman accused of conning elderly Canadian

A Jamaican woman has been charged with fraud after allegedly swindling an elderly Canadian man in a lottery scam.

Puerto Rico faces lowest coffee production ever

Coffee production in Puerto Rico has hit the lowest level ever in the island's history, leaving farmers and government officials worried about how to revive a once burgeoning industry amid a deep economic crisis.

Argentina brokers 24 pct wage hikes for millions

Two million Argentines will get wage hikes of 24 percent under a deal President Cristina Fernandez brokered with six allied labor unions.

A woman who just bought toilet paper at a grocery store reads her receipt as she leaves the private store in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. First milk, butter, coffee and cornmeal ran short. Now Venezuela is running out of the most basic of necessities _ toilet paper. Economists say Venezuela's shortages stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government's controls on foreign currency.

Venezuelans scrambling to find scarce toilet paper

Venezuelans scrambled to stock up on toilet paper Thursday as fears of a bathroom emergency spread despite the socialist government's promise to import 50 million rolls. Photo Gallery Available

Lava flows from the Popocatepetl volcano after an eruption, seen from Tlamacas, Mexico, early Wednesday, May 15, 2013. The monitoring system of Popocatepetl volcano registered two explosions, yesterday and this early morning. Both events were accompanied by a column of gas and ash, reaching 3 km high and by the emission of incandescent fragments. Popocatepetl has put out small eruptions of ash almost daily since a round of activity began in 1994.

Mexico volcano registers more seismic activity

Seismic activity is continuing at the Popocatepetl volcano near Mexico City and authorities say they have readied shelters and identified evacuation routes in case they should be needed. Photo Gallery Available

Colombia court convicts ex-lawmaker in massacre

Colombia's Supreme Court has convicted a former longtime congressman of being the mastermind behind the massacre of 43 people by right-wing paramilitary fighters in the north of the country more than two decades ago. It has sentenced him to 30 years in prison.

Nicaragua extradites US man in $137M fraud case

Nicaraguan authorities deported a U.S. man on Wednesday to face fraud and money laundering charges in his home country.

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