http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/index.html http://media.miamiherald.com/images/logos/rss_sitelogo.gif http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/index.html 140 25 News, sports and entertainment from MiamiHerald.com en-us Copyright 2009 MiamiHerald.com Americas 60 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:08:32 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys miamifeedback@miamiherald.com http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1344508.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1344508.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:27 EST Caribbean voters living in the tiny island of Dominica will head to the polls on Dec. 18 for general elections, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced during a rally. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1343612.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1343612.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:42 EST José Misael Valero Santana, who, according to Colombian prosecutors, led a paramilitary force of about 2,000 members in five Venezuelan border states, was arrested Wednesday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1343337.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1343337.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Deep in the heart of Vatican City, Cuban-born Roman Catholic theologian Miguel H. Díaz has managed to find an Italian version of a sandwich that reminds him of home: pan con lechón. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1342658.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1342658.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:42 EST Honduras' de facto president Roberto Micheletti will give up his controversial post for seven days beginning on Tuesday so that Hon- durans can "concentrate on elections and not on the political crisis," he announced Thursday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1341042.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1341042.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Thousands of fans put Honduras' political problems aside for one night to cheer on the nation's soccer team as it prepares for World Cup competition. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1344836.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1344836.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:00 EST The red and black Sandinista graffiti scrawled on buildings, street lamps and trees in downtown Jinotega makes it seem like this traditionally conservative coffee town has suddenly had a political change of heart. But behind the facade of leftist propaganda, a right-wing rebellion is brewing. http://www.miamiherald.com/1051/story/653894.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1051/story/653894.html Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:18 EDT Our prize-winning columnist also answers your questions online Thursdays at 1 p.m. http://www.miamiherald.com/1051/story/653899.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1051/story/653899.html Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:22 EDT <!--#include virtual="/static/blog_includes/cuban_colada.html" --> http://www.miamiherald.com/1051/story/653900.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1051/story/653900.html Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:24 EDT <b>Tyler Bridges</b> blogs from Latin America http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1341025.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1341025.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:04 EST Cuba's government remains as repressive under Raúl Castro as it was under his brother Fidel, according to the first in-depth report on the island's human rights since the younger Castro took power. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1338778.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1338778.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Alejandro J. Aguirre, deputy editor and publisher of the Spanish-language Diario Las Américas newspaper, was elected president of the hemisphere's free-press organization, the Inter American Press Association announced Tuesday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1338880.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1338880.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:00 EST The arrest of a Peruvian Air Force noncommissioned officer accused of feeding military secrets to his Chilean handlers has pushed long-simmering relations between the two South American neighbors to a new low. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1337778.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1337778.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:37 EST Facing a group of presidents loudly critical of Washington, the U.S. government's Voice of America broadcast is expanding its audience in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, VOA officials say. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1335534.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1335534.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Editor's Note: This story is part of an occasional series appearing in The Miami Herald leading up to Honduras' Nov. 29 national elections. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1330443.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1330443.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:52 EST Leading Cuban dissident Martha Beatriz Roque is extremely ill due to complications from her diabetes and a liquids-only fast launched to protest the government, another dissident reported Thursday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1327030.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1327030.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:21 EST Heavy rain, lightning and strong winds caused blackouts that left nearly a third of Brazilians - 60 million people - in the dark, officials said Wednesday as they scrambled to restore confidence in the country's infrastructure before soccer's 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1327702.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1327702.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:52 EST The U.S. State Department has told Cuba it deplores last week's ``assault'' on blogger Yoani Sánchez, one of the toughest of several expressions of support for the Havana writer. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1325230.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1325230.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:02 EST When a dozen Cuban bloggers wanted to stage a protest last month, they simultaneously tweeted, texted and posted messages like ``Freedom.'' <p/> One later used a blond wig to sneak into a government building and complain against censorship of the Internet. And the next day, she posted a video of her complaint on her blog. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1325234.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1325234.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Haiti and Guyana are the two countries in the Caribbean that are expected to post positive growth this year, despite a global economic crisis that sent financial shock waves through the region. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1325221.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1325221.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:00 EST A U.S.-brokered accord that was supposed to return ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to power has collapsed. And his supporters, who have been organizing street protests against his successor, are down to their final card: calling on Hondurans to boycott upcoming elections. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1321131.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1321131.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00 EST The Haitian Senate unanimously approved a longtime technocrat as prime minister Friday, hoping that a man with long ties to Haiti's political power brokers and the international community can lead this nation through its fifth change of cabinets in five years. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1321125.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1321125.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Famed Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez said Friday she and another blogger were punched and thrown violently into a car by presumed state security agents as they walked to participate in a peaceful march in downtown Havana. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1321116.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1321116.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00 EST More than 50 House Democrats sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi supporting current Cuba policy, which embargo-supporters say effectively means that a bill to open Cuba to tourists is dead. http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/906862.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/906862.html Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:21 EST Read The Miami Herald's full coverage of the key vote, and its aftermath http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/818585.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/818585.html Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:36 EST In this four-part series, The Miami Herald explores the impact of a changing immigration landscape on illegal immigrants, their families and their communities, from South Florida to Latin America and the Caribbean http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/797806.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/797806.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:30 EST Read all of The Miami Herald's Staff coverage of the malnutrition crisis faced by Haitian children http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/768141.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/768141.html Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:51 EST The Miami Herald's coverage of the 2008 Americas Conference, which drew hundreds of participants from the hemisphere. http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/704813.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/704813.html Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:36 EDT For generations, Vodou practitioners in rural Haiti have sworn by the mystic qualities of Jatropha, an indigenous plant believed to purge evil spirits and release the trapped souls of the dead. But the shrub may soon be in bigger demand as a source of biofuel http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/675722.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/675722.html Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:38 EDT The titles of her songs speak volumes: Wicked Men, Low Blow, Pure Pain and Hypocrite. Then there's her mega hit: Two-Legged Rat. Rife with tales of abusive husbands, impotent lovers and cheating boyfriends, these lyrics have made Francisca Viveros Barradas -- better known as Paquita la del Barrio -- much more than an artist. She has become a sociological phenomenon. http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/406087.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/406087.html Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:38 EST With oil enriching Venezuela's coffers, President Hugo Chávez is lavishing billions on other countries, boosting his socialist-tinged image. http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/39816.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/39816.html Tue, 13 Mar 2007 03:01 EDT The illegal battery smelter so contaminated children here that some of them have been found with what are supposed to be fatal levels of lead in their blood. But they are alive -- many of them with eye problems, seizures, severe learning deficiencies and blank stares like Johan's. http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/503497.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/503497.html Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:37 EDT The roots of this country's food crisis lies next to Mesidor Sagesse's humble field, where large-scale farming was long ago abandoned in favor of imported ''Miami'' rice. http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/899710.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/899710.html Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:56 EDT Click on the SPECIAL REPORTS tab on the green MULTIMEDIA line to see more in-depth reports by The Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/899711.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/899711.html Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:58 EDT More Miami Herald Cuba coverage http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/899717.html http://www.miamiherald.com/americas-special/story/899717.html Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:00 EDT More Miami Herald coverage of Haiti and the Caribbean http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1344839.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1344839.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Thirty years of spying for Cuba will send a retired State Department official to prison for life after he and his wife pleaded guilty Friday to sending secrets to the United States' longtime antagonist. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1344148.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1344148.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:07 EST A retired State Department employee and his wife pleaded guilty Friday to a 30-year conspiracy to provide classified information from the U.S. to Cuba. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1343131.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1343131.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:00 EST Cuba's celebrated and increasingly brassy blogger Yoani Sánchez emerged Thursday as a player in U.S.-Cuba relations, scoring a lengthy reply from President Barack Obama to her questions and playing a starring role in a congressional hearing on efforts to let American tourists visit Cuba. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1342657.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1342657.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:00 EST A high-octane effort to let U.S. tourists visit Cuba got a major endorsement Thursday from one of the island's leading dissidents, who suggested that ``along with suitcases, Bermuda shorts, and sunblock, support, solidarity, and freedom could come too.'' Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, who this week drew the attention of President Barack Obama, wrote in an essay to House Foreign Affairs chairman Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., that lifting the ban on U.S. travel to Cuba ``could bring more results in the democratization of Cuba than the indecisive performance of Raúl Castro.'' http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1341647.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1341647.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:52 EST U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen blasted efforts to open Cuba up to U.S. tourists Thursday during a House Foreign Affairs Coomittee meeting, suggesting the tourist dollars would only keep the regime in power. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1341025.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1341025.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Cuba's government remains as repressive under Raúl Castro as it was under his brother Fidel, according to the first in-depth report on the island's human rights since the younger Castro took power. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1337133.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1337133.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Any goodwill Raul Castro enjoyed as Cuba's new leader has dissipated, according to a new poll indicating that more than four out of five Cubans surveyed inside the country are unhappy with its direction. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1330443.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1330443.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:52 EST Leading Cuban dissident Martha Beatriz Roque is extremely ill due to complications from her diabetes and a liquids-only fast launched to protest the government, another dissident reported Thursday. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1327702.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1327702.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:52 EST The U.S. State Department has told Cuba it deplores last week's ``assault'' on blogger Yoani Sánchez, one of the toughest of several expressions of support for the Havana writer. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1325230.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1325230.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:00 EST When a dozen Cuban bloggers wanted to stage a protest last month, they simultaneously tweeted, texted and posted messages like ``Freedom.'' <p/> One later used a blond wig to sneak into a government building and complain against censorship of the Internet. And the next day, she posted a video of her complaint on her blog. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1321116.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1321116.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00 EST More than 50 House Democrats sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi supporting current Cuba policy, which embargo-supporters say effectively means that a bill to open Cuba to tourists is dead. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1321125.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1321125.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Famed Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez said Friday she and another blogger were punched and thrown violently into a car by presumed state security agents as they walked to participate in a peaceful march in downtown Havana. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1320034.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1320034.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:52 EST Sixteen Cuban crewmen were stranded Thursday in a backwater African port, with little cash and owed up to 11 months of salary, after their cargo ship began listing with a possibly illegal lumber cargo aboard. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1319270.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1319270.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:00 EST A Miami sports agent sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban prison for trying to help Orlando ``El Duque'' Hernández and other baseball stars defect has been freed and will fly home Friday, his former business partner said. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1344508.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1344508.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:27 EST Caribbean voters living in the tiny island of Dominica will head to the polls on Dec. 18 for general elections, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced during a rally. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1343337.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1343337.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Deep in the heart of Vatican City, Cuban-born Roman Catholic theologian Miguel H. Díaz has managed to find an Italian version of a sandwich that reminds him of home: pan con lechón. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1328780.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1328780.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:55 EST Haiti's new prime minister was inaugurated Wednesday and promised to attract more investment and create jobs, while forging good relations with lawmakers who have ousted two heads of government in as many years. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1327276.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1327276.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:16 EST Lawmakers overwhelmingly gave final approval to Jean-Max Bellerive as Haiti's new prime minister Tuesday, making him the sixth person to hold the post since 2004 in this politically unstable nation. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1325234.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1325234.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Haiti and Guyana are the two countries in the Caribbean that are expected to post positive growth this year, despite a global economic crisis that sent financial shock waves through the region. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1321131.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1321131.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:48 EST The Haitian Senate unanimously approved a longtime technocrat as prime minister Friday, hoping that a man with long ties to Haiti's political power brokers and the international community can lead this nation through its fifth change of cabinets in five years. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1319257.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1319257.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:22 EST ARROYO BARRIL, Dominican Republic -- Maximiliano Calcaño is 2 and was born with no arms.<p/> ``When I was pregnant, I was dizzy, vomiting and could barely walk,'' said Maximiliano's mother, Anajai Calcaño, 20. ``My tooth cracked and fell out. Then my baby was born like that, without arms. Nothing like that had ever happened here before.'' http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1310360.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1310360.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:00 EDT Cillian Twomey is an eminent doctor, a geriatrician in his native Ireland. So what is he doing here, in this bleak, sweltering Haitian border town? http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1309100.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1309100.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:00 EDT When dozens of Haitian leaders mingled at a luncheon fundraiser on a cruise ship docked at the Port of Miami, one topic kept popping up over and over: The imminent dismissal of Prime Minister Miche`le Pierre-Louis. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1309084.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1309084.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:00 EDT Schools opened, public transportation ran as usual and Haitians went about their daily struggle Friday as this Caribbean nation awoke to find that Prime Minister Miche`le Pierre-Louis' year-old government had been toppled overnight. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1307474.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1307474.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:00 EDT Haiti's Senate voted just after midnight Friday to dismiss Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis, following almost 10 hours of debate.<p/> Senate President Kely Bastien, who is not allowed to cast a vote under Senate rules, said a letter will be sent to President René Préval notifying him of the Senate's 18-0 decision. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1305762.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1305762.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:00 EDT As Haiti's lawmakers appeared poised to reject a last-minute plea from Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis to delay Thursday's vote to oust her, the international community appeared resigned to accept her likely dismissal. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1301613.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1301613.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:00 EDT With Haiti poised to enjoy the economic benefits of long-elusive stability, foreign diplomats are scrambling behind the scenes to keep it all from unraveling as several lawmakers demand the ouster of the country's prime minister. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1300026.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/1300026.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:00 EDT Haitian-American and immigrant activists who greeted President Barack Obama's election with high hopes are growing frustrated with the administration's failure to deliver one of their top goals. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1346623.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1346623.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:59 EST President Hugo Chavez is hailing the forthcoming arrival of 300 Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles, and urging civilians to join government-organized militias to be ready to defend Venezuela from a foreign invasion. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1346457.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1346457.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:57 EST Ugandan officials were offended Sunday after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wondered out loud whether Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was truly as brutal as he was reputed to be. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1346213.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1346213.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:00 EST Un grupo de estudiantes opositores al presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, se declaró el sábado en huelga de hambre hasta tanto visite el país una delegación de la Comisión Internacional de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) de la OEA para que constate las supuestas violaciones a los derechos fundamentales. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1346254.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1346254.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:52 EST Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is inviting his mentor Fidel Castro to visit Venezuela during the coming months. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1345693.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1345693.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:27 EST Venezuelan authorities have captured a former Colombian official wanted for collaborating with outlawed right-wing paramilitary fighters. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1344985.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1344985.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:43 EST President Hugo Chavez is praising Carlos the Jackal, the imprisoned Venezuelan once notorious for a series of Cold War-era bombings, assassinations and hostage dramas, saying he was a "revolutionary fighter" and not a terrorist. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1344927.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1344927.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:00 EST El candidato liberal a la presidencia de Colombia, Rafael Pardo, pidió este viernes que se declare la emergencia social en la frontera con Venezuela, a la vez que denunció que la población en la región es hostigada por las autoridades de ese país. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1342608.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1342608.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:16 EST La denuncia internacional que el gobierno colombiano prepara contra Venezuela por la voladura de dos puentes fronterizos es "una nueva provocación'' y una "manipulación más'' de las autoridades del país vecino, declaró el vicepresidente venezolano y ministro de Defensa, Ramón Carrizalez. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1340857.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1340857.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:24 EST El presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, llamó "desgraciado'' al canciller colombiano, Jaime Bermúdez, al criticar el "cinismo'' del gobierno de Bogotá por deplorar que la Unasur no haya emitido ningún comentario sobre el lenguaje belicista de Caracas. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1338941.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1338941.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:24 EST El comercio entre Estados Unidos y Venezuela registró durante los primeros nueve meses del 2009 una caída superior al ... http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1337218.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1337218.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:29 EST A Venezuelan commander contends Colombia wrongly detained four of his soldiers last week along the border separating the South American nations. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1337188.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1337188.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:09 EST Una élite de técnicos y asesores cubanos participan activamente en el control de funciones oficiales clave en el gobierno de Venezuela ... http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1337018.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1337018.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:44 EST Los cuerpos de seguridad locales detuvieron a un italiano y colombiano quienes era solicitados por delitos de tráfico de drogas, informó el lunes el gobierno. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1335140.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/venezuela/story/1335140.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:35 EST El presidente de Venezuela Hugo Chávez condecoró este sábado con la máxima orden nacional a cinco agentes cubanos presos desde hace 11 años en Estados Unidos, convictos por espionaje, pero que Caracas y La Habana consideran "héroes'' condenados ‘‘injustamente''. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1218573.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1218573.html Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:37 EDT Olga Lucía Castillo could never bring to justice the men who raped her in Bogotá when she was pregnant with her daughter. Twelve years later, she is putting up the fight of her life to have a U.S. Army officer and a Mexican-born contractor indicted because, according to her, they raped her daughter at the military base in Melgar. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1139341.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1139341.html Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:19 EDT Ecuador today will begin imposing stiff tariffs on hundreds of Colombian imports, the latest round in a festering dispute between the neighbors. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1072113.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1072113.html Fri, 29 May 2009 15:33 EDT The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the oldest and strongest terrorist group in North or South America, turns 45 this week -- that's 45 years of kidnappings, murders, bombings and drug trafficking. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1057063.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1057063.html Wed, 20 May 2009 08:06 EDT Authorities in neighboring Colombia contend that the Ecuadorean border town of Puerto Nuevo is the thriving nerve center for an elite Colombian rebel unit that helps keep a 44-year-old insurgency alive by trafficking cocaine through Ecuador's ports. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1053707.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/1053707.html Mon, 18 May 2009 07:47 EDT For weeks after the news broke, Colombians knew only that the secret police had spied on Supreme Court judges, opposition politicians, activists and journalists. Suspicions swirled that the orders for the wiretapping, as well as general surveillance, had come from the presidential palace. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/963414.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/963414.html Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:40 EDT What happened in northwestern Colombia more than a decade ago might easily have been forgotten. Illegal militias forced poor black farmers off their land, which politically connected businessmen then seized http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/951779.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/951779.html Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:50 EDT Whether they criticize President Uribe or his opponents, bloggers from Bogotá and other cities employ irreverent humor—borrowing from the British and Argentine traditions—to illustrate Colombia's political tensions. “Behind the liberty that their pseudonyms give them, (the bloggers) loosen the reins of their political passions," the weekly magazine Semana says. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/940780.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/940780.html Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:51 EDT Programs that help former FARC rebels and paramilitary troops reenter society is seen as crucial to the nation's long-term peace. The U.S. is on board, checkbook in hand. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/932061.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/932061.html Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:30 EST The murder of the president and the Army chief on Monday raises questions about the nature of the instability in the African nation. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/920972.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/920972.html Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:32 EST El ex director de Inteligencia del Ejército ecuatoriano Mario Pazmiño confirmó hoy a Efe que informes y fotografías que señalaban la presencia de la estudiante mexicana Lucía Morett en varios campamentos de las FARC el año pasado están documentados en la Dirección de Inteligencia Militar. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/902752.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/902752.html Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:33 EST Aware that law enforcement agencies of poor West African nations are no match for drug cartels using the region as a major transit hub, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the European Commission have launched a program to offer training in operations and intelligence gathering, as well as the chance to network with agents from other countries. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/899217.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/899217.html Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:14 EST Human rights groups Tuesday called on the Colombian government to investigate the disappearance and slayings of members of an indigenous community in southwestern Colombia. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/888265.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/888265.html Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:08 EST The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which has funded its war against the government with drug trafficking and kidnappings for ransom, has released four hostages: three police officers and a soldier. Two more are to be released in coming days, according to a senior rebel leader, as a gesture of goodwill. But the time for gestures is long past. If the FARC's aim is political credibility, it needs to demonstrate a complete rejection of lawless behavior and release the hundreds of other captives it still holds in the jungle. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/862406.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/colombia/story/862406.html Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:20 EST 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. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1142392.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1142392.html Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:20 EDT De facto, interim or congressionally installed -- no matter the qualifier -- Roberto Micheletti is not the president of Honduras. Manuel Zelaya is, and like him or not, the man who was ousted in a military-civilian coup on June 28 should be returned to Tegucigalpa to finish the last months of his term http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1142364.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1142364.html Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:53 EDT In a perfect world former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya would be in jail in his own country right now, awaiting trial. The Honduran attorney general has charged him with deliberately violating Honduran law and the Supreme Court ordered his arrest in Tegucigalpa on June 28. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1139368.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1139368.html Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:31 EDT As the Obama administration and a host of Latin American governments campaigned to reverse the coup in Honduras, another democratically elected Latin leader embarked on a lonely effort to draw attention to the double standard that has lately governed violations of political and human rights in the region. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1134041.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1134041.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:56 EDT The Perils of Latin America's Oversized Militaries http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1134039.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1134039.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:51 EDT The best way to defeat deposed president Manuel Zelaya lies in allowing his return. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1124605.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1124605.html Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:24 EDT A few weeks ago, Normando Hernandez Gonzalez got the kind of news that usually prompts cheers and emotion-filled toasts. The Cuban journalist and poet had been awarded the annual Freedom of Expression award by the Norwegian Writers’ Union. A delegation traveled from Oslo to the island nation to present the award, which included a prize of 100,000 kroner (about $15,775). http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1119210.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1119210.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:08 EDT Bill Clinton and George W. Bush recently had a face-to-face debate in Canada to discuss current affairs. The only Latin American nation mentioned in their conversation? Cuba. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1119208.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1119208.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:04 EDT The Obama administration has made an excellent first step to eliminate some restrictions on travel to Cuba, to loosen constraints on remittances, and to re-engage in migration talks. Positive, multiple lines of engagement are clearly the way forward. Broader contact and leverage with Cuba through additional commercial and people-to-people contacts will in time help promote a more pluralistic, less impoverished, and more open society. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1097153.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1097153.html Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:27 EDT As the Obama administration slowly inches towards normalizing its relations with Cuba, pressure is mounting on the new president to lift the decades-old, and universally acknowledged, anachronistic embargo http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1090542.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1090542.html Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:42 EDT What does Venezuela's Hugo Chavez call a nation that develops peacefully, embraces markets, promotes property rights, pursues free trade and has no use for his revolution? A target. Welcome to Peru. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1090435.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1090435.html Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:03 EDT In all my years as an observer of international affairs, I have seldom seen the Organization of American States (OAS) so energized by a single issue. If only that issue were the humanitarian tragedy of Haiti, or the defense of democracy in those member countries where it is under siege--such as Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1088819.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1088819.html Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:03 EDT In a post-bubble world that vilifies the private sector and elevates government as humanity's best hope, two events in Latin America last week deserve attention. The first was a meeting of the Organization of American States in Honduras. The OAS voted to lift the 1962 ban on Cuba's membership. The second was the 25th anniversary celebration of the Venezuelan, pro-liberty think-tank Cedice Libertad in Caracas. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1087208.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1087208.html Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:01 EDT THE INVITATION to membership extended to Cuba Wednesday by the Organization of American States was long overdue. The United States' effort to continue Cuba's exclusion from the OAS was at best a historical anomaly, at worst a blunder that isolated not Cuba but the United States. http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1081198.html http://www.miamiherald.com/294/story/1081198.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:52 EDT For 50 years, the Cuban people have suffered under Fidel Castro’s, and now Raúl Castro’s, repressive rule. But Washington’s embargo — a cold war anachronism kept alive by Florida politics — has not lessened that suffering and has given the Castros a far-too-convenient excuse to maintain their iron grip on power. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1142483.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1142483.html Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:35 EDT To many poor Hondurans, deposed president Manuel "Mel" Zelaya was a trailblazing ally who scrapped school tuitions, raised the minimum wage and took on big business. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1142398.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1142398.html Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:26 EDT Allen Andersson made a bundle, then made things happen -- for a while -- in Honduras http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1129064.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1129064.html Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:43 EDT Bayonet-wielding soldiers are not the biggest threat to democracy in Latin America, where more than a dozen presidents have been removed prematurely since 1990. In recent years, a crop of elected, authoritarian-minded leaders has packed courts with supporters, held dubious elections and curtailed press freedoms. Legislatures have also pushed the boundaries of democratic order, giving legal cover to "civilian coups" in which protest groups have forced the ouster of presidents. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1128653.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1128653.html Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:11 EDT Honduras' new leadership ignores OAS deadline to restore Manuel Zelaya, and threatens to arrest him if he returns. The coup has brought deep divisions in Honduras to the fore. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1119427.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1119427.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:53 EDT When he was finally caught, Rosalio Reta told detectives here that he had felt a thrill each time he killed. It was like being Superman or James Bond, he said. “I like what I do,” he told the police in a videotaped confession. “I don’t deny it.” http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1101381.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1101381.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:11 EDT Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera has become a narco folk hero, and each year that Mexico is unable to catch "El Chapo" his legend grows. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1099434.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1099434.html Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:45 EDT Remittances sent home by Mexicans in the United States are the second-largest source of legal foreign revenue in the country. Last year, according to the Bank of Mexico, migrants sent home $25 billion. But the remittances have been falling steadily since the end of 2007, when construction, manufacturing and service industries began to sputter. These sectors employ a disproportionate percent of the almost 12 million Mexicans living in the United States, most of them illegally. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1099427.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1099427.html Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:40 EDT Assailants have been targeting addicts in Ciudad Juarez for the past year. In August, eight men were killed and five wounded by unknown attackers as they gathered for prayer at a treatment facility in this border city. Last week, a man was executed at a third rehabilitation center. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1097180.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1097180.html Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:54 EDT Since Mexican President Felipe Calderon sent troops into his home state of Michoacan in 2006 to fight drug traffickers, U.S. and Mexican officials have described a growing free-for-all between warring cartels in the state where 10 mayors were recently detained and are being investigated for alleged ties to drug traffickers. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1097171.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1097171.html Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:45 EDT The reminders of Nuevo Laredo’s violent days still mar its streets — bullet holes and the impacts of grenades where drug traffickers once flaunted their power, boarded-up buildings of merchants who fled the lawlessness, and until they were leveled by the government a few weeks ago, garish roadside shrines to Santa Muerte, the saint of death. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1094019.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1094019.html Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:06 EDT In recent weeks, officials in Venezuela -- where the government controls a media apparatus devoted to glowing coverage of the president -- have appeared increasingly obsessed with Globovision, the 24-hour, all-news station. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1092170.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1092170.html Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:22 EDT Yuri Melini was shot seven times by an assailant nine months ago. The outspoken champion of environmental causes has made many enemies, and gained recognition too. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1090488.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1090488.html Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:36 EDT After declaring independence from the rest of Nicaragua in April, a group of indigenous activists from the Mosquito Coast readied a grand celebration to commemorate the occasion. Their feast would be ruined, however, when the regional government sent in the police to seize the main course. http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1088766.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1320/story/1088766.html Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:54 EDT Cliff divers, all-night discos, towering hotels on the sand — that is one side of Acapulco. But a four-hour gun battle over the weekend between soldiers and suspected drug traffickers made clear that the popular beach resort has a dark side and that no part of Mexico may be completely immune from the continuing drug war. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1346623.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1346623.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:59 EST President Hugo Chavez is hailing the forthcoming arrival of 300 Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles, and urging civilians to join government-organized militias to be ready to defend Venezuela from a foreign invasion. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1346254.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1346254.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:52 EST Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is inviting his mentor Fidel Castro to visit Venezuela during the coming months. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1345693.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1345693.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:27 EST Venezuelan authorities have captured a former Colombian official wanted for collaborating with outlawed right-wing paramilitary fighters. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1345216.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1345216.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:37 EST Famed 101-year-old Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer is reportedly back at work just weeks after surgery for gallstones and an intestinal tumor. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1344985.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/AP/story/1344985.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:42 EST President Hugo Chavez is praising Carlos the Jackal, the imprisoned Venezuelan once notorious for a series of Cold War-era bombings, assassinations and hostage dramas, saying he was a "revolutionary fighter" and not a terrorist.