Latin America

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Mayan Capital City Has Been Hiding 'in Plain Sight'

Valeriana in southern Mexico reportedly features 6,764 buildings over 6.5 square miles

(Newser) - A presumed capital city of the Maya has been discovered "hidden in plain sight" under vegetation in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The hidden complex—showing evidence of pyramids, amphitheaters, sports fields, and causeways connecting districts—is made up of three sites in the southeastern state of Campeche, per...

US Inks Deal to Help Panama Control 'Shocking' Migration

New Panama president says he'll shut down Darien Gap route; US will pay migrant repatriation costs

(Newser) - Hundreds of thousands of people cross the Darien Gap each year, a perilous 66-mile stretch of jungle connecting the South American country of Colombia and the Central American country of Panama—many of them on their way to the United States. Now, Panama's new leader is vowing to shutter...

Now There's a 2nd Balloon, per Pentagon

This one, also said to be from China, is floating somewhere over Latin America, according to DOD

(Newser) - As a suspected Chinese spy balloon continues to make its way east above the United States, a second balloon has been spotted. On Friday, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder noted that the new balloon, also believed to be a Chinese "surveillance" device, is currently "transiting Latin America,...

Organization Counts Toll in Fight Over Environment

An activist has been killed every 2 days over the past decade, Global Witness says

(Newser) - An international organization has counted the number of people who have been slain over the past 10 years while trying to keep mining, drilling for oil, or logging from taking place on their lands: 1,700. That's an average of one activist killed every two days, Global Witness says....

Frida Kahlo's Legend Grows With Record Auction Sale

'Diego and I' self-portrait sets $34.9M record for Latin American artist

(Newser) - A self-portrait of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, also featuring her husband, has become the most valuable work by a Latin American artist ever to sell at auction. Kahlo's "Diego and I"—a close-up of the artist's face with a miniature portrait of her husband, Mexican muralist...

It's a Historic Day in Argentina
It's a Historic Day in Argentina
Dec 30, 2020 7:21 AM CST

It's a Historic Day in Argentina

Senate approves bill legalizing abortion until up to 14 weeks of pregnancy

(Newser) - As of Tuesday, abortion was illegal in Argentina except in cases of rape or where the health of the woman was at risk. A person seeking an abortion in the Catholic-majority country for any other reason could've face up to 15 years in jail. But that changed early Wednesday....

Pandemic Reaches 'The End of the World'

Argentina now has 1M cases as disease spreads to remote areas

(Newser) - At the edge of Argentina in a city known as "The End of the World," many thought they might be spared from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. Sitting far from the South American nation's bustling capital, health workers in Ushuaia were initially able to contain a...

Bad News on the Virus Front for Latin America

COVID-19 is setting records for cases and deaths, especially in Brazil and Mexico

(Newser) - A surging coronavirus is ravaging parts of Latin America, setting records for cases and deaths Friday in some countries in the world's most unequal region, even as the pandemic's march slows in much of Europe, Asia, and the US. Latin America's two largest nations—Mexico and Brazil—...

Roughly 33K Americans Still Can't Get Home

A traveler in Peru says his case 'was comical at first, I was laughing'

(Newser) - Some 33,000 Americans are still struggling to get back home amid the growing coronavirus pandemic, NBC News reports. Some 15,440 have already returned, but so many are stuck abroad that some are just planning to stay until the pandemic is over. "In some places, people have decided...

Venezuelan Leader Gets Into Shoving Match

Juan Guaidó is stopped from entering congress, tries to climb the fence

(Newser) - Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó was violently blocked Sunday from presiding over a special session of congress where rivals tried to install a substitute in what was condemned as a hijacking of the country's last democratic institution, the AP reports. As a scuffle broke out with security forces in...

Trump Cancels First Trip to Latin America

President will remain in US to focus on Syrian response

(Newser) - President Trump will skip an upcoming summit in South America to focus on the US response to a chemical attack in Syria. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Tuesday that Trump will not attend the Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, nor travel to Bogota,...

The Hidden Business Opportunities of the 'Sweet 15'
The Big Bucks to Be
Made in the Quinceanera
LONGFORM
Aug 18, 2017 7:46 PM CDT

The Big Bucks to Be Made in the Quinceanera

Vendors are cashing in on this Latino rite of passage

(Newser) - A trade show geared specifically toward 14-year-olds and their parents, replete with landmark-themed cakes, elaborate floral centerpieces, makeup tutorials, and runway exhibits showing off lavish gowns? Chavie Lieber's story for Racked documents the big business of selling for the quinceanera, a Latino rite of passage that celebrates a young...

Out of Castro's Revolution, the 'Boom' Was Born

Fidel's success inspired Garcia Marquez, a generation of influential writers

(Newser) - When Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba in 1959, the reverberations of his revolution caused a somewhat unlikely consequence: An explosion of literature never before seen in Latin America, and only rarely seen elsewhere, of such quantity and quality that it was labeled "the boom." “It’s...

CDC: To Dodge Zika, Get Altitude

Areas above 6.5K feet are likely safe for pregnant women

(Newser) - Pregnant women need not avoid Zika-infested countries—if they stay a mile above sea level. Updated travel notices from the CDC note areas with elevations above 6,500 feet, including Mexico City, are considered safe for pregnant women because mosquitoes are "predicted to be largely absent," report the...

US Judge Holds Argentina in Contempt of Court

Country's lawyers call finding 'completely absurd'

(Newser) - A New York judge has found Argentina in contempt of court for its open defiance of his orders regarding US hedge funds that hold Argentina bonds. Judge Thomas Griesa made the finding today at a Manhattan hearing. He reserved decision on sanctions pending further proceedings. Lawyers for the US hedge...

'Kissing Bug' Disease Prompts Growing Concern in US

300K likely have Chagas disease, little-known in the US

(Newser) - Some 8 million people have Chagas disease, a life-threatening illness passed to humans by "kissing bugs," or triatomines, living in Latin America. In the US, few people know about the disease—but the CDC figures that some 300,000 people may be infected here. In countries like Bolivia,...

Uruguay Prez: It's Time to Stop Wearing Suits

He rants against formal attire at regional conference

(Newser) - War! Imperialism! Racism! Formal attire! One after another, the leaders of Latin America denounced the ills of the world at a regional summit in Cuba yesterday. It fell to famously casual Jose Mujica, the Uruguayan president, to tackle a subtler evil plaguing humankind: the business suit. "We have to...

Fungus Threatens Most Common Banana

If it spreads to Latin America, the Cavendish might be doomed

(Newser) - Banana fans, meet your enemy: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.cubense, but you can call it Foc for short. It's a banana-killing fungus present in Asia and Australia and more recently in Mozambique and Jordan. If it spreads to Latin America—which accounts for about 80% of banana exports—supermarket...

New Trend in Latin America: Exhuming the Dead

Often, investigators want to see if political leaders were murdered

(Newser) - Lately, Latin America is really into ... exhuming political and intellectual leaders. As the New York Times explains it, the region has always been more inclined toward exhumation than the rest of the world, a custom that could date back to the early days of Christianity, when saints' body parts were...

Pope Scolds Bishops: Go Outside Your Churches

You've got to get out and meet the needy, he says in Brazil

(Newser) - Pope Francis delivered a simple simple message to Latin American bishops in Brazil today—if you're going to help the needy and keep people from straying from the church, you've got to get outside and actually meet them:
  • "We cannot keep ourselves shut up in parishes, in
...

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