Latin America

Gustavo Ocando Reporting for BBC Mundo from Maracaibo, Venezuela Gustavo Ocando Mervin Yamarte says his tattoos led to him being mistaken in the US for a gang member and deported to El Salvador “We lived through hell,” says 29-year-old Mervin Yamarte as he steps into his mother’s home, wiping away …

Human remains found near an archaeological site in the Guatemalan jungle are thought to be those of a US birdwatcher who was reported missing almost two and a half years ago, local officials say. A lilac shirt, sandals and shorts which match those worn by Raymond Vincent Ashcroft the day …

de Menezes family Jean Charles de Menezes was mistaken for a terror suspect 20 years ago A vigil is to be held for a man shot dead by police on the Tube 20 years ago after he was mistaken for a suicide bomber. Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was …

Police in Ecuador say nine people shot dead by gunmen in a pool hall on Saturday were “collateral victims” and not the intended targets of a premeditated attack. Preliminary investigations suggest the gunmen were chasing two men on a motorcycle in the town of Playas on Saturday. When one tried …

BBC Raquel Celina Rodriguez watches her step as she walks across the Vega de Tilopozo in Chile’s Atacama salt flats. It’s a wetland, known for its groundwater springs, but the plain is now dry and cracked with holes she explains were once pools. “Before, the Vega was all green,” she …

A court has ordered Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro to wear an ankle tag and put him under curfew over fears he might abscond while standing trial. He governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022 and is accused of plotting a coup to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from …

The US has started building a new ‘secondary’ wall at its southwestern border with Mexico to reinforce an existing steel fence that divides the two countries. The approximately 7 mile (11km) wall is being constructed in the state of New Mexico and is part of a plan to close ‘critical’ …

Cuban Minister for Labour and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó-Cabrera, has been forced to resign from her post after she made comments in a parliamentary session which denied the existence of beggars on the Communist-run island. The minister had said there was no such thing as “beggars” in Cuba and …

Vanessa Buschschlüter BBC News Reuters Javier Milei and his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, have been at loggerheads Argentine President Javier Milei and his vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, have engaged in a bitter public war of words over plans to increase pensions. Milei shared posts on X in which his running mate had …

Vanessa Buschschlüter BBC News Reuters Adriana Metz (left) had spent decades searching for her missing brother A man who was forcibly taken from his captive mother as a newborn during Argentina’s military rule and raised by strangers has been identified after 48 years, thanks to a DNA test. The man’s …

Colombian police have arrested the alleged mastermind of the assassination attempt against a presidential hopeful during a rally last month. Miguel Uribe, a conservative senator, was twice shot in the head in the capital, Bogotá, as he was campaigning for his party’s nomination in the 2026 presidential election. Police arrested …

The president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, has issued a decree doubling her salary despite having a historically low approval rating of only 2%. She will now be paid more than 35,500 soles ($10,000; £7,300) per month. Peru’s economy minister said the president’s salary had been increased to match those of …

Tim Dodd Climate and science reporter Getty Images Record low water levels in the Amazon basin disrupted drinking water for thousands of people From Somalia to mainland Europe, the past two years have seen some of the most ravaging droughts in recorded history, made worse by climate change, according to …

Vanessa Buschschlüter BBC News Courtesy of CSW The eight had been reported missing in April The bodies of eight Colombian religious and social leaders who had been reported missing in April have been found in a shallow grave in Guaviare province, in south-central Colombia. The prosecutor’s office blamed members of …

Omar Garcia Harfuch Thirty-two people have been arrested in an operation targeting one of the main criminal organisations responsible for fuel theft in central Mexico, authorities said. The gang stole fuel by drilling into pipelines and then storing it in warehouses, according to the security and civilian protection secretary. Omar …

US President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum which will impose tighter restrictions on Cuba. The move is aimed at reversing some of the measures introduced by the Biden administration which eased US pressure on the Communist-run country. The White House said it would enforce an existing ban on American …

Vanessa Buschschlüter Latin America editor, BBC News Online Reuters Hugo Carvajal was once one of the most powerful and feared officials in Venezuela Venezuela’s former head of military intelligence, Hugo Carvajal – also known as “El Pollo”, or The Chicken – has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges …

“The club will remain closed today as a sign of mourning. “We join his family, friends, and team-mates in this difficult time and remain at their disposal for anything they may need.” The Argentine Football Association said: “The Argentine Football Association, through its president Claudio Tapia and executive committee, expresses …

A court in Costa Rica has ordered the release of 200 migrants deported from the US. Rights groups say the group – from countries including Afghanistan, China, Ghana, India and Vietnam – had been taken to a shelter they were not allowed to leave unsupervised. Immigration officials have been given …

Fifty-seven soldiers who had been held captive by locals in the mountains of Colombia since the weekend have been freed in a military operation, the Colombian defence minister has said. The minister, Pedro Sánchez, said that not a single shot had been fired in what he dubbed “Operation Justice”. The …