Latin America News Headlines

A South Florida family is fighting to get their son, a Marine veteran, released from a prison in a dangerous area in Mexico while facing charges that he carried across the border a shotgun with a barrel that's an inch too short.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was recovering in Cuba on Tuesday after an operation targeting an aggressive cancer that has defied multiple treatments and has prompted the socialist leader to name a political successor.

The plane carrying Mexican-American music superstar Jenni Rivera plunged almost vertically from more than 28,000 feet and hit the ground in a nose-dive at a speed that may have exceeded 600 miles per hour, Mexico's top transportation official said Tuesday.

A lawyer for John McAfee said Tuesday that a judge has ordered the software company founder released from a Guatemalan detention center where he has been fighting being returned to Belize.

Doctors in Cuba operated on Venezuelan President Hugo for cancer on Tuesday, his government said, after the illness reappeared despite a year and a half of surgeries and treatments.

Mexico's top transportation official says a plane carrying Mexican-American music superstar Jenni Rivera plunged almost vertically from more than 28,000 feet and hit the ground in a nose-dive at more than 600 miles an hour.

The leader of the Cayman Islands' government was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of theft, abuse of office and breach of trust in the famed Caribbean tax haven.

Rice, beans, pork — and lots of it. That's a typical restaurant meal in Cuba, widely regarded by travelers as a culinary wasteland where the variety and quality of raw ingredients leave much to be desired.

Doctors began operating on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Cuba on Tuesday, his government said, after his cancer reappeared despite a year and a half of surgeries and treatments.

Venezuelan government says Hugo Chavez's cancer operation under way.

The clock is ticking down to Dec. 21, the supposed end of the Mayan calendar, and from China to California to Mexico, thousands are getting ready for what they think is going to be a fateful day.

Mexican authorities were performing DNA tests Tuesday on remains believed to belong to Mexican-American music superstar Jenni Rivera and six other people killed when her plane went down in northern Mexico.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was preparing to undergo a new cancer surgery on Tuesday in Cuba, his government said, after his illness reappeared despite a year and a half of surgeries and treatments.

Taboo-breaking Uruguay is poised to legalize gay marriage, with lawmakers debating Tuesday whether to create a single law governing marriage for heterosexuals and homosexuals. It also would let couples, gay or straight, decide whose surname goes first when they name their children.

Cuba formally authorized the creation of the first non-agricultural cooperatives on Tuesday, a measure expected to permit the growth of midsize businesses as part of President Raul Castro's plan to open the economy to some liberalization.

Venezuela's government says President Hugo Chavez is going through "pre-operative" steps for cancer surgery in Cuba.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is undergoing cancer surgery in Cuba, Ecuador's president said Tuesday.

Susana Trimarco was a housewife who fussed over her family and paid scant attention to the news until her daughter left for a doctor's appointment and never came back.

Tearful fans set up candlelight shrines and memorials to Jenni Rivera from California to Mexico, as investigators said it would take days to piece together the wreckage of the plane carrying the Mexican-American music superstar and find out why it went down.

Newly elected President Enrique Pena Nieto says he will continue combatting all illegal drug production and trafficking in Mexico, including marijuana, despite its legalization in two U.S. states and liberalized use for medical purposes in others.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto says he'll mount a "real fight" against production and trafficking of marijuana, despite its legalization in two U.S. states.

It is an unlikely tale: Orthodox Jew from New York City comes to Bolivia to rescue a rice-growing venture, gets thrown in jail on suspicion of money laundering and, aided by actor Sean Penn, winds up triggering perhaps the biggest scandal yet for the country's president.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's cancer relapse and his sudden announcement that he will undergo a fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba have thrown the country's future into question, and his designated political heir has begun trying to fill the void.