34 h. ago Brutal, vibrant and creative: capturing the soul of Latin America in 100 photographs

The journalist Paulo Antonio Paranaguá uses images from the turbulent continent to weave a history of the region, covering colonisation, slavery and dictatorshipIts tumultuous past, marked by massacres, slavery, violent domination, coups d’état, revolutions and uprisings, often overshadows another narrative of Latin America: that of a vibrant, culturally rich region where art, creativity and solidarity hold a central place in society.Throughout its post-Columbian history – the period after Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas in 1492 – Latin America has grappled with the tension between subjugation to colonial and imperial powers, resistance and the pursuit of independence. Continue reading...

Culture

35 h. ago Trump’s other Latin American feud: why Colombia’s Petro is not Maduro

Leftwing leader rallies his supporters as US president accuses him of drug trafficking and threatens military actionA leftwing South American firebrand calls for his followers to rally in public squares nationwide to defend his country’s sovereignty and decry verbal attacks from Donald Trump. The US president accuses the leader of personally flooding American streets with illegal drugs and imposes sanctions against him and his wife. Threats of military action are followed by a phone conversation between the two leaders.One might imagine that this is a description of the buildup of tensions that led to the 3 January special forces raid on Caracas to capture the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, to face several criminal charges in New York. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Venezuela to release a 'significant number' of prisoners as gesture to 'seek peace'

Venezuela plans to release a "significant number" of prisoners, both Venezuelan and foreign, according to the head of the national assembly

Events

5 d. ago Trump wants to increase the military’s budget by 50% to a stunning $1.5 trillion

The unprecedented funding request comes as the president has pursued military action across Latin America and is threatening to take over Greenland

Events

5 d. ago Trump demands massive increase to defense spending budget in what he calls ‘very troubled and dangerous times’

The unprecedented funding request comes as the president has pursued military action across Latin America and is threatening to take over Greenland

Events

6 d. ago British jets join hunt for rogue Venezuelan tanker which can carry £37million worth of oil in the Atlantic

In dramatic Cold War-esque scenes, the Typhoons were thrust into action as Britain was drawn into America's controversial campaign against the Latin American state.

Economics

7 d. ago Photos show celebrations of Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day

Christians are celebrating the feast day of Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day. It recalls the visit of the three kings, or magi, to the baby Jesus. Orthodox Christians focus on the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. In Europe, some worshippers bathe in icy lakes and rivers. Ceremonies this year in Greece highlighted water scarcity concerns. Children in Latin America traditionally unwrap holiday gifts.

Culture

8 d. ago 'Come get me': Colombia's President taunts Trump and says he'll be waiting to see him 'face

Gustavo Petro did not mince his words as tensions in Latin America surged, daring the former US president to come after him amid growing threats of American military intervention in the region.

Politics

8 d. ago Dense, sticky and heavy: why Venezuelan crude oil appeals to US refineries

South American nation’s tar-like oil is what many Gulf coast facilities were built for but ramping up production to 3m barrels a day will be a long gameClustered along the US Gulf coast are some of the largest and most complex heavy-oil refineries in the world. These sprawling industrial hubs, owned by major US oil companies, stand ready to emerge as some of the major victors of Donald Trump’s swoop on Venezuela.In some ways, these refineries are a relic of another time; built to process the heavy, unctuous crude imported from Latin America before the boom in lighter US shale oil emerged earlier this century. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Fireworks dazzled Rio's sky, and more top photos this week in Latin America and the Caribbean

Dec. 26 – Jan. 2, 2025

Events

2 w. ago The Guardian view on the new Monroe doctrine: Trump’s forceful approach to the western hemisphere comes at a cost | Editorial

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today, how US foreign policy has dramatically – and alarmingly – turned towards Latin America and the CaribbeanDonald Trump is not generally noted as a student of history. Yet over the past year, his decisive reorientation of US foreign policy towards the Americas has revived a playbook dating back two centuries, to the fifth president, James Monroe. Now the 47th is doubling down. An anti-interventionist is having second thoughts. Remarks that sounded at first like bad jokes or random outbursts from the presidential id have become more sinister through repetition or accompanying actions. Only a fool would take all of Mr Trump’s comments literally – but they should certainly be taken seriously.He has refused to rule out using military force to take control of Greenland and repeatedly floated the idea of making Canada the 51st state. He threatened to seize the Panama canal. He has imposed swing...

Politics

2 w. ago Christmas in Venezuela, polleras and more top photos this week in Latin America and the Caribbean

Dec. 19–25, 2025

Culture

3 w. ago Bolivian Indigenous women carry history and pride in the traditional 'pollera' skirt

The “pollera,” a bell skirt with layered petticoats, is the traditional dress of Indigenous women in Bolivia’s highlands

Politics

3 w. ago ‘Gunboat diplomacy on steroids’: US signs security deals across Latin America

Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro warns Trump administration may ‘destabilise the entire region’ amid rising tensionsWhile all eyes are on the four-month-long US military campaign against Venezuela, the White House has been quietly striking security agreements with other countries to deploy US troops across Latin America and the Caribbean.As Donald Trump announced a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers and ordered the seizure of vessels amid airstrikes that have killed more than 100 people in the Caribbean and the Pacific, the US secured military deals with Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago in the past week alone. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Ecuadorian court hands down max sentences to 11 soldiers in case of 4 disappeared minors

A court in Ecuador has sentenced eleven soldiers to 34 years in prison for the abduction and torture of four children last year

Events

3 w. ago Reward countries that toe the line, punish those that don’t: that’s how Trump is exerting control in Latin America | Jordana Timerman

His interference in the region has been aided by the collapse of the leftist forces that once pushed back against US imperialismFor the past generation, Latin America has been a place of unstable stability. Marked on the surface by protests, political pendulum swings and spectacular scandals, most of the region has, since the democratisation of the 1980s and 1990s, remained firmly democratic and free of war between states. Though scarred by the violence of armed groups and increasingly powerful criminal organisations, it has, by and large, lived up to its self-assumed moniker of a “zone of peace”.Which is why this year has felt so jarring. Throughout 2025, the first year of Donald Trump’s second term, analysts have obsessively parsed potential US military incursions into a hemisphere once defined by its unified defence of national sovereignty. But the fixation on whether Washington’s escalating pressure on Nicolás Maduro presages a physical military invasion of Venezuela has distrac...

Politics

4 w. ago Chile’s conservative landslide gives Trump new Latin America ally

José Antonio Kast’s victory in presidential election adds to a growing network of Maga ‘equivalents’ in the region

Politics