Prison officials have begun transferring the ringleaders behind a deadly fight at Altamira jail in north-eastern Brazil. Fifty-eight inmates were killed when members of a criminal gang known as Comando Classe A (CCA) attacked rivals from the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) gang. The number of dead rose from 57 to 58 after a further body […]

Police investigating rape allegations against Brazilian football player Neymar say they have closed the case. The São Paulo attorney general’s office said the case was suspended due to a lack of evidence, but will be sent to prosecutors for a final decision. The investigation was opened after Brazilian model Najila Trindade alleged the footballer attacked […]

Thousands of people have gathered across Colombia to celebrate Egan Bernal’s certain victory in the Tour de France. Bernal, 22, will be the first Colombian to win the race and the youngest to be crowned in 110 years. In his hometown of Zipaquira, hundreds came to the “Plaza of Hope” to watch the final stage […]

El Salvador’s government has warned people against risking their lives to reach the US after a man and his baby daughter drowned in the Rio Grande. Photos of their bodies, found face down in shallow water with the 23-month-old girl’s arm around her father’s neck, have sparked condemnation. “I hate it,” US President Donald Trump […]

Growing discontent in Venezuela, fuelled by hyperinflation, power cuts and food and medicine shortages, has led to a political crisis. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó has declared himself interim president following large protests, galvanising opponents of current socialist President Nicolás Maduro. At least 40 people are believed to have died since 21 January and the UN […]

The people of Masaya say rebellion runs in their blood. But there is no-one in the Nicaraguan city of whom that is more true than Father Edwin Román. “Sandino was my grandmother’s brother, my great-uncle,” says the priest of Nicaragua’s revolutionary hero and rebel leader, Augusto César Sandino. Few can boast such a direct familial […]

Hundreds of people have been killed in Nicaragua since 18 April in what has become a popular uprising against the Central American country’s president, Daniel Ortega, and his government. BBC News takes a closer look at how the crisis unfolded. How did it all start? The crisis started rather unexpectedly when pro-government groups violently crushed […]

After extradition request, US authorities arrest Toledo, who faces corruption charges in Peru. Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, who faces corruption charges in his home country, was arrested in the United States following an extradition request, US and Peruvian authorities said on Tuesday. The US Marshals Service arrested Toledo and he appeared before US Magistrate […]

The Trump administration has announced a new rule to curb Central American asylum claims in the US. The measures say migrants must apply for asylum in the first country they pass through en route to the US or they will be ineligible for consideration. The plan goes into effect on Tuesday 16 July, having been […]

Shoppers in Brazil found they had unwittingly bought cocaine when they opened soap powder they had purchased at a supermarket in Sao Paulo. At least 80kg (176lb) of the drug was found in the store in the Ermelino Matarazzo district, police said. Tweeting a picture of the cocaine packages, police said they were “cleaning the […]