Latin America News

PANAMA CITY - A jailed U.S. man has admitted killing five other Americans so he could take over their businesses and other properties in a Panamanian resort area, a government prosecutor said Saturday. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY - Mexican federal prosecutors say troops who raided a house of a major kingpin killed in a gunbattle with soldiers found $7 million in cash. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY - Federal police rescued two kidnapped news cameramen in northern Mexico on Saturday, five days after they were seized by drug traffickers in a bid to get their employers to broadcast cartel messages. Full Story »

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia's government says it has never considered attacking Venezuela, saying Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is deceiving his people by claiming Bogota may have such designs. Full Story »

SAO PAULO - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered on Saturday to provide refuge to a woman who has been sentenced to death in Iran following her conviction for committing adultery. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY - Mexico and Chile are formally recognizing the government of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo a year after his predecessor was ousted by a military-backed coup. Full Story »

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaican police detained three of their own on Saturday after a video surfaced allegedly showing them beating and shooting a suspect to death. Full Story »

SAO PAULO - Two years back, Dimas Aliprandi and Elton Plaster didn't know of each other's existence. Then they learned they had been accidentally switched at birth more than 20 years ago. Full Story »

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - As the U.S. military prepares for the first war crimes trial under President Barack Obama, its most high-profile case against the planners of the Sept. 11 attacks is stuck in political and legal limbo. Full Story »

SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile is formally recognizing the government of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo a year after a coup ousted his predecessor. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - Police Saturday rescued two journalists the Pacifico drug cartel had kidnapped days ago to demand television stations broadcast a video linking the Durango state government to a rival drug gang, officials said. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Coast Guard has routinely approved BP requests to use thousands of gallons of toxic chemical a day to break up oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico despite a federal directive that the chemicals be used only rarely on surface waters, congressional investigators said Saturday after examining BP and government documents. Full Story »

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to allow a woman sentenced in Iran to death by stoning to accept an offer of asylum in Brazil, local media reported. Full Story »

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) - Engineers readied a plan to permanently seal the ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well, despite delays to the process caused by debris left behind by a recent tropical storm. Full Story »

BRASILIA (AFP) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula on Saturday offered to give asylum to an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, according to news reports. Full Story »

Mexico City; and São Paulo, Brazil - Three years ago, the abundant "pre-salt" oil reserves found off Brazil's coast epitomized the country's optimism and rise on the world stage. Full Story »

BOGOTA (AFP) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe denied Saturday that he planned to launch a military attack on neighboring Venezuela, denouncing President Hugo Chavez after Caracas ordered troops to the border. Full Story »

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican police raided a drug gang safe house before dawn on Saturday and rescued two television journalists kidnapped by cartel members who demanded networks broadcast their messages. Full Story »