It’s been four years since Mexican President Felipe Calderón began a concerted effort to curb drug-related violence across Mexico, deploying 50,000 federal troops charged with dismantling the country’s drug cartels and drug transportation networks. Much to the chagrin of Calderón, his government’s escalation was met head-on by the cartels, resulting in a 60 percent increase in... 

Venezuela says its oil reserves surpass Saudi Arabia's. Venezuela has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world leader in oil reserves with certified deposits leaping to 297 billion barrels at the end of 2010, President Hugo Chavez’s government said Saturday. Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez told Reuters that the new reserves, which pushed the total 41 percent higher than the previous year, were... 

Drug-related violence over the weekend claimed 51 lives across Mexico, including 15 decapitations in the beach resort of Acapulco, authorities reported. The beheadings, mutilations, drive-by shootings and summary executions were carried out in southeastern Guerrero and northern Chihuahua states, as well as in the Mexican capital, despite the government’s five-year, 50,000-troop crackdown on... 

An aerial view shows damage caused to a street after heavy rains in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, on Wednesday. Floods and landslides devastated towns in a mountainous area near Rio de Janeiro, killing hundreds of people. At least 335 people have been killed and the death toll is likely to rise after heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Driving rains sent tons of rusty red... 

This video is in Spanish but it is worth the watch even if you can’t understand Spanish. Neighbors were able to capture a massive UFO above the city of Lima in Peru. According to the report, an expert assured that the images are a real phenomenon. The news anchor suggests there is no explanation for the sighting. It is not a helicopter or Superman. It is considered the first major sighting of... 

Argentina to record UFO sightings. Argentina’s Air Force has said it has received many reports of sightings by pilots and radar of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) that are a ‘potential threat to national air security’. The Air Force said often combat planes have reported following strange objects in the skies above Argentina. Even the local media have reported that dozens of photos... 

Hugo Chavez had vowed Larry Palmer would not be US ambassador Washington has revoked the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador to the US, the US state department has said. The move comes amid a diplomatic dispute between the two countries over President Barack Obama’s choice of ambassador to Caracas, Larry Palmer. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had been angered by comments Mr Palmer made about... 

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa is seen in Quito on October 2010. Ecuador formally recognized Palestine as an independent state on Friday, following the lead of its neighbors Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay earlier this month. Ecuador formally recognized Palestine as an independent state on Friday, following the lead of its neighbors Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay earlier this... 

Soldiers patrolling the streets in Alta Verapaz north of Guatemala City. Guatemala has declared a state of siege in a northern province that authorities claim has been overtaken by Mexican drug traffickers. The government initiated the monthlong measure in the Alta Verapaz province to reclaim cities that have been taken over by the Zetas drug gang, Ronaldo Robles, a spokesman for Alvaro Colom, the... 

Tension flared between the US and Venezuela over Washington’s nominee for ambassador on Saturday. President Hugo Chavez warned the diplomat would be detained and put on the next flight home if he sets foot in the country. For months Mr Chavez warned that President Obama’s nominee, Larry Palmer, would not be welcome due to critical remarks he made about Venezuela’s government. During... 

Russia delivered at least 1,800 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009, U.N. arms control data show, despite vigorous U.S. efforts to stop President Hugo Chavez’s stridently anti-American government from acquiring the weapons. The United States feared that the missiles could be funneled to Marxist guerrillas fighting Colombia’s pro-American government or Mexican drug... 

Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil, based on western information sources, according to an article in the German daily, Die Welt, of November 25, 2010. According to the article, an agreement between the two countries was signed during the last visit o Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Tehran on October19, 2010. The previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment... 

A survey to determine the number of unidentified corpses found by authorities in Colombia has returned a count of 10,084 so far, with more than half of the country’s municipalities yet to report their figures, reports El Espectador. The survey, which is being conducted by the Justice and Peace tribunal with the Prosecutor General’s Office, was distributed in July to mayor’s offices... 

Dilma Rousseff was once one of most Brazil's most wanted fugitives, branded by some as a "subversive Joan of Arc." Dilma Rousseff, who was elected as Brazil’s first female president on Sunday, once told reporters that as a typical Brazilian girl in the 1950s she dreamed of becoming a ballerina. But as the 1960s saw the emergence of a brutal military regime in her country, she had... 

Forensic workers stood by the body of a woman lying next to a passenger bus in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Thursday. During its nearly four-year crackdown on major drug trafficking organizations, the Mexican government has repeated the mantra that most of the nearly 30,000 people killed have some association with the illicit trade. But in the span of a week, a devastating...