January 2013

Former Guatemalan President Ríos Montt, now 86 years old, looked set to live out his life without having to answer for the crimes alleged to have taken place under his command. But on January 28th a Guatemalan court ruled that he should stand trial for genocide and crimes against humanity.

There are few things quite so Colombian as the sombrero vueltiao. The black and white hats, woven from dried cane leaves, and whose name can be loosely translated as “turned hat”, are worn proudly on the Caribbean coast by cowhands, professors, merchants, cumbia dancers, politicians and visiting dignitaries.

Authorities buried the first victims of the Santa Maria nightclub fire this morning, and while Brazil is still in shock over its worst disaster in more than half a century, some are shifting their focus toward the investigation and future prevention.

The cocaine that anti-drug officials say is flooding into Brazil these days comes from neighboring Bolivia, in small planes that make 20-minute flights, in luggage ferried into river ports and in small dugout canoes that make clandestine trips in the middle of the night.