New York Times: LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian court on Thursday sentenced former army officers and soldiers to prison for killing dozens of peasants in an Andean village 31 years ago during the height of a conflict between the government and Shining Path rebels. In the 1985 massacre in the town of Accomarca, 71 villagers were killed, including 23 children…. Read more »
BBC: A US commercial flight has arrived in Cuba for the first time in more than half a century. JetBlue Flight 387 had 150 passengers, including US transport secretary Anthony Foxx. The plane took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at 09:45 EDT (13:45 GMT) and landed in Santa Clara in central Cuba about an hour later. The flight marks the latest… Read more »
BBC: Hundreds of thousands of people have marched through the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, to protest against President Nicolas Maduro. Opposition supporters, staging their largest rally for two years, called for Mr Maduro’s removal. They blame him for Venezuela’s economic crisis and accuse the electoral commission of delaying a referendum that could shorten his stay in power. Mr Maduro’s supporters also rallied in… Read more »
Reuters: Bolivia responded to last week’s murder of a government official by announcing a crackdown on mining cooperatives on Thursday, saying it would return contracts signed between them and private companies to state control. The beaten body of Deputy Interior Minister Rodolfo Illanes was found by the side of the road last week, hours after he had approached mining protesters… Read more »
BBC: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the Senate’s decision to dismiss her after an impeachment trial. More than two-thirds of the Senate voted on Wednesday to remove Ms Rousseff from office for illegally manipulating the budget two years ago. Hours after the vote her vice-president, Michel Temer, was sworn in. Ms Rousseff… Read more »
(BBC) A US cruise ship has docked in the Cuban capital, Havana, after sailing from Florida – the first such crossing in more than 50 years. The Adonia sailed from the port of Miami carrying some 700 passengers. Cuba and the US restored diplomatic relations last year. But several Cold War-era restrictions on travelling and trading are yet to be… Read more »