Americas: News and Reviews from The New York Times

Here is the latest news on the Americas from The New York Times.

Editorial: America’s Role in Argentina’s Dirty War
It is time for the United States to come clean about what it knew and condoned during Argentina’s last dictatorship.

World Briefing: Honduras: Activist’s Colleague Is Killed
Gunmen killed Nelson García, a colleague of the environmentalist leader Berta Cáceres, who was slain almost two weeks ago under similar circumstances.

Ex-President ‘Lula’ Joins Brazil’s Cabinet, Gaining Legal Shield
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will become President Dilma Rousseff’s chief of staff, a position that may offer him increased legal protections.

World Briefing: Canada: Man Charged in Attack at Recruiting Center
A Canadian man was charged with seven offenses after he injured two soldiers with a knife at a military recruiting center in northern Toronto.

A Province’s Rocky Symbol Collapses Into Rubble
The tides that helped carve Elephant Rock, a natural stone formation in New Brunswick, Canada, out of the shoreline also played a role in its destruction.

Ex-President ‘Lula’ Could Avoid Prison by Joining Brazilian Cabinet
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, facing possible arrest in a graft inquiry, is reported to be a candidate for a post that would legally protect him.

White House Eases More Restrictions on Travel to Cuba
The moves are the latest in a string of actions before President Obama’s trip to the island next week.

Op-Ed Contributor: Why Brazil’s Corruption Scandal Is a Sign of Progress
For the sake of her country’s democracy, President Rousseff needs to resist the temptation to interfere in the graft investigation.

World Briefing: Venezuela: 4 Bodies Found in Case of 21 Gold Miners Missing in Jungle
Investigators have found the remains of four people presumed to be gold miners missing more than a week in Venezuela’s southern jungle.

Rising Anger in Brazil Spills Into Streets
Demonstrators called for the removal of President Dilma Rousseff amid an economic crisis and corruption scandals.

Culture Gap Impedes U.S. Business Efforts for Trade With Cuba
As President Obama prepares to visit Cuba this month, the lack of trade with the former foe threatens to sap momentum from the process of building relations.

Op-Ed Contributor: Murdered for Activism in Honduras
In a country known to be deadly for rights advocates, my aunt stood up for the environment and her indigenous kin.

Judge Declines to Reopen Case Against Ex-President Kirchner of Argentina
A complaint filed by a prosecutor who later died in mysterious circumstances accused the former president of derailing an inquiry into a 1994 bombing.

White House Welcomes Canada’s First Family
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the first official visit to the White House by a Canadian leader in 19 years.

Justin Trudeau’s White House Dinner Has the Air of a Family Reunion
The state dinner for Canada’s prime minister included celebrity guests born in his country, such as Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Oh, Michael J. Fox and Mike Myers.

Chile Halts Inquiry on American Who Disappeared 30 Years Ago
A judge closed a case against retired police and military officers accused of abducting Boris Weisfeiler, who vanished in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship, a mystery that may never be solved.

Chile Halts Inquiry on American Who Disappeared 31 Years Ago
A judge closed a case against retired police and military officers accused of abducting Boris Weisfeiler, who vanished in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship, a mystery that may never be solved.

Brazil Prosecutors Seek Arrest of ‘Lula,’ Former President, in Graft Case
Mr. da Silva is by far the biggest figure to be ensnared in sweeping investigations that have rattled almost every level of government.

Obama and Justin Trudeau of Canada Unveil Efforts to Fight Climate Change
The two leaders announced commitments to reduce planet-warming emissions of methane and pledged cooperation in preserving the Arctic.

Capiatá Journal: The Dream of Treasure Keeps Paraguayans Digging
Tales of gold buried more than a century ago, however dubious, entrance hunters of all persuasions while the government endeavors to protect cultural artifacts.

Zika Vaccine Still Years Away, W.H.O. Says
Despite efforts to speed up development, a vaccine to combat the virus may come too late for the current outbreak in Latin America and the Caribbean, health experts said.

World Briefing: Peru: Candidate Barred From Race
Peru’s electoral council on Wednesday blocked the candidacy of the main challenger to the front-runner, Keiko Fujimori, in the April 10 presidential elections.

Brazil Adjusts Guidelines for Diagnosing Defect Linked to Zika
Officials adopted stricter guidelines to determine when babies have been born with abnormally small heads, a step expected to reduce the number of false positives for microcephaly.

Ex-President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Faces Charges
The specific charges filed on Wednesday were unclear, but they were connected to claims of money laundering and misrepresentation of assets involving a luxury apartment.

After Living Brazil’s Dream, Family Confronts Microcephaly and Economic Crisis
In the wake of the Zika epidemic, hundreds of families in northeastern Brazil are facing the prospect of raising a disabled child in poverty.

Brazilian Businessman Gets Stiff Sentence in Petrobras Scandal
Marcelo Odebrecht got more than 19 years in prison after being convicted of corruption and money laundering in the investigation of the state-owned oil company.

World Briefing: Canada: Government Raises Its Target for Admitting Political Refugees
The government said Tuesday that Canada would bring in a total of 55,800 political refugees this year, many of them fleeing the Syrian civil war.

World Briefing: Brazil: Former C.E.O. Is Sentenced to 19 Years in Corruption Inquiry
Marcelo Odebrecht, the former chief executive of Brazil’s largest construction company, was convicted of corruption and money laundering.

Editorial: Migrant Children Deserve a Voice in Court
Children who fled to the United States from Central America must have fair hearings before deportation.

World Briefing: Venezuela: Relatives Fear a Massacre After 28 Gold Miners Disappear
Relatives of the missing miners have said that they were murdered Friday in a dispute over a gold claim.

Mexico’s Leader Likens Donald Trump’s Tone to Hitler and Mussolini’s
President Enrique Peña Nieto also said that his country would not pay for Mr. Trump’s proposed wall along the border with the United States.

Brewing Anger in Nicaragua
President Daniel Ortega has consolidated his power and helped the economy grow, but opposition from rebels reflects a rising backlash to his policies.

Ortega vs. the Contras: Nicaragua Endures an ’80s Revival
Violent opposition from small groups of rebels reflects broader anger brewing against President Daniel Ortega as he has consolidated his power.

Venezuela Opens Investigation Into Possible Killing of Miners
Family members of 28 missing miners have said that their relatives were murdered in a dispute over a gold claim.

White House Letter: White House and Cuba Maneuver Over Obama’s Visit
An elaborate behind-the-scenes effort aims to ensure that the president’s historic visit yields both powerful symbolism and concrete policy progress.

Feature: 10 Shots Across the Border
The killing of a Mexican 16-year-old raises troubling questions about the United States Border Patrol.

Men in Police Garb Kill 10 in Honduras
Five men arrived in a vehicle at a billiards hall in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and shot and killed at least eight people, and injured others, two of who later died.

U.S. Pays to Feed and Shelter Cuban Migrants in Costa Rica
The aid to Cuban migrants has raised questions about their special status compared with Washington’s efforts to bar Central American migrants.

Snapshot of Brazil’s Web of Scandal
A raid at the home of the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the latest development in the country’s political and economic turmoil.

Police Raid Home of Ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil
The former leader is under investigation in the colossal graft scheme involving the national oil company Petrobras.

World Briefing: Venezuela: Opposition Hones Plan to Remove the President This Year
The opposition will pursue a constitutional amendment, a recall referendum and a campaign for the resignation of President Nicolás Maduro, an opposition leader said.

Brazil’s President Rousseff, Facing Impeachment Effort, Is Deluged by More Bad News
With Brazil’s economy tumbling and her campaign strategist jailed, President Dilma Rousseff now confronts a report that a senator from her party will accuse her in a plea deal.

Berta Cáceres, Indigenous Activist, Is Killed in Honduras
Ms. Cáceres, a winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize, had led a decade-long fight against a proposal to build the Agua Zarca Dam.

In Mexico City, Comedians Punish Society’s Scofflaws With Humiliation
Meet the Supercívicos, comedians who embarrass the bad actors of Mexican society with their humor and then put videos of the shaming on social media.

Op-Ed Contributor: Obama’s Long Game for Cubans’ Rights
The gamble: Coercing the Castro government hasn’t worked. Engaging it will produce more freedom and openness in the end.

Court Hears Suit Against U.N. on Haiti Cholera Outbreak
A legal battle by Haitian cholera epidemic victims to hold the United Nations accountable reached its highest level in an American court on Tuesday.

A Chilean Ex-Soldier Guiltily Recalls His Unit’s Atrocities
Guillermo Padilla says he was part of a commando unit in 1973 that tortured and executed suspected opponents of General Augusto Pinochet.

Toronto Journal: In Toronto, a Neighborhood in Despair Transforms Into a Model of Inclusion
An ambitious plan for the 69-acre Regent Park neighborhood is disrupting entrenched notions of class, race and religion, at a time when concerns over income inequality and immigration are growing.

Monarch Butterfly Migration Rebounds, Easing Some Fears
Monarch butterflies, which fly each year to Mexico from Canada and the United States, covered about 10 acres this winter, an area more than three times as large as last year.

A Bolivian Town’s Emergence Under Evo Morales
Residents of Cobija, which has prospered under President Morales, expect his leftist policies to survive his political departure.

Bolivian Town Drifts from President, Despite Promises Kept to Leftists
Residents of Cobija, which has prospered under President Evo Morales, expect his left-wing policies to continue even though he was denied the chance to seek another term.

World Briefing: Cuba: Some Dissidents Will Be Allowed a Single Trip Overseas, an Activist Says
Officials contacted half a dozen former prisoners, who were incarcerated during a 2003 crackdown on dissidents, and told them that they could make one trip abroad.

A New Ruling on Marijuana in Canada
A Federal Court decision that prescription holders could grow their own supply for medical purposes adds to the confusion over the drug’s legal status.

Bolivian President Concedes Defeat in Term-Limit Referendum
The measure would have allowed President Evo Morales to run for a fourth term, but it lost narrowly in a vote held Sunday.

Ramón Castro, Brother to Cuban Revolutionaries, Dies at 91
Mr. Castro, a rancher and the elder brother of Fidel and Raúl, took a smaller role in the country’s Communist revolution and government.

Bolivia’s President, Evo Morales, Faces Setback in Bid for Fourth Term
An official tally, with 97 percent of the ballots counted, showed that voters had rejected a bid by President Evo Morales to seek a fourth term.

World Briefing: Canada: Students Stabbed at School
A high school student is in custody after eight people were stabbed at a school east of Toronto.

World Briefing: Brazil: 7 Charged Over Dam Disaster
The president of the Samarco mining company and six other people have been charged with aggravated homicide over the deaths of at least 17 people after a dam burst in November.

Fernando Cardenal, Nicaraguan Priest Who Defied Pope, Dies at 82
Steeped in a movement committed to a Marxist agenda of promoting social justice and easing poverty, Father Cardenal joined the revolutionary Sandinista cabinet.

Polls Show Bolivian Leader Losing Vote, but He Sees Tie
President Evo Morales said that exit polls indicating failure for a referendum to allow him to run again in fact showed a statistical tie as a final count continued.

Consultant to Politicians in Brazil Faces Arrest
João Santana, a campaign strategist for the nation’s last two presidents, has been accused in the widening Petrobras corruption scandal.

Bolivia to Vote on Term Limits Amid Growing Doubts About Its President
The popularity of Evo Morales, a left-wing leader whose years in office have coincided with wider prosperity, has slipped with the referendum’s approach.

In Zika Epidemic, a Warning on Climate Change
In the coming decades, global warming is likely to increase the range and speed the life cycle of the particular mosquitoes carrying viruses like Zika.

W.H.O. Advises Caution, but Not a Halt, in Blood Collection in Zika-Affected Areas
With the virus rapidly spreading throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, it may be “logistically impossible” to import blood for all of the region, officials say.

Contributing Op-Ed Writer: Will Democracy Follow Capitalism Into Cuba?
President Obama will encounter a different, more enterprising country in his visit next month. But freedom remains a distant goal.

Price of Gas Skyrockets in Venezuela (to 38 Cents a Gallon)
While the price, about 10 cents per liter, is still far below world rates, for drivers here it is an essential shift from paying basically nothing.

Francis Says Contraception Can Be Used to Slow Zika
The pope’s remarks stirred up divisions in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church in South America about whether birth control should be widely allowed.

Pope Francis Suggests Donald Trump Is ‘Not Christian’
The pope, inserting himself into the presidential race, pointed to the harshness of Mr. Trump’s campaign promises to deport more immigrants.

Kingston Journal: Ontario Farmers Fight to Send a Herd of Ex-Cons Back to the Pen
Livestock owners, locals and a few celebrities have spent over five years trying to reopen the farm at the Collins Bay Institution, a prison complex.

Obama Going to Cuba; First Visit by U.S. President in 88 Years
The visit as part of an effort to end more than a half-century of estrangement and forge normalized relations with a Cold War adversary.

World Briefing: Colombia: Chief of Police Steps Down
The chief, Gen. Rodolfo Palomino, resigned Wednesday amid accusations of illegal enrichment and sexual misconduct with young cadets.

World Briefing: Bolivia: Demonstrators Set Deadly Fire
Six city workers died and 28 people were injured in a protest after a march by residents demanding better schools and more teachers.

Pope’s Presence Crosses Border Into U.S., Even if He Doesn’t
In Mexico, Ciudad Juárez was naturally consumed with the visit by Pope Francis on Wednesday. But across the border, El Paso was equally swept up.

Argentina Battles Major Outbreak of Dengue as Mosquito Population Swells
The authorities and experts said two provinces were especially hard hit by dengue, and that the outbreak — the worst in seven years — had not yet peaked.

Pope Francis Wades Into U.S. Immigration Morass With Border Trip
The Times will be blogging about the moment Francis steps to the edge of the border at Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

Pope Francis Entreats Mexico’s Youth to Resist Call of Drug Cartels
Francis delivered a searing indictment of the Mexican underworld, urging the nation’s youth to value themselves and resist the temptation to join forces with groups “that sow terror.”

Conspiracy Theories About Zika Spread Along With the Virus
Rumors have replicated through social media and word of mouth, frustrating Brazilian officials as they grapple with a mysterious pathogen.

Pact on U.S.-Cuba Flights Reopens Battle for Seized Property
American law prohibits profiting from holdings confiscated from its citizens, and the exiled heir to the Havana airport hopes to stake a legal claim.

At Mass, Pope Francis Embraces ‘Misunderstood’ of Mexico
Francis invoked the harsh treatment endured by indigenous people and called for social justice.

Op-Ed Contributor: An Anti-Corruption Charade in Honduras
Instead of backing toothless investigations, the U.S. should use its financial leverage against political graft in Central America.

Zika Virus in Colombia Presents Complicated Choice About Abortion
The illness appeared in the country too recently for most pregnant women who contracted it to determine the risk of birth defects.

The Cowboy Pilgrims of Mexico
More 3,000 people made this year’s three-day journey to a mountaintop statue of Jesus, keeping alive a tradition that began more than 60 years ago.

Silao Journal: Pilgrimage in Mexico Keeps a Cowboy Tradition Alive
More 3,000 people made this year’s three-day journey to a mountaintop statue of Jesus, hoping to find redemption, a promise of rain or just a connection to the past.

In Mexican Slum, Pope Francis Laments Economic Gap
By coming to Ecatepec, one of the country’s largest, poorest and most violent cities, the pope placed himself at the center of Mexico’s identity crisis.

Provisional President Elected in Haiti
Jocelerme Privert, the country’s Senate leader, will lead a caretaker government to fill the void left by last week’s departure of President Michel Martelly.

Brazil Pushes Public to Do Its Part in Fighting Zika Spread
Soldiers distributed fliers that told residents how to reduce the breeding grounds for Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits Zika and other ills.

Lives: A Terrible, Happy Accident in Rio
A series of unfortunate events ends with an upside.

Venezuela’s Justices Support More Power for the President
After the Supreme Court approved expanded economic powers for President Nicolás Maduro, the speaker of the National Assembly said a coup had taken place.

Anxiety Rises in Mexico as the Peso Tumbles
The Mexican currency has fallen more than 30 percent against the dollar over the past year, and past collapses have led to deep recessions.

U.S. Plans to Resume Commercial Flights to Cuba This Year
An agreement to be completed next week will allow American carriers to offer 20 flights per day to Havana and dozens more to other Cuban cities.

Falling Asleep to Grenades: Mexicans Tell Pope How They Live
Before Pope Francis’s arrival in Mexico, we asked readers there to tell us what he should know about their lives. We received more than 500 responses on Facebook.

Pope and Russian Orthodox Leader Meet in Historic Step
As the pope approached the Russian patriarch, Francis was overheard to say, “Brother.” A moment later, he added, “Finally.”

Catholic Leaders Say Zika Doesn’t Change Ban on Contraception
After a period of saying little, bishops in Latin America are beginning to speak up and reassert the church’s opposition to birth control and abortion.

Cuba Returns Inert Hellfire Missile to U.S.
The weapon was a training missile that was inadvertently sent from Europe, where it was used in NATO training.

Francis Admonishes Bishops in Mexico to ‘Begin Anew’
Speaking at Mexico City’s majestic Metropolitan Cathedral, the pope spared no criticism as he painted an almost biblical picture of a church seduced by power and money.

Francis’s Visit to Mexico Comes as Country Struggles With Many Ills
The government is hoping for a credibility boost from the pope’s visit, but his itinerary also poses a risk by highlighting some of the state’s most obvious failings.

52 Killed in Mexican Prison Amid Riot and Fire
Inmates were believed to have set a blaze in a yard as part of an escape attempt at the prison in Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo León.

Santa Ana Zegache Journal: Oaxaca’s Native Maize Embraced by Top Chefs in U.S. and Europe
Mexico’s traditional corn was fading away, but it is now being bought in bulk to satisfy the appetites of fine diners.

World Briefing: Canada: Another Human Foot Washes Ashore
The foot was found by a hiker on Vancouver Island’s Botanical Beach and was the 13th to wash up on British Columbia’s shoreline since 2007.