Latin America

• Argentina: Patagonia wildfires bring criticisms of Milei’s austerity policies 5 February 2026
  Wildfires are tearing through Argentina’s Patagonia region, burning vast areas of native forest and threatening irreplaceable ecosystems. More than 450 square kilometres have already been destroyed, including parts of a national park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site home to ancient alerce trees which can live for thousands of years. Thousands…
• Venezuela: over a hundred political prisoners freed 29 January 2026
  More than a hundred people held as political prisoners in Venezuela have been freed, according to the human rights group Foro Penal (FP). Among them were FP lawyer Kennedy Tejeda and communications student Juan Francisco Alvarado. Tejeda, a lawyer and human rights defender, had disappeared after visiting detainees in Carabobo…
• Guatemala: state of emergency after prison riots and ten police killed 22 January 2026
  A wave of coordinated gang violence which left ten police officers dead has prompted the government of Guatemala to declare a thirty-day state of emergency. The attacks began with riots at three prisons, where members of the Barrio 18 gang took guards hostage, and quickly spread to targeted killings of…
• Colombia: another church leader killed in targeted attack 8 January 2026
  A Colombian church leader has been killed in a targeted New Year’s Eve attack, highlighting renewed dangers facing pastors in the country. Pastor José Otoniel Ortega was shot repeatedly by armed attackers while celebrating with his family and later died from his injuries. Members of his congregation described him as…
• Venezuela / USA: Trump’s increasing pressure on Maduro 4 December 2025
  On 21 November, weeks of escalating threats, military posturing, and diplomatic tension culminated not in conflict but in a stark phone call in which Donald Trump reportedly issued Nicolás Maduro an ultimatum: leave Venezuela immediately or face the consequences. This shows that Trump is not easing pressure and may be…