Disc of Chinkultic, 590 CE, Maya ball player, a ruler or elite participant, in ceremonial attire during a ritual ballgame. Framed by hieroglyphic inscriptions that record the event and its participants, this monument reflects the deep political, religious, and cultural significance of the ballgame.

Beautiful and very interesting topographic map of South America.

Nearly three-quarters of Cuba’s hotels have been closed and the island’s tourism sector has been brought to almost total paralysis by U.S. sanctions and fuel shortages, according to the government. www.scmp.com/news/world/a...

Cuba says nearly three-quarters of hotels have shut as travel plunges

Havana details scale of industry collapse for the first time amid severe economic crisis and energy blockade.

scmp.com

Mayan jade discs, a ceremonial headband. At its center a pendant of Chaac, Mayan rain deity, symbol of fertility, water and divine power. Made from imperial jade, it was a mark of the ruling elite and formed part of the ritual attire used in ceremonies of great political and religious significance.

After four years of disagreements, mutual disqualifications and diplomatic decisions, Peru and Mexico show signals of détente. The gestures of the new Peruvian foreign minister Espá, toward Sheinbaum are signs of a solution to the crisis that followed the fall of Castillo. elpais.com/mexico/2026-...

Perú y México se abren a recomponer sus relaciones diplomáticas

Los gestos del nuevo canciller peruano, Carlos Espá, hacia Claudia Sheinbaum alimentan las expectativas de una solución a la crisis que siguió a la caída de Pedro Castillo

elpais.com

The US is negotiating with Uruguay to deport Cuban migrants to the South American country; “Uruguay entered the negotiations partly because it needs immigrant workers, and partly to win favor with the Trump administration. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/u... vi

As Trump Squeezes Cuba, He Plans to Send Cuban Deportees to Uruguay

The State Department under Secretary of State Marco Rubio has deported Cubans to Africa. Now it’s negotiating with a South American country.

nytimes.com

Mayan jade discs, a ceremonial headband. At its center a pendant of Chaac, Mayan rain deity, symbol of fertility, water and divine power. Made from imperial jade, it was a mark of the ruling elite and formed part of the ritual attire used in ceremonies of great political and religious significance.

After four years of disagreements, mutual disqualifications and diplomatic decisions, Peru and Mexico show signals of détente. The gestures of the new Peruvian foreign minister Espá, toward Sheinbaum are signs of a solution to the crisis that followed the fall of Castillo. elpais.com/mexico/2026-...

Perú y México se abren a recomponer sus relaciones diplomáticas

Los gestos del nuevo canciller peruano, Carlos Espá, hacia Claudia Sheinbaum alimentan las expectativas de una solución a la crisis que siguió a la caída de Pedro Castillo

elpais.com

The US is negotiating with Uruguay to deport Cuban migrants to the South American country; “Uruguay entered the negotiations partly because it needs immigrant workers, and partly to win favor with the Trump administration. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/u... vi

As Trump Squeezes Cuba, He Plans to Send Cuban Deportees to Uruguay

The State Department under Secretary of State Marco Rubio has deported Cubans to Africa. Now it’s negotiating with a South American country.

nytimes.com

Political negotiations between Venezuela’s acting government and the political opposition start tomorrow. The talks, aimed at remaking the country’s political system ahead of eventual elections, highlight Washington’s unprecedented influence over Venezuelan politics since the US removed Maduro.

This remarkable Mexica (Aztec) turquoise mosaic skull (c. 1400–1521 CE) was crafted over a real human skull using turquoise, pyrite, and shell. Traditionally linked to Tezcatlipoca. A ritual object symbolizing death, transformation, divine power, and renewal. Masterpiece of Mesoamerican lapidary art

Brazil and South Korea agreed to accelerate talks on a potential trade deal between the Asian nation and the South ‌American bloc Mercosur, their presidents said on Monday during a ceremony in Brasilia. www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

Brazil, South Korea agree to advance talks for Mercosur trade deal

Brazil and South Korea agreed to accelerate talks on a potential ​trade deal between the Asian nation and the South ‌American bloc Mercosur, their presidents said on Monday during a ceremony in Brasil...

reuters.com

For the first time in nearly two decades, a new Pew Research survey shows China is viewed more favorably than the United States in most countries surveyed—but the findings say more about a decline in U.S. soft power than a Chinese surge. www.cfr.org/articles/chi...

China Now Outranks the United States in Global Favorability. What Happened? | Council on Foreign Relations

For the first time in nearly two decades, a new Pew Research survey shows China is viewed more favorably than the United States in most countries surveyed—but the findings say more about a decline in ...

cfr.org

The Jade Mask of Te K'ab Chaak, funerary mask for the first king of Caracol, Belize, 1,700 years ago. Green jadeite from the Motagua Mountains, Guatemala. Jade (yax tun) was more valuable than gold to the Maya. It symbolized life, eternity, and divinity. The red shell represented blood and fertility

Archaeologists find hundreds of ancient glyphs in the Amazon, The geometric earthwork structures, carved into the ground with embankments and ditches, are in some cases more than 2,500 years old, researchers said. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/w...

Archaeologists Find Hundreds of Ancient Glyphs in the Amazon (Gift Article)

The geometric earthwork structures, carved into the ground with embankments and ditches, are in some cases more than 2,500 years old, researchers said.

nytimes.com

Democracy in Latin America: Nicaragua’s Ortega says there will be no more elections; El Salvador’s Bukele seeks to become president for life; Trump stirs up the specter of fraud, just like Colombia’s Petro. Why do the rules of democracy cease to be sacred in the Americas? elpais.com/america/2026...

Los riesgos de la posdemocracia

Ortega anuncia que no habrá más elecciones; Bukele busca convertirse en presidente eterno; Trump agita, otra vez, el fantasma del fraude, lo mismo que Petro. ¿Por qué las reglas de la democracia dejan...

elpais.com

Over 2,800 years old: the Cuicuilco Pyramid, built from 800–600 BCE beneath modern Mexico City, was one of Mesoamerica’s earliest ceremonial centers. Its unique circular design may reflect cosmological beliefs. Buried by the Xitle Volcano eruption in the 1st century BCE, it was remarkably preserved.

Guyana is undergoing the world’s most extraordinary nation-building experiment. Since oil production started in 2019, GDP has multiplied by 6 and billions of dollars started to flow into what was once one of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest and most isolated nations www.bloomberg.com/opinion/feat...

Oil’s Curse Is Hanging Over the World’s Fastest-Growing Economy

Can Guyana outrun the mismanagement and corruption that have afflicted so many other petro-states?

bloomberg.com

Prosperity Index 2026: Uruguay, Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina on the first page (<55). The rest of Latin America on the second page. What is Mexico doing at 85? Top 12 countries: Switzerland🇨🇭🥇 Norway🇳🇴🥈 Ireland🇮🇪🥉 Denmark🇩🇰 Finland🇫🇮 Iceland🇮🇸 Sweden🇸🇪 Germany🇩🇪 Australia🇦🇺 Netherlands🇳🇱 Luxembourg🇱🇺 Belgium🇧🇪

Tomb 116 of Jasau Chan K'awiil I (682–734 CE), discovered in 1963 beneath Temple I at Tikal, Guatemala. The Maya ruler was buried with an extraordinary funerary offering consisting of jade, seashells, and ceremonial vessels.

Lula and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on Sunday night to accelerate negotiations for a trade agreement between China and Mercosur, a striking reversal for Brasilia, which for years led resistance to such a deal in the South American bloc. www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

Brazil turns to China trade deal after Trump tariffs, as years of resistance end

Xi and Lula agree to fast track Mercosur trade talks, endorsing a deal Brasilia fought to bury when Uruguay first proposed it.

scmp.com

How powerful is your passport? Explore the global rankings: a symbol of global inequalities and shifting geopolitical fortunes, some passports offer their holders far more freedom to travel than others. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

How powerful is your passport? Explore the global rankings

A symbol of global inequalities and shifting geopolitical fortunes, some passports offer their holders far more freedom to travel than others

theguardian.com

Maya pyramid of Toniná, Chiapas, 250–900CE. Temples, palaces, plazas, ballcourts and elite tombs, a ceremonial and political centre, featuring terraces, sophisticated water management and richly carved reliefs. I visited Tónina in 1987 and only the top building of the big pyramid was then visible.

Beautiful Italian map of the "Imperio del Messico" in 1781.

As Latin America braces for a likely severe El Niño, the greatest concern may be Central America’s ‘Dry Corridor,’ which includes parts of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua that are especially vulnerable to climate shocks. warontherocks.com/key-areas-wh...

Key Areas Where Water Scarcity Intensifies Risks of Conflict

Water disputes can directly drive conflict, but more often, water scarcity acts as a catalyst — one that, combined with other pressures, raises the risk

warontherocks.com

Space is increasingly an important theater in the rivalry between China and the United States, with both superpowers vying in Latin America for allies and key geography such as the Southern Cone region, whose clear skies are ideal for tracking satellites. www.americasquarterly.org/article/spac...

The Space Race Comes to Latin America

The region wants to be not just a battleground, but a protagonist in the burgeoning space economy.

americasquarterly.org

Looking north, building east: as Chinese investment reshapes Colombia’s infrastructure, the country’s longstanding alliance with the United States enters a new era of strategic balancing. nacla.org/looking-nort...

Looking North, Building East

As Chinese investment reshapes Colombia's infrastructure, the country's longstanding alliance with the United States enters a new era of strategic balancing.

nacla.org

Placeres Facade, Campeche, 400CE. Stucco relief from a temple façade depicting a deified ancestor framed by supernatural masks and attendant deities. In 1968, looters cut the 3.5m facade into 48 pieces and illegally shipped it toward New York for sale. The monument was repatriated to Mexico in 1969

Prickly pears, avocados and lemons: how rainwater harvesting is feeding Mexico City’s gardens and homes: thousands of low-income households in Mexico City are benefiting from a simple system that captures and filters rainfall from the city’s roofs. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Prickly pears, avocados and lemons: how rainwater harvesting is feeding Mexico City’s gardens and homes

Thousands of low-income households are benefiting from a simple system that captures and filters rainfall from the city’s roofs

theguardian.com