South America news

Authorities in Medellin, Colombia have used 180 detonators to demolish a six-floor apartment building that notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar and his family have once called home.

Brazil and several other South American states have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country's interim president, following the lead of the US, Canada, and the EU. Mexico, Uruguay, and Bolivia declined.

A private pilot in Argentina made what appears to be the worst-advised prank ever when he set his walkie-talkie frequency to that used by the airport control tower and started giving instructions to an airliner.

The Venezuelan foreign minister has denounced a US coup bid against the Latin American nation, after reports of US officials holding numerous secret talks with rebel officers who planned to topple the government.

A series of powerful earthquakes has struck the South American east coast, with Panama, Chile and Ecuador all suffering jolts of between 5.6 and 6.2 magnitude within less than an hour of each other.

A new study has found that global gun deaths have passed 250,000 per year, with the US and five other countries in the Americas making up half the total fatalities. Its writers call it “a major public health problem for humanity.”