politics

From a young age, Tania Bruguera, 46, won international acclaim as an irreverent, barrier-breaking performance artist. She smeared the floor with pig's blood to make a point about sexual assault. She stripped naked and ate dirt in tribute to Cuba's vanished indigenous tribes. During one performance in Colombia, she circulated trays of cocaine — real cocaine — among the audience, inviting viewers to try it. They did.

After a two-year wait, Costa Rica will finally have a new U.S. ambassador. Stafford Fitzgerald Haney has been confirmed as the 58th U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica just in time to celebrate the Fourth of July with expats here.

This Sunday, Hondurans will mark the 6th anniversary of a military coup that catapulted the Central American nation into becoming the region’s murder capital – with targeted killings of journalists, political activists and labor leaders rising to unprecedented levels. One of the alleged orchestrators of that coup, Miguel Facussé Barjum, died late this past Monday night of causes not yet disclosed.

"Today is a victory for hard-working Americans all across this country," Obama said in the White House Rose Garden, eschewing overt political gloating despite a victory that cements his signature domestic policy achievement.

We will be live streaming the 2015 Latin American Cities Conference: San José, brought to you by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. The conference, "Costa Rica: A New Investment Opportunity," takes place Thursday, June 25, 2015 at the Costa Rica Marriott Hotel, starting at 8:30 a.m.

GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina said Thursday the corruption investigation against him is unfounded, and he vowed to fight the possible lifting of his presidential immunity.

GUATEMALA CITY – In the wake of two major corruption scandals that have led to seven consecutive weeks of anti-corruption demonstrations, a new poll in the run-up to general elections in September shows right-wing populist Manuel Baldizón still leading. But his popularity has stagnated due to a widespread perception that his administration is likely to be as corrupt as that of current President Otto Pérez Molina’s.

PANAMA CITY – A former Panamanian government official was arrested Thursday night over suspected corruption, the latest ex-minister to be nabbed in a widening graft probe into the administration of ex-President Ricardo Martinelli.

MEXICO CITY – Mexicans vote Sunday in midterm elections after one of the rockiest campaigns in recent years, with candidates murdered and rebel teachers burning ballots in efforts to block the polls.

PANAMA CITY – Panama's former Vice President Felipe Virzi has been arrested for alleged money laundering, adding to a lengthening list of former associates of ex-President Ricardo Martinelli jailed on corruption charges.