Mexico City residents "ignoring" trash separation rules..

Trash collectors in parts of Mexico City said on 3 January that city residents were slow or reluctant to comply with new trash separation rules meant to ease recycling and reduce the amount of trash sent into the city's dumps. The new rules came into force in 2026. One truck driver told El Sol de Mexico that judging by the unseparated trash he was collecting in the central Doctores district and additional trash illegally left on pavements, nothing had changed. This was in spite of the city's information campaigns to explain the concept of separation. For now, trash collectors had to work extra as garbage trucks were not being let into processing plants (Estaciones de transferencia) with unseparated trash. Sandra Gazca, a spokeswoman for the Vida Circular (Circular Life) information initiative told the daily however that a 2025 study indicated that 52% of city residents did recycle trash. Legislation to enforce separation began in 2004, with a second city law in 2017 to define the concepts of organic, inorganic and recyclable, the daily reported.

Trump reports Nicolás Maduro's arrest..

U.S. President Donald J. Trump wrote online on 3 January that U.S. forces working with U.S. Law Enforcement had captured Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and flown them out of the country, following air strikes carried out before dawn that day on sites in Venezuela. The announcement became an immediate headline on news websites.

United States strikes targets in Venezuela

Venezuela's socialist government accused the United States of bombing Venezuelan territory early on 3 January in bid to topple the regime and nab the country's minerals and oil. The charges followed explosions heard and seen in and around the capital Caracas and other states, some of them evidently relating to military installations. The Reuters news agency and U.S. media cited unnamed U.S. officials as confirming that President Donald J. Trump had ordered the strikes. Colombia's President Gustavo Petro listed on X (Twitter) the sites that may have been struck, also reposting the Venezuelan government's statement denouncing the attack as a colonial-style power grab and bid to force regime change. The government declared a state of emergency even as the U.S. military declared Venezuela's airspace a no-flight zone, Miami's El Nuevo Herald reported. The strikes were part of the Trump administration's policy of squeezing the Venezuelan regime though without officially declaring a goal of regime change. 

Colombian government says it curbed deforestation in 2025

Colombia's government claimed the rate of destruction of its Amazonian rainforest fell 25% in the first nine months of 2025 compared to that period in 2024. The state body monitoring deforestation, IDEAM, noted the removal of some 36,300 hectares (or 363 square kilometres) of forest canopy between January and the end of September, compared to 48,500 hectares the previous year, Bogotá's Radio Santa Fe reported on 31 December. Almost all deforestation in Colombia happens in the departments of Meta, Caquetá, Guaviare and Putumayo, and mainly caused by the expansion of farming, cattle farming or coca cultivation into the rainforest. The report attributed the partial success to a range of initiatives including reforestation programs and collaboration with local communities.

Mexico City gentrification said to have shuttered beloved boutique

One of Mexico City's emblematic shops, established in 1935, was to shut after a sudden rent hike neighbors blamed on "gentrification" and ruthless speculation. The shop, Artículos ingleses (English Articles), was reputed for selling English-style clothing and accessories "not to be found anywhere else in the city," the newspaper La Jornada reported on 31 December. It was located in a busy avenue of the historical district, at the heart of the city's vast tourist economy. Local shopkeeprs told the daily Artículos regularly paid its monthly rent of around 78,000 pesos (well over 3,000 euros) a month, but that a "mafia of brokers" or real estate agents were offering landlords up to four million pesos to change for higher paying tenants that tend to be big brands or retail chains. The capital witnessed protests in July 2025 over the steeply rising cost of home rentals, largely due to tourism and the proliferation of short-term rentals for visitors. 

Christmas killings dropped across Colombia

A "preliminary count" of criminal acts committed across Colombia on Christmas Eve found a 20% drop in killings compared to 2024. Police counted 48 homicides across the country that evening, four of which were femicides (compared to eight in 2024) and eight happening in Bogotá, and observed a 30% drop in domestic violence, Bogotá's City TV reported, citing the national police chief, Hebert Benavides. More than 180,000 policemen and women had been deployed nationwide to boost security, which allowed just over 16,200 interventions to break up drunken incidents, fights or disputes in residential buildings. A little over 5,100 brawls were reported across the land that day. Broadly corroborating the figures, the defence ministry stated that homicides had dropped eight percent year-on-year in December, "or 78 lives saved," Radio Santa Fe reported.

Uber-type services squeezing out Mexico City's taxis..

Mexico City's transportation chief announced on 24 December that the Mexican capital would invest in upgrading its taxi fleet to help it meet the "unfair competition" of ride hailing services like Uber, in time for the the 2026 soccer world cup. The city's Mobility Secretary Héctor García Nieto said at an event to scrap 300 outdated vehicles that the taxi fleet had "more han halved," from 150,000 taxis to 60,000, as drivers no longer found it worth their while to even maintain their cars, La Jornada reported. The city, he said, would offer cash aid to drivers for repairs or to buy electric vehicles, create an application (Taxi CDMX), tighten regulations and security measures for drivers and passengers and replace at least 1,000 existing vehicles. The city's mayoress, Clara Brugada, speaking at the same venue, said "we're going to modernize the technology so city taxis have an application that works and is competitive." She said about 600,000 city residents used taxis every day, with about one million trips made daily.

Conservative declared president-elect in Honduras

The candidate of the conservative National Party of Honduras, Nasry Asfura Zablah, was on 24 December declared winner of the presidential elections held on 30 November, after a prolonged vote count. His rival, the liberal Salvador Nasralla, said he would challenge Asfura's tiny victory margin in the courts, without calling for protests, while the outgoing administration of President Xiomara Castro also voiced doubts about the results. Asfura, formerly mayor of Tegucicalpa from 2014 to 2022, was immediately congratulated by the Trump administration, and soon after by several international actors including eight, conservative-run Latin American states, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the Organization of American States. He was expected, in line with his stated positions, to focus on the economy, government transparency and tackling corruption, CNN reported. Asfura is to take office on 27 January, 2026. 

Worst crimes "fell" in Mexico City's Benito Juárez district

Authorities in Mexico City said "high-impact" crimes like murder or shootings had dropped by 20% overall this year in one sector, the mayoral district of Benito Juárez, thanks in part to better governance. The city's Security Cabinet said criminal killings (homicidios dolosos) had dropped by just over 31% this year in comparison with 2024, firearm injuries had halved and all forms of car theft had fallen by over 25%, El Sol de México reported on 21 Decembre. The district, a generally prosperous part of the city, is divided into five policing sectors (del Valle, Nárvarte-Álamos, Portales, Nativitas and Nápoles). Officials said no murders, house thefts or cash-point and taxi muggings had been reported in the preceding four months in the del Valle, Portales and Nápoles sectors. The mayor of Benito Juárez, Luis Mendoza, said this was the fruit of institutional coordination, working with residents and technology.

Colombian government extends native rule over ancestral lands

The Colombian government decreed the formation of eight self-governing territories in the country's Amazonian regions, to be run in part by native authorities in line with the country's 1991 constitution. These would be the first Indigenous Territorial Entities and enact constitutional provisions on native communities exercising partial control of their ancestral territories, the Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres said in Bogotá on 18 December. There was an historical debt to those communities whose traditional authorities constituted legitimate governments in their own rights, she said. The Colombian state would thus deal with them on a "government to government" basis, and collaborate in safeguarding cultural rights and the rainforest, the public broadcaster RTVC reported. Their powers would encompass administration, planning but also direct receipt and management of funds including foreign aid funds. The government has stressed this was no concession but the enforcement of existing constitutional rights. The government was separately taking steps to legally restore the rights of particular native and Afrocaribbean communities to live in and utilize 294,000 hectares (2,940 square kilometers) of lands from which they had been expelled in past decades, RTVC reported on 22 December.

Man jumps to his death in Mexico City after a row at home

A 42-year-old man reportedly threw himself from the fifth floor of a residential building after a row with his spouse on 19 December, in the Obrera district of Mexico City. The man's stepson told police his stepfather jumped through the window shortly after an altercation with his mother, La Jornada reported.

Bogotá mayor's popularity slumps over "crime and transportation"

A poll from early December showed widespread dissatisfaction with the Bogotá mayor, Carlos Fernando Galán Pachón, in large part due to an increasing sense of insecurity. Galán had an approval rating of 26% as of 5 December, with 62% of Bogotá residents feeling unsafe, which was unprecedented since 2008 according to the poll Bogotá como vamos.  People were also dissatisfied with the Transmilenio bus network, a pioneering system that was nevertheless congested and providing fertile ground for petty crimes like theft and harassment, the public broadcaster reported. A particular source of concern was an apparent increase in brazen street violence, with the city counting 242 deadly brawls this year between 1 January and 30 September, RTVC reported on 18 November.

Colombian president attends coca substitution event, deplores violence

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro Urrego declared on 19 December that 26,000 hectares (260 square kilometres) were "already" in a substitution process to replace coca plants with ordinary crops. Thousands of families had registered with the government's plans to peacefully mobilize communities to replace coca, used in drug production, with honest farming, the public broadcaster RTVC reported him as saying in the district of Roberto Payán. The Trump administration has accused Petro's government of doing little to curb if not conniving with, large-scale drug trafficking toward the United States. Petro said every time a peasant replaced a coca plant with a crop or a tree was a "historic moment" but that substitution must be done alongside local communities, "not against them." He also deplored a recent spike in deadly guerrilla violence. Members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) killed seven soldiers and injured dozens in a surprise attack on a base in Aguachica in northern Colombia on 18 December. On 17 December, other guerrillas termed FARC dissidents subjected the southwestern town of Buenos Aires to shelling for seven hours before being repelled. Petro said the army would immediately buy anti-drone systems as guerrillas were now using drones.

Christmas brings more trash to Mexico City...

The mayoress of Mexico City urged Christmas shoppers to ease up on gift wrapping and curb a seasonal rise of up to 25% in the 8,500 tons of trash the city produces daily. Kickstarting a sustainable Christmas campaign, authorities were setting up over 50 modules in shopping centres around the Mexican capital to provide shoppers with recycled paper to wrap gifts, La Jornada reported on 18 Decembre. "The aim is to be together and have fun, not produce more trash," Clara Brugada said, speaking inside the Reforma 222 shopping and residential complex. The city's chief environmental officer, Julia Álvarez Icasa, said Christmas was an "environmental challenge" for a city with over nine million residents but also an opportunity to offer people "responsible alternatives." Brugada recalled the city's plans to enforce trash separation at home in 2026. 

Woman in Quito evades death after hitmen see her face

A woman appeared to avert assassination in northern Quito on 16 December after a quick check of her face by a suspected gun for hire led to.. no action. Camera footage of the brief incident showed a man getting off a motorcycle as the woman left her home near the Parque Inglés, initially blocking her path, then signalling at someone before riding away. The incident was hailed online as ranging from lucky to miraculous. Police said they were investigating.

Bogotá producing record amounts of trash

The Colombian capital may come to generate well over two million tons of solid trash in 2025, which authorities said was a record. The city was now producing over 6,300 tons of trash every day, exceeding the more than 6,100 tons a day produced in 2024 and around 6,000 tons daily for 2023, El Espectador reported on 14 December, citing the firm running the city's main dump. The city had already generated over 1.92 million tons of trash this year and was expected to beat the 2024 figure of over 2.2 million tons. The figures showed an urgent need for trash management and especially separation, according to the manager of the Doña Juana landfill, Andrea Pérez Cadavid. Observers warned the capital, with a population over over 8.4 million, could face a trash crisis after 11 February 2026, as trash disposal firms' existing contracts end and a "competitive" phase begins in which concessinoary firms could select service sectors and opt for more lucrative parts of the city.

Trump administration to blockade Venezuelan oil

U.S. President Donald J. Trump ordered a "total blockade" of Venezuelan oil exports using "sanctioned oil tankers" on 16 December, further tightening the screws on the already sanctioned regime of the socialist President Nicolás Maduro. Trump accused "the illegitimate Maduro regime" of stealing "oil, land and other assets" belonging to the United States to finance a range of criminal activities, and declared the regime "a foreign terrorist organization." The United States had in recent months undertaken selective strikes on boats identified as drug-trafficking vessels, but the latest decision, which Venezuela denounced as a "grotesque threat," was being seen as intended to topple Maduro. Practically no Western state recognized his controversial reelection in 2024, and the European Union recently prolonged its own sanctions on the regime over its rights violations and suspected hijacking of the 2024 presidential elections.

Chile votes in "arch-conservative" as next president

The conservative José Antonio Kast Rist was elected on 14 December as Chile's next president, winning 58% of votes cast that day against 42% cast for his rival, the "communist moderate" Jeannette Jara. Some media and observers abroad were describing Kast as a right-wing extremist or "arch-conservative," highlighting his putative admiration for the country's military regime of the 1970s. Conservatives and liberals however cheered the result as another sign of the region ditching socialism. Colombia's socialist president, Gustavo Petro, warned, writing on X (Twitter), that "fascism is advancing. I shall never shake the hand of a Nazi or son of a Nazi," prompting a protest note from Chile's outgoing government. Kast, a practising Catholic, is of German ancestry, and vowed after his election to govern for all Chileans. His first trip abroad as president-elect was to Argentina, where he was "effusively" received by his right-wing peer President Javier Milei. "What a triumph... it was glorious," Milei said as he embraced Kast in his office. Kast is to formally take power on 11 March, 2026. 

Bolivia restores ties with Israel, last president held over monies

Bolivia's new centre-right government restored formal diplomatic ties with Israel on 9 December after a two-year break under the country's last, leftist government. In late October 2023, with the socialist Luis Arce as president, Bolivia became one of the first Latin American states to sever ties with Israel in protest at its punitive actions in Gaza, before joining a multilateral lawsuit against Israel in 2024, the Agence France-Presse reported. The renewal of ties was signed in Washington D.C. at a meeting between Bolivia's foreign minister and the Israeli ambassador to the United States. Separately, the former president Arce was detained on 10 December for questioning in relation with the suspected embezzlement of public funds during his presidency or previously, when he was finance minister. Arce has in the past denied involvement in any acts of corruption and exercised his right to be silent, though he remained in police custody after his interrogation, the website Infobae reported.

Bad Bunny concerts to "shower cash" on Mexico City

Mexico City's Trade Chamber said that eight concerts by the Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny would generate over U.S. $170 million's worth of tourist business for Mexico City over December. The concerts, scheduled for between 10 and 21 December, were largely sold out beforehand and expected to bring in more than half a million fans into the Mexican capital, fueling consumption across the hospitality sector. Hotels near the concert venue, the GNP Seguros stadium, were expected to be filled at a 80-90% rate, Spain's El País reported. One of the tourists was Bad Bunny himself, spotted attending a Mexican "free wrestling" match on 9 December.