Latin America

President Donald Trump railed against communism, socialism and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but Caracas' diplomat spent the speech reading about revolutionary Simón Bolívar.

"Russia has become our most important pillar of support in various areas," Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said.

"Limiting the temperature increase during the 21st century will help to avoid it," an expert told Newsweek.

"Russia and Venezuela reject any form of interventionism," said Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, whose boss recently confirmed he was "looking for all means of dialogue" with the U.S.

The latest sweeping U.S. sanctions on Venezuela target Chinese and Russian businesses, but Beijing and Moscow argued they would continue supporting the socialist leader opposed by Washington.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the U.S. blockade on Cuba "unacceptable" and "unlawful economic coercion."

Brazil is refusing to refuel two Iranian ships for fear of being hit with President Donald Trump's sanctions as the U.S. and Iran vie for influence in Latin America.

The U.S. and Iran are engaged in sky-high tensions in the Persian Gulf and they also back opposing sides in Venezuela's political crisis.

The head of U.S. Southern Command called for the "right, focused and consistent military presence" to tackle Russia, China and Iran in Latin America.

"The disease was imported to Honduras in 1972 from Asia, and is now present across Latin America and the Caribbean," Daniel Bebber told Newsweek.

"You have seen the Maduros around the world who just cling to their power, no matter how they treated their own people. And it's just time for him to go," said Kellyanne Conway.

The group of 12 politicians asked Donald Trump to use Washington's influence within the Organization of American States to prevent Bolivian President Evo Morales from running for another term.

The vice president said that President Donald Trump is considering "a broad range of options."

Russian troops will remain in the country "as long as they need it, and as long as the Venezuelan government needs them," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters.

"I believe in an inclusive foreign policy—one that centers on human rights, justice and peace as the pillars of America's engagement in the world, one that brings our troops home and truly makes military action a last resort," Representative Ilhan Omar wrote.

Senator Marco Rubio denied being behind the massive blackout in Venezuela, where President Nicolás Maduro vowed to defeat "American imperialism" trying to overthrow him.

"I believe the extremist sector of the white supremacists of the Ku Klux Klan is in charge of the United States," Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claimed.

The Trump administration has officially recognized the Venezuelan National Assembly as the legitimate democratic government of the South American country.

Though U.S. relations with Latin America "were not perfect" under the Obama years, the former vice president argued that U.S. allies and trading partners in the hemisphere have faced a "torrent of antagonism" from President Donald Trump.

"We are looking at cooperation where we can and pushing back aggressively where we must," General David Goldfein said.

"These tyrants fancy themselves strongmen and revolutionaries, icon and luminaries," Bolton said in his speech.

"Had a very good conversation with the newly elected President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who won his race by a substantial margin," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Right-wing Social Liberal Party hopeful Jair Bolsonaro and former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad of the left-leaning Workers Party offer different solutions to Brazil's economic woes. But who will prevail?

About 3.7 million Venezuelans were undernourished in 2017.

Many Venezuelans have complained that it has become increasingly difficult to obtain passports and official documents, such as marriage and birth certificates, as their country sinks further into an economic crisis.

In April, a gang of pirates attacked four Guyanese fishing boats.

Murders in Mexico by warring cartels reached a record high last year.

Maduro called for elections early this year, despite widespread rejection from several countries in the Western Hemisphere.

The group used the messaging app WhatsApp to plan a terrorist attack in Brazil for Carnival.

Four survivors swam to shore and told authorities in Suriname the story of the attack, which the president of Guyana has called a "massacre."