Category: Americas

Iranian Warships Arriving in the Americas is Bigger than Boats, Analysts Say

Iran appears to be making good on its claim to put warships in the Panama Canal before the end of 2023, but analysts say that’s just the beginning. Last week, Brazil permitted two Iranian warships to moor off Rio de Janeiro’s famous beaches. The event occurred between Feb. 26 and March 4, causing a stir…


Mexican Police Arrest Suspect in Connection With Kidnapping, Murder of Americans

Mexican police have arrested a suspect in connection with the kidnapping of four U.S. citizens in Matamoros last week, officials said. Mexico’s Secretary for Security and Citizen Protection Rosa Icela Rodriguez Velazquez identified the suspect as Jose Guadalupe, 24, at a press conference, according to local reports. Guadalupe had reportedly been guarding the house where kidnapped…


State Department Warns Americans About Traveling After Kidnapping of 4 US Citizens

The U.S. Consulate in a Mexican border city issued an alert about violence and warned American citizens not to travel there after two Americans were killed by criminals and two more were abducted. After the reported kidnapping, the U.S. State Department issued an alert about violence in Matamoros and reminded U.S. citizens that this part of…


Florida-Bound Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Bird Strike Causes Fire

According to officials, a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Florida was forced to return to Cuba on Sunday due to a bird strike reportedly causing an engine to catch fire, filling the cabin with smoke. The air carrier confirmed in a statement that 147 passengers and six crew members were safely evacuated from the plane…


2 Americans Violently Kidnapped in Mexico Found Dead, 2 Alive

Mexico’s president said Tuesday that two of the four U.S. citizens who were assaulted and kidnapped in Mexico have been found dead, while the other two have been found alive. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that one of the individuals who was found alive had been injured in last week’s violent abduction. Tamaulipas…


Mexico Finds 343 Migrants in Abandoned Truck Trailer

Mexican authorities have found 343 migrants, including 103 unaccompanied minors, in an abandoned freight truck container on the side of a highway, the authorities said Monday. The National Immigration Institute said the trailer was found Sunday night in the steamy Gulf coast state of Veracruz. It was on a route often used by smugglers to…


Hostages Taken by Anti-Oil Firm Protesters in Colombia Are Freed

BOGOTA—A group of 88 police officers and employees of oil firm Emerald Energy taken hostage in Colombia amid a deadly protest against the company have been freed, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Friday. On Thursday, a police officer and a civilian were killed during the violent protest in Caqueta province. Rural and indigenous protesters also…


4 Americans Missing in Mexico After Being Held at Gunpoint in Alleged Kidnapping, FBI Says

Four American citizens who crossed from Texas into Mexico were held at gunpoint and possibly kidnapped, FBI officials announced, adding that a Mexican national was killed in the same incident. In a statement issued by FBI Special Agent Ken Salazar, “unknown assailants” in the northeastern Mexican city of Matamoros in Tamaulipas state “violently kidnapped at…


4 Americans Missing in Mexico After Being Held at Gunpoint, Kidnapped, FBI Says

Four American citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas are missing after being assaulted and kidnapped by unidentified gunmen, FBI officials said on March 5, adding that a Mexican national was killed in the same incident. “Unknown assailants” in the northeastern Mexican city of Matamoros in Tamaulipas state “violently kidnapped at gunpoint four U.S. citizens in…


4 Americans Missing, Feared Kidnapped in Matamoros, Mexico

MEXICO CITY—Four U.S. citizens have been kidnapped after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the northern Mexico border city of Matamoros, the FBI said Sunday. The four had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday. They were traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. The FBI San Antonio Division office…