AP Week in Pictures: Latin America and Caribbean

May 2-8, 2025

Congregants attended an Indigenous blessing ceremony for Communion wafers in Chiapas state, Mexico. Fans packed the shore of Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro to attend a free Lady Gaga concert. Mexican bullfighter Diego Silveti smiled at fans after a bullfight in Aguascalientes, Mexico. People searched for recyclable items in trash bins in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published in the past week by The Associated Press from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The selection was curated by AP photographer Ariana Cubillos, based in Caracas, Venezuela.

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A child wearing a Darth Vader mask attends an exhibition called "Expo Yoda" in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, May 3, 2025, on the eve of May 4th, known as Star Wars Day, when fans of the franchise get to greet others with "May the Fourth be with you" in a nod to the classic movie line, "May the force be with you. (AP Photo/Matias Basualdo)

Fans pack the shore of Copacabana beach to watch Lady Gaga's free concert in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Medical staff operate on a woman at a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders in the Tabarre neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Quinceañeras ride in limousine as part of their celebration, in Bogota, Colombia, Friday, May 2, 2025. The Sueños Hechos Foundation, led by a former police officer, is hosting a quinceañera celebration on Friday for 24 disadvantaged teen girls. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

A woman, who only gave her first name as Ana, takes a picture as she visits a parish named after the Peruvian saint, Santo Tomas de Porres, the day Cardinal Robert Prevost was announced as Pope Leo XIV, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Revelers take part in the Devils and Congos Festival in Portobelo, Panama, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Mexican bullfighter Diego Silveti smiles at fans in the bullring after a bullfight in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A woman with her face painted in the colors of the Brazilian flag attends a rally in support of a proposed bill to grant amnesty to those arrested for storming government buildings in an alleged coup attempt in 2023, in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Congregants attend an Indigenous blessing ceremony for Communion wafers that will be taken to a priest to be consecrated before they can be given out, in the Simojovel municipality, Mexico, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The death toll from nationwide protests in Iran spiked Tuesday to at least 2,000 people killed, activists said, even as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications during a crackdown.

The number of dead, as reported by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, dwarfs that in any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. These demonstrations, which began in anger over Iran's ailing economy, soon targeted the theocracy, particularly 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The toll may put increased pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump to act after he warned Iran he might intervene militarily to protect peaceful demonstrators. Iran's foreign minister has signaled that communication remains open with Washington, but acknowledged the gaps between the nations remain vast.

The activist group said 1,847 of the dead over more than two weeks of protests were protesters and 135 were government-affiliated. Another nine children were killed, and nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests also were killed. It said over 16,700 people had been detained.

With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government hasn’t offered overall casualty figures.

Iranians' calls gave a glimpse of life after being cut off from the outside world Thursday night.

Witnesses described a heavy security presence in central Tehran, burned-out government buildings, smashed ATMs and few passersby. Meanwhile, people remain concerned about what comes next, including the possibility of strikes after Trump said he could possibly use the military to defend peaceful protesters. Trump also has said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington.

“My customers talk about Trump’s reaction while wondering if he plans a military strike against the Islamic Republic,” said shopkeeper Mahmoud, who gave only his first name out of concerns for his safety. “I don’t expect Trump or any other foreign country cares about the interests of Iranians.”

Reza, a taxi driver who also gave just his first name, said protests remain on many people's minds. “People — particularly young ones — are hopeless but they talk about continuing the protests,” he said.

Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press on Tuesday morning and speak to a journalist there. The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. The witnesses said text messaging still was down and that internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad.

Anti-riot police officers, wearing helmets and body armor, carried batons, shields, shotguns and tear gas launchers, according to the witnesses. Police stood watch at major intersections. Nearby, the witnesses saw members of the Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force, who similarly carried firearms and batons. Security officials in plainclothes were visible in public spaces as well.

Several banks and government offices were burned during the unrest, they said. Banks struggled to complete transactions without the internet, the witnesses added.

However, shops were open, though there was little foot traffic in the capital. Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where the demonstrations began Dec. 28, was to open Tuesday. However, a witness described speaking to multiple shopkeepers who said the security forces ordered them to reopen no matter what. Iranian state media had not acknowledged that order.

The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

It also appeared that security service personnel were searching for Starlink terminals as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in their homes and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.

On the streets, people also could be seen challenging plainclothes security officials, who were stopping passersby at random.

State television also read a statement about mortuary and morgue services being free — a signal some likely charged high fees for the release of bodies amid the crackdown.

Khamenei, in a statement carried by state TV, praised the tens of thousands who took part in pro-government demonstrations nationwide on Monday.

“This was a warning to American politicians to stop their deceit and not rely on traitorous mercenaries,” he said. “The Iranian nation is strong and powerful and aware of the enemy.”

State TV on Monday aired chants from the crowd, which appeared in the tens of thousands, of “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Others cried out, “Death to the enemies of God!” Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to the Qatar-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera in an interview aired Monday night, said he continued to communicate with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

The communication “continued before and after the protests and are still ongoing," Araghchi said. However, “Washington’s proposed ideas and threats against our country are incompatible.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran’s public rhetoric diverges from the private messaging the administration has received from Tehran in recent days.

“I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” Leavitt said. “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”

Trump announced Monday that countries doing business with Iran will face 25% tariffs from the United States. Trump announced the tariffs in a social media posting, saying they would be “effective immediately.”

Trump believes exacting tariffs can be a useful tool in prodding friends and foes on the global stage to bend to his will.

Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are among economies that do business with Tehran.

Trump said Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

Iran, through the country’s parliamentary speaker, warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses force to protect demonstrators.

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)

A picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set alight by protesters outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)

FILE - Protesters march on a bridge in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 29, 2025. (Fars News Agency via AP, File)