Colombia's new president and other top photos from Latin America and the Caribbean

Aug. 7 - 13, 2026

A conservative former criminal defense lawyer with no previous political experience was sworn in as president in Colombia’s third-largest city, Cali, less than 72 hours before a 7.4 earthquake toppled buildings there and across the country’s far-flung provinces.

The former president and brother of Fidel Castro, 95-year-old Raúl Castro, made an unusual public appearance during a tribute at the Karl Marx Theater in Havana, commemorating his brother’s 100th birth date.

One of the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Brazil’s capital was vandalized as tensions between the countries remained high. The messages against the U.S. government sprayed on the wall of its Brasilia embassy come as President Donald Trump places high tariffs on some Brazilian goods and revokes the Brazilian ambassador’s visa to Washington.

This gallery was curated by photojournalist Ariana Cubillos based in Caracas.

An Indigenous youth holds a candle during a protest calling for the protection of Indigenous land rights and demarcations outside the Supreme Court in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Deforestation from illegal mining is visible in the Tambopata National Reserve in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

A girl rests at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)

Military personnel train to board boats during a U.S.-sponsored multinational military exercise in Panama City, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Judith Naidorf, a researcher with Argentina's National Scientific and Technical Research Council, poses for a photo while waiting to ride the subway to a protest demanding increased funding for science in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

An lone elephant seal lies on Pocitos Beach in Montevideo, Uruguay, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Cuban leader Raul Castro speaks during a gala commemorating the 100th anniversary of his brother Fidel Castro’s birth at the Karl Marx theater in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A worker paints to remove protest graffiti on a wall of the U.S. Embassy in Brasília, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Noemi Marrero, left, who lost her children Mathias and Wilker, stands with her sister close to the urns with their ashes and other relatives members during a prayer for relatives of the victims of the June 24 earthquakes, in La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)

Colombia's President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella arrives with his family for his inauguration in Cali, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)

Tennessee and Oklahoma put inmates to death within 30 minutes of each other Thursday and Alabama followed suit hours later as U.S. states executed three men by lethal injection in one day for the first time since 2010.

The Tennessee man was executed for killing a motel maid in 1985 and the Oklahoma man for killing his girlfriend in 2003. In Alabama, a man was put to death for killing a 5-year-old girl he had offered to pay her mother to abuse.

Having three executions in one day was a coincidence in scheduling, but reflected a trend of increased executions in the U.S. Eleven states executed a total of 47 people in 2025, the highest number since 2009. With Thursday's injections, 22 executions have been carried out this year in the U.S. with nearly a dozen more scheduled.

The last time three executions were carried out on the same day was on Jan. 7, 2010, when Louisiana, Ohio and Texas put inmates to death. Three executions were scheduled on the same day in 2018, but only one went forward after a Texas man was reprieved and Alabama prison officials had problems with the IV line.

Florida executed two men the same day in July and has executed 31 overall since the start of 2025.

Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, received an injection at the state penitentiary in McAlester in Oklahoma's third execution this year.

Cuesta-Rodriguez turned his head toward two relatives watching and mouthed “I love you” but had no last statement. He was declared dead at 10:13 a.m. after several minutes of labored breathing.

Convicted of murdering his girlfriend at their Oklahoma City home in 2003, Cuesta-Rodriguez had said he regretted killing Olimpia Fisher and told a board he didn’t want clemency. Fisher, 43, planned to leave Cuesta-Rodriguez when he shot her.

Fisher’s daughters, Cinthya Allen and Katya Wallis, said in a statement they hoped the execution brings awareness to preventing domestic violence, adding they are “raising our families to reflect the love and faith in God that she taught us.”

Anthony Darrell Hines was executed in Tennessee for the 1985 stabbing death of Catherine Jean Jenkins, 54, as she worked as a motel maid in Kingston Springs.

Hines said “not right now, thank you” when asked if he had final words, then said, “Tell my son hello."

Hines' son witnessed the execution. He reconnected with his father four days earlier after not seeing him since he was 3 years old.

Minutes after the execution chamber curtain opened, Hines asked his spiritual adviser: “How long do I have?” Soon afterward, witnesses heard groans and heavy breathing while the adviser put her hands on his shoulders and prayed. Hines was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m.

Afterward, Jenkins’ son said his mother had only a plastic spray bottle to defend against Hines' knife.

“I hope he felt severe pain because what he did to my mother is nothing compared to what he may have just gone through,” Dennis Jenkins said.

Hines' execution comes three months after another man's attempted lethal injection was stopped after medical staff couldn’t establish a backup IV line for over an hour.

Hines, 66, appealed unsuccessfully, saying the doctor who oversaw the May execution was unqualified and likely to botch his execution as well.

Alabama executed Jeremy Williams for the 2021 rape and murder of the young Georgia girl.

“I want to thank God for forgiving me for my sins so I can meet him in peace,” Williams said on the gurney. He rocked his head back and forth and smiled and appeared to sing or speak before slowing become still. A member of his family cried quietly throughout, and Williams was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m.

Williams, who pleaded guilty to killing Kamarie Holland, had written the Alabama attorney general’s office seeking an immediate execution date so his victim’s family “may have some type of closure.”

The 42-year-old raped and strangled Holland after offering her mother $2,500 for the child to perform a sex act, prosecutors said, adding he filmed his attack.

“The unspeakable nature of this crime is exactly why we have the death penalty statute,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement afterward.

The mother is serving a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to sex trafficking.

Russell County District Attorney Richard Chancey described Kamarie’s final moments as “horrific.”

"That baby didn’t die in peace,” he said at a later news conference, recalling Williams' last words about dying in peace.

Russell County Sheriff Heather Taylor, who called the case as the worst he'd investigated in 39 years of law enforcement, said he believed Williams sought swift execution over worries about how he would be treated in prison.

"He didn’t want to look over his shoulder for 30 years, in my opinion,” Taylor said.

It was Alabama’s first execution this year. A nitrogen gas execution was blocked in June after a federal judge ruled the method unconstitutional.

Williams also was a suspect in the 2005 death of his infant daughter in Alaska but charges weren't filed until 2022.

Corey Holland, Kamarie’s father, had said she was an exuberant child who loved princesses and made people laugh.

“She loved playing dress-up, all her little Halloween costumes and her princess stuff I got her,” he said.

This story has been revised to correct that the Alabama man offered to pay the mother, but didn't actually do so.

Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins and Hallie Golden contributed.

Katherine Dix, left, attorney for Anthony Darrell Hines, joined by his spiritual advisor Diana Gallaher, speaks after the execution of Hines at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada speaks at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Anthony Darrell Hines Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Pastor Ingrid McIntyre, left, and Pastor Wesley King talk outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the planned execution of Anthony Darrell Hines Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

A man enters the area reserved for protesters opposed to the death penalty outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the planned execution of Anthony Darrell Hines Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Dennis Jenkins, left, son of murder victim Catherine Jean Jenkins, speaks outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution following the execution of Anthony Darrell Hines Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

This Aug. 18, 2025, photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, who was sentenced to death for the 2003 fatal shooting of his girlfriend. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP)

This undated photo, courtesy of the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), shows death row inmate Anthony Darrell Hines at an unknown location in Tennessee. (TDOC Communications via AP)

FILE - This Oct. 9, 2014, file photo shows the gurney in the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Okla. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)