AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from Latin America, Caribbean – New Jersey Herald

Posted: Aug. 11, 2017 8:00 am

This photo gallery highlights some of the top news images made by Associated Press photographers in Latin America and the Caribbean that were published in the last week.

Bolivia held its Independence Day parade in the Kjasina desert, where an Aymara indigenous female photographer wore her traditional dress as she covered the army's 192 anniversary. Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno, who led his nation's Independence Day parade, was criticized by his predecessor Rafael Correa after he announced the sale a presidential jet and luxury cars to help the nation's budget.

An encampment of protesting farmers continued in Asuncion, Paraguay. The growers are facing economic hardship after failed harvests due to harsh environmental conditions, and are asking the government to forgive their debts. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Catholics flocked to the patron saint of the unemployed, Saint Cajan, to pray for prosperity.

A town in Ecuador held a running of the bulls event where it set loose about 40 bulls during the town's annual fair. Mexico City hosted a Pumas vs. America's soccer match, and Brazil put on a Copa Libertadores match between Botafogo and Uruguay's Nacional. Ecuador's Emelec players kneeled to watch their team's penalty shoot-out, which they ultimately lost, at a Copa Libertadores match in Buenos Aires.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro vowed that a band of anti-government fighters who attacked an army base will get the "maximum penalty" as his administration roots out his enemies. He also saw the swearing-in of its new all-powerful Constitutional Assembly.

Colorful packages of seized cocaine were displayed to the media at the pacific port of Buenaventura in Colombia. In Bogota, Australian Cassandra Sainsbury attended her court hearing after the 22-year-old was detained at the international airport caught trying to smuggle about 6 kilos of cocaine inside packages of headphones.

After Mexican journalist Javier Valdez was shot dead in front of his Riodoce newspaper office, his colleagues continued reporting as bodies piled up across Mexico, and more and more of the dead are journalists. Residents on Mexico's Gulf coast tied down and taped up their storefronts as Hurricane Storm Franklin approached.

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This photo gallery was curated by photo editor Leslie Mazoch in Mexico City. On Twitter: @Leslie Mazoch

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AP photographers and photo editors on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP/lists/ap-photographers

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AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from Latin America, Caribbean - New Jersey Herald