Top photos from Latin America and the Caribbean
Chileans got dressed up for a Gay Pride parade, cricket players from Australia and West Indies faced off on the Caribbean island of Barbados and Indigenous people in Bolivia and Ecuador marked the Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice.
Colombians who pick up trash to sell as recycled material blanketed Bogota's main plaza with plastic bottles to protest decreasing income and tougher conditions for scavengers, and Venezuelans carried Iranian flags at a demonstration organized by the government against Israel's war on Iran. Tampa Bay Rays' shortstop Wander Franco was found guilty of sexual abuse and received a 2-year suspended sentence.
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 photo editor Leslie Mazoch based in Mexico City.
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Reuters
5 hours ago
- Reuters
Vance, Hegseth greet troops in Washington, face jeers from protesters
WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Top Trump administration officials on Wednesday thanked troops deployed in the nation's capital and blasted demonstrators opposed to the aggressive anti-crime efforts as "stupid white hippies." At Union Station, Washington's central train hub, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, accompanied by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, shook hands with National Guard soldiers at a Shake Shack restaurant. "You're doing a hell of a job," Vance said, as demonstrators drowned him out with jeers and shouts of "Free D.C.!" He urged troops to ignore the "bunch of crazy protesters," while Miller dismissed them as "stupid white hippies." The unfamiliar scene - the country's vice president and top defense official visiting troops deployed not to a war zone but to an American city's tourist-filled transit hub - underscored the extraordinary nature of the Trump administration's crackdown in the Democratic-led District of Columbia. Thousands of Guard soldiers and federal agents have been deployed to the city over the objections of its elected leaders to combat what Trump says is a violent crime wave. City officials have rejected that assertion, pointing to federal and city statistics that show violent crime has declined significantly since a spike in 2023. The president has said, without providing evidence, that the crime data is fraudulent. The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether the numbers were manipulated, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. Amid the crackdown, federal prosecutors in the District have been told to stop seeking felony charges against people who violate a local law prohibiting individuals from carrying rifles or shotguns in the nation's capital. The decision by District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, which was first reported by the Washington Post, represents a break from the office's prior policy. In a statement, Pirro said prosecutors will still be able to charge people with other illegal firearms crimes, such as a convicted felon found in possession of a gun. "We will continue to seize all illegal and unlicensed firearms," she said. The White House has touted the number of firearms seized by law enforcement since Trump began surging federal agents and troops into the city. In a social media post on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the operation had taken 76 illegal guns off the streets and resulted in more than 550 arrests, an average of 42 per day. The city's Metropolitan Police Department arrested an average of 61 adults and juveniles per day in 2024, according to city statistics. The Trump administration has not specified whether the arrest totals it has cited include those made by MPD officers or only consist of those made by federal agents. A D.C. code bars anyone from carrying a rifle or shotgun, with narrow exceptions. In her statement, Pirro, a close Trump ally, argued that the law violates two U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding gun rights. In 2008, the court struck down a separate D.C. law banning handguns and ruled that individuals have the right to keep firearms in their homes for self-defense. In 2022, the court ruled that any gun-control law must be rooted in the country's historical traditions to be valid. Unlike U.S. attorneys in all 50 states, who only prosecute federal offenses, the U.S. attorney in Washington prosecutes local crimes as well. D.C. crime rates have stayed mostly the same as they were a year ago, according to the police department's weekly statistics. As of Tuesday, the city's overall crime rate is down 7% year over year, the same percentage as before the crackdown. D.C. has also experienced the same declines in violent crime and property crime as it did beforehand, according to the data.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
Federal agents arrested a protester for throwing a sandwich at them. Now artists are turning him into a resistance icon on the walls of DC
Some Washington, D.C. residents are adopting a new symbol of resistance against President Donald Trump's administration: the so-called 'sandwich guy.' This month, Trump mobilized the National Guard in Washington, D.C., brought in federal agents and placed the local police force under federal control in an attempt to stop a 'crime emergency' he described as 'out of control.' This comes despite available data indicating violent crime in D.C. has been decreasing since 2023, and even hit a 30-year low last year. Many residents have protested against the heightened presence of federal agents and troops in the nation's capital, but one individual has stood out amongst them: a man who was arrested earlier this month after police say he threw a sandwich at a group of federal law enforcement officials in Washington, D.C. Video of the incident quickly went viral, bringing nationwide attention to the sandwich thrower, who police say is 37-year-old D.C. resident Sean Charles Dunn. Now, new posters have appeared throughout the nation's capital honoring the sandwich thrower as an apparent symbol of resistance. Banksy-style posters honor D.C.'s 'sandwich guy' The posters are recreations of the Flower Thrower, a 2003 mural by the iconic British street artist and political activist Banksy. The original image depicts a masked protester throwing a bouquet of flowers, and is widely seen as an image of resistance and hope. But in the recent D.C. renditions, the man is instead throwing a sub-style sandwich. These posters have been found primarily in Northwest D.C. near the downtown area. Social media images and local media reports shared over the weekend identified posters in the Dupont Circle and Logan Circle neighborhoods, as well as on K St., an area home to many lobbyists and law firms. While some posters remain plastered up, others have been ripped down. Two of these posters can be seen near a liquor store in the Logan Circle neighborhood next to a bus stop. They're plastered less than a mile away from the intersection where Dunn is accused of throwing the sandwich. On Sunday, photographers also captured three of the posters plastered near the busy Dupont Metro Station, located just under two miles from the White House. The area is home to several embassies and think tanks. But when The Independent visited the station on Wednesday morning, the posters had been torn down. White residue from where they were once plastered is still visible. One social media post also indicated there was a poster hanging in downtown D.C., at the intersection of M St. and New Hampshire Ave., as recently as two days ago. There were no signs of the poster as of Wednesday morning. Residents who staged a protest against Trump's decision to mobilize the National Guard in Washington, D.C., over the weekend also held signs and props referencing the sandwich thrower. Photographers captured one protester waving around a loaf of bread. Others held signs that read, 'One small sub for man…One giant gesture for democracy' and 'Don't f*** with D.C. unless you want this footlong,' according to the local outlet The Washingtonian. Alleged sandwich thrower arrested by '20 agents,' attorney says Dunn, the alleged sandwich thrower, is now facing a felony assault charge over the August 10 incident. Police claim Dunn approached a group of officers on 14th Street, an area known for its busy nightlife scene. Dunn is accused of then pointing his finger at a Customs and Border Patrol agent and shouting, 'F*** you! You f***ing fascists! Why are you here? I don't want you in my city!' Police say Dunn then threw a 'sub-style sandwich' at the group, hitting one of the officers in the chest. Dunn was initially apprehended after fleeing the scene. While he was being processed, police say Dunn told an officer, 'I did it, I threw a sandwich.' Dunn's attorney, Sabrina Shroff, said in court he was released the next day with no charges, according to CNN. However, Shroff then learned a warrant was out for Dunn's arrest on August 13. Shroff said she called multiple government officials, but could not find a way for Dunn to surrender himself. That night, 20 agents showed up at Dunn's front door and arrested him, Shroff said. Dunn has since been released on personal recognizance and will appear in court again in September. Shroff declined to comment when contacted by The Independent. Dunn has been fired from his job at the Justice Department in the wake of his arrest, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced last week. 'If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you,' she wrote. 'I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice — NO LONGER. Not only is he FIRED, he has been charged with a felony.' U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro also shared a video on X touting Dunn's arrest. 'Assault a law enforcement officer, and you'll be prosecuted,' Pirro said. 'This guy thought it was funny—well, he doesn't think it's funny today, because we charged him with a felony.'
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Moment JD Vance and Pete Hegseth savagely heckled by 'stupid white hippie' protestors calling them 'Nazis'
A trio of Trump officials - Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller - got heckled Wednesday at Washington, D.C.'s Union Station as they tried to serve National Guard members hamburgers. Vance made the unscheduled trip to the Amtrak hub's Shake Shack, a move that immediately attracted 'free D.C.' and also some 'free Palestine ' protesters. One man saw the group and yelled, 'f*** you Pete, f***ing Nazi,' while another joined in by screaming, 'get the f*** out of my city,' video from the scene showed. President Donald Trump announced on August 11 that he was deploying the National Guard to the capital and federalizing the District's police force, complaining about the city's high crime rate. For days, members of the National Guard have been parked outside Union Station - the main train station in Washington, known more for its food court than being an epicenter of violence. Throughout the city, more than 550 arrests have been made since the beginning of the crackdown. 'We wanted to bring you guys some burgers. We appreciate everything you've been doing,' Vance told the troops. 'You guys bust your ass all day and we give you a hamburger. Not a fair trade, but we're grateful for everything you guys do.' As Vance, Hegseth and Miller mingled with the military members, the protesting was audible. 'So we're going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they're all over 90 years old,' huffed Miller as the trio tried to conduct a Q&A with journalists on the scene. The vice president told reporters that D.C. has seen a dip in crime 'because these guys are busting their ass.' 'You can actually bring law and order to communities you've just gotta have the political willpower to do it,' Vance said. 'And I think you hear these guys outside here screaming at us.' 'Of course these are a bunch of crazy protesters, but I'll tell you, a couple of years ago when I brought my kids here, they were being screamed at by violent vagrants and it was scaring the hell out of my kids,' the VP continued. 'And one of the things that we've done already in Union Station in just nine days is we've made it a place where people can walk around safely, they can bring their kids again, they can see this beautiful monument, the architecture, they can have a meal with their friends and loved ones,' Vance added. 'Because we've brought some law and order back to Washington, D.C.' Vance was asked why the troops were deployed to areas frequented by tourists instead of neighborhoods in D.C. that see the highest instances of violent crime. 'Well, if you've ever been to Union Station in the last few years with your family you know the crime is actually extremely high right here in Union Station,' Vance responded. 'You have vagrants, you have drug addicts, you have the chronically homeless, you have the mentally ill who harass, who threaten violence, who attack families and they've done it for far too long,' he added. Vance expressed disbelief that residents of Washington, D.C. were against the Guard's deployment and the federal takeover of D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department. 'I'm highly skeptical that a majority of D.C. residents don't want their city to have better public safety and more reasonable safety standards within Washington, D.C.,' Vance replied. 'I don't know what poll you're talking about. Maybe the same poll that said Kamala Harris would win the popular vote by 10 points.' A Washington Post-Schar School poll released earlier Wednesday found that 69 percent of D.C. residents 'strongly oppose' Trump federalizing the police force and bringing in National Guard troops. Another 10 percent somewhat opposed the move. Just 9 percent of Washingtonians strongly supported Trump's order, with another 8 percent who said they somewhat supported it. 'We hear these people outside screaming "Free D.C." Let's free D.C. from lawlessness, let's free Washington, D.C. from one of the highest murder rates in the entire world. Let's free Washington, D.C., so young families can walk around and feel safe and secure. That's what we're trying to free D.C. from,' Vance also said. 'And as Stephen said,' Vance continued, referencing Miller. 'It's kind of bizarre that we have a bunch of old, primarily white people who are out there protesting the policies that keep people safe when they've never felt danger in their entire lives.'
