Efrain Salgado/European Pressphoto Agency

Roberto Micheletti, left, de facto president of Honduras, with Jorge Alberto Rivera Avilés, who leads the Supreme Court.

Interim Leader in Honduras Says He’ll Briefly Step Down

By MARC LACEY and GINGER THOMPSON

The de facto leader, Roberto Micheletti, said he would hand over power to his cabinet ministers for a week, but he had no plans to cede power to Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted from the presidency on June 28.

Nations Unveil Plans to Rein in Emissions

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL and NEIL MacFARQUHAR

Prior to a climate change meeting scheduled for Copenhagen, industrialized countries, except the United States, are offering targets to curb greenhouse gases.

Recent Features on the Americas

Report Says Castro Brother Retains Tactics of Repression

By REUTERS

Raúl Castro imprisons people on the charge of being “dangerous” and refuses to free scores of people who were imprisoned years ago, Human Rights Watch said,

Sirenia Avendano wept as she spoke of sending money to her sons in the United States.

Money Trickles North as Mexicans Help Relatives

By MARC LACEY

Some Mexican families are scraping together what they can to support unemployed relatives in the United States.

Passengers waited at a bus station in the darkness of a massive blackout in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Wednesday morning.

Officials Search for Answers in Extensive Brazil Blackout

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

A huge power failure involving the world’s largest operating hydroelectric plant exposed the vulnerability of Brazil’s electricity infrastructure.

Video Report

Electric lines in the Petare district of Caracas. Power failures have led to protests in Venezuela.

Blackouts Plague Energy-Rich Venezuela

By SIMON ROMERO

With his nation plagued by power failures and water shortages, President Hugo Chávez has turned to lecturing about overconsumption.

Times Topics: Venezuela

A grove of huarango trees sits amid the sand dunes at the edge of Ica, Peru. The trees help balance the arid valley, capturing moisture coming from the west.

Ecosystem in Peru Is Losing a Key Ally

By SIMON ROMERO

Peruvians pose what might be a final challenge to the ecosystem supported by the giant huarango tree, which is coveted as a source of charcoal and firewood.

More News

An Appraisal

The man Claude Lévi-Strauss described as his “best informant.”

Other Voyages in the Shadow of Lévi-Strauss

By LARRY ROHTER

In 1978 I made my first reporting trip to the Brazilian Amazon, with an orange-and-white Penguin paperback edition of “Tristes Tropiques” as the only book squeezed into my gear.

Slide Show

A pitcher, Ramon Mariano, seated, with his mother, Felicia De La Cruz, said he began receiving B12 injections when he was 15.

Dominicans Try Shots to Boost Rising Players

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

In the Dominican Republic, boys are routinely receiving injections of over-the-counter vitamins and painkillers.

Slide Show

From The Lede Blog

The Lede Blog

Cuban Blogger Posts Interview With Obama

By ROBERT MACKEY

In what seems like one step forward for freedom of expression on the island of Cuba, on Wednesday a blogger in Havana named Yoani Sanchez published President Barack Obama's replies to seven questions she put to him on relations between the two countries.