Mica Rosenberg

Pope Benedict arrived in Mexico this weekend promising to "unmask the evil" of drug trafficking in a country ravaged by gang violence.

Mexican drug gangs branching out into new criminal activity are earning a steady stream of cash from the mass kidnapping of migrants.

Honduras' disputed presidential election is likely to set Washington against emerging Latin American power Brazil.

An interim government in Honduras warned Manuel Zelaya to stay away but indicated it could be more conciliatory in talks on Friday over the crisis.

Mexico City has started a women-only bus service to protect female passengers from groping and verbal abuse common on the city's packed public-transportation system. Millions of people cram into subway trains and buses in the Mexican capital, one of the world's largest cities.

Centre-leftist Alvaro Colom won Guatemala's presidential election on Sunday, denying power to a retired general who had sought to unleash the army to fight a violent crime wave. Colom, a soft-spoken textile businessman, had an unassailable lead of 5,4 percentage points over General Otto Perez Molina.

Tropical Storm Barbara lashed coffee- and sugar-growing regions near the Pacific coasts of Guatemala and Mexico with wind and rain on Saturday, toppling palm huts but causing no reported injuries. Barbara made landfall shortly after dawn on Saturday carrying sustained winds of 80km/h.

Coffee farmers at Guatemala's small Chanmagua cooperative opened their land and growing methods to stiff scrutiny last year, in the hope an ''environment-friendly'' seal would bring them higher prices. But after all the hard work the farmers say they are disappointed with the small premiums over market price fetched by the coffee.

An angry mob snatches two accused child molesters in a Guatemalan highland village, ties them to a lamp post in the central plaza, douses them with gasoline and threatens to burn them alive. The attack last week was among the latest in Guatemala's long history of mob violence, which has seen an upsurge this year.