Chavez arrives in Cuba for surgery
![Chavez arrives in Cuba for surgery](https://webharvest.gov/congress112th/20121216182403/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_90x60/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/12/10/Foreign/Images/APTOPIX_Venezuela_Chavez-01c27.jpg)
Fourth cancer surgery in 18 months prompts longtime Venezuelan leader to designate possible successor.
Mexico’s president vows big changes
![Mexico’s president vows big changes](https://webharvest.gov/congress112th/20121216182403/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_90x60/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/12/02/Web-Resampled/2012-12-01/Mexico_Inauguration_0ccbf--90x60.jpg)
Newly sworn in President Pena Nieto vows a more prosperous, peaceful country, even as protesters clash in the streets.
Mexico’s new president wantsto change dialogue with U.S.
![Mexico’s new president wantsto change dialogue with U.S.](https://webharvest.gov/congress112th/20121216182403/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_90x60/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/11/29/Foreign/Images/515615316.jpg)
Enrique Peña Nieto looks to move the conversation away from drug cartels and toward trade and manufacturing.
In Mexico, about 25,000 are missing
![In Mexico, about 25,000 are missing](https://webharvest.gov/congress112th/20121216182403/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_90x60/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/11/29/Foreign/Images/2012-11-29T184937Z_01_CDG01_RTRIDSP_3_MEXICO.jpg)
Unpublished government list records names of those who vanished amid crime wave of past 6 years.
Calderon drug war ends at a stalemate
![Calderon drug war ends at a stalemate](https://webharvest.gov/congress112th/20121216182403/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_90x60/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/11/27/Foreign/Images/515279307-6283.jpg)
As Mexican president prepares to step down, he says strategy that left 60,000 dead is finally paying off.
Heritage leads Colombians to Judaism
![Heritage leads Colombians to Judaism](https://webharvest.gov/congress112th/20121216182403/http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_90x60/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/11/12/Others/Images/2012-11-12/PSmCOLRel131352740867.jpg)
Descendants of Jews forced from Spain more than 500 years ago embrace a region’s hidden past.
Photo Gallery
Mexico’s new president is sworn in
Enrique Peña Nieto takes the oath of office, while protests against him go on outside.
Latest Headlines
- Ghana says it will abide by UN Tribunal order to release Argentine navy ship seized months ago
- Venezuelans choose governors in first elections with Hugo Chavez absent due to cancer surgery
- Brazil trading platform lets farmers point, click way into compliance with forest legislation
- UN tribunal orders Ghana to release Argentine navy ship seized in debt dispute with hedge fund
- More than 200 people treated for food poisoning in Chile after eating hot dogs during outing
- Chavez receiving visits from Fidel Castro, recovery after 'moments of tension,' official says
- Owner of pet monkey found at Toronto Ikea to go to court to get him back
- Oil rig arrives off central Cuba for shallower-water exploration by Russia's Zarubezhneft
- Children discover Mozart in Paraguay landfill, playing instruments made from recycled garbage
- Mexico's Mayas face Dec. 21 with ancestral calm, while advertisers and new-agers go wild
Elsewhere in World
Asia / Pacific
![](/rf/image_90x60/WashingtonPost/Production/Digital/Pages-Web/global/_module-content/Standing_Art/asia-pacific-86x56.jpg)
- Opposition wins Japanese parliamentary vote
- NHK exit poll shows Conservative LDP wining majority in Japanese parliamentary election
- Japan's comeback prime minister, Shinzo Abe, gets a second stab at reviving struggling Japan
- Prime Minister Noda resigns as Democratic Party of Japan president after election defeat
Africa
![](/rf/image_90x60/WashingtonPost/Production/Digital/Pages-Web/global/_module-content/Standing_Art/africa-86x56.jpg)
- Anglicans take back Zimbabwe cathedral from excommunicated, renegade bishop
- Hospitalized Nelson Mandela honored by South Africa's governing party at political convention
- Job on line, South Africa President Jacob Zuma describes ANC's problems, asks to remain leader
- Ghana says it will abide by UN Tribunal order to release Argentine navy ship seized months ago
Middle East
![](/rf/image_90x60/WashingtonPost/Production/Digital/Pages-Web/global/_module-content/Standing_Art/middle-east-86x56.jpg)
- Egypt: 4,000 nationals and family members evacuated from Syria in recent months
- Iraqi officials: String of blasts in areas disputed between Arabs and Kurds kill at least 8
- Syrian Islamist rebel faction says its fighters have taken control of infantry base in Aleppo
- Egypt rights groups say constitutional referendum marred by violations, call for repeat
The Americas
![](/rf/image_90x60/WashingtonPost/Production/Digital/Pages-Web/global/_module-content/Standing_Art/americas-86x56.jpg)
- Venezuelans choose governors in first elections with Hugo Chavez absent due to cancer surgery
- Chavez receiving visits from Fidel Castro, recovery after 'moments of tension,' official says
- More than 200 people treated for food poisoning in Chile after eating hot dogs during outing
- Fidel Castro has been visiting Hugo Chavez every day after cancer surgery, official says
National Security
![](/rf/image_90x60/WashingtonPost/Production/Digital/Pages-Web/global/_module-content/Standing_Art/national-security-86x56.jpg)
- Kerry stands tall as Obama's good soldier on foreign policy, in line for secretary of state
- Pentagon front-runner Hagel has strong Obama ties, likely favors rapid Afghanistan withdrawal
- Ill Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton faints, sustains concussion, recovering at home
- Ill Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton faints, sustains concussion, recovering at home