From reverse migration to jailed presidents, AP photos recorded Latin America’s top news in 2025
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters at a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 9, 2025, a day ahead of Maduro’s inauguration ceremony where he will be sworn in for a third term. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
From geopolitical tensions to natural disasters to massive migratory shifts, Latin America was the epicenter for some of the world’s biggest stories in 2025. Associated Press photographers worked from crowds of protesters, hurricane-ravaged streets and boats rocketing along tropical coastlines to cover it all.
Venezuela continued to feel tremors in the wake of the previous year’s electoral turmoil as the U.S. launched strikes on boats in the Caribbean and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Under U.S. President Donald Trump’s migratory crackdown, thousands of migrants began to reverse course while others were deported into harsh conditions in a prison in El Salvador.
Luis Sanchez, center, rides on a boat with other Venezuelan migrants after giving up hope of reaching the U.S. amid Trump’s crackdown on migration, Feb. 23, 2025, near Gardi Sugdub, along Panama’s Caribbean coast. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Luis Sanchez, center, rides on a boat with other Venezuelan migrants after giving up hope of reaching the U.S. amid Trump’s crackdown on migration, Feb. 23, 2025, near Gardi Sugdub, along Panama’s Caribbean coast. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Gallery contains some graphic images
Arturo Suarez, one of the Venezuelan migrants deported months prior to El Salvador by the U.S. under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, is welcomed home by his relatives in Caracas, Venezuela, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez, File)
Arturo Suarez, one of the Venezuelan migrants deported months prior to El Salvador by the U.S. under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, is welcomed home by his relatives in Caracas, Venezuela, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez, File)
Brazil, too, felt shock waves after its ex-President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to prison for a coup attempt and a forceful anti-gangs favela operation in Rio paved the way for carnage and tragedy.
Protests erupted in Argentina and Mexico, while Jamaica was left reeling from a devastating hurricane.
Yet the region was also witness to moments of hope and beauty: Scientists worked to save rare pink dolphins in the Amazon rainforest, a couple coated in mud passionately kissed in the heart of a Brazilian festival, and flowers lined the streets of Colombia’s capital.
A pedestrian poses for a photo on the edge of a water canal filled with flowers in downtown Bogota, Colombia, during the opening of the city’s first art biennial, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia, File)
A pedestrian poses for a photo on the edge of a water canal filled with flowers in downtown Bogota, Colombia, during the opening of the city’s first art biennial, Sept. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia, File)
Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro points to his electronic ankle monitor that the Supreme Court ordered him to wear, at Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Minervino Junior, CB/D.A Press, File)
Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro points to his electronic ankle monitor that the Supreme Court ordered him to wear, at Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Minervino Junior, CB/D.A Press, File)
A man rides his bicycle through an flooded street in Black River, Jamaica, Oct. 30, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
A man rides his bicycle through an flooded street in Black River, Jamaica, Oct. 30, 2025, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Scientists and veterinarians capture a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River for a health check in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
Scientists and veterinarians capture a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River for a health check in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
A protester in a Joker costume takes part in a demonstration by soccer fans and retirees demanding higher pensions and opposing austerity measures implemented by President Javier Milei’s government in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
A protester in a Joker costume takes part in a demonstration by soccer fans and retirees demanding higher pensions and opposing austerity measures implemented by President Javier Milei’s government in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)
Demonstrators and riot police clash during a protest commemorating the anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco killings, when soldiers fired on student protesters in Mexico City, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Claudia Rosel, File)
Demonstrators and riot police clash during a protest commemorating the anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco killings, when soldiers fired on student protesters in Mexico City, Oct. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Claudia Rosel, File)
Magali Maisonnave poses for a photo with her six-year-old dachshund Sandro at their home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
Magali Maisonnave poses for a photo with her six-year-old dachshund Sandro at their home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
Angela Perez sits inside her flood-damaged house in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 15, 2025, one of the areas hardest hit by torrential rains that flooded central and eastern Mexico. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
Angela Perez sits inside her flood-damaged house in Poza Rica, Veracruz state, Mexico, Oct. 15, 2025, one of the areas hardest hit by torrential rains that flooded central and eastern Mexico. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)
A Drosera Capensis plant traps an insect at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
A Drosera Capensis plant traps an insect at a carnivorous plants exhibit at the Botanical Garden in Bogota, Colombia, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
Edinson Cavani of Argentina’s Boca Juniors plays a Copa Libertadores soccer match against Peru’s Alianza Lima in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello, File)
Edinson Cavani of Argentina’s Boca Juniors plays a Copa Libertadores soccer match against Peru’s Alianza Lima in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello, File)
A woman cries after her friend, Valerie Saint-Fort, behind, fell dead from a bullet wound after soldiers fired their guns into the air as a tribute during the funeral of two soldiers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)
A woman cries after her friend, Valerie Saint-Fort, behind, fell dead from a bullet wound after soldiers fired their guns into the air as a tribute during the funeral of two soldiers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)
A portrait of the late Pope Francis is projected onto a water fountain at Magic Water Circuit in Lima, Peru, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File)
A portrait of the late Pope Francis is projected onto a water fountain at Magic Water Circuit in Lima, Peru, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia, File)
Congregants attend an Indigenous blessing ceremony for Communion wafers that will be taken to a priest to be consecrated before they can be given out, in the Simojovel municipality of Mexico, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos, File)
Congregants attend an Indigenous blessing ceremony for Communion wafers that will be taken to a priest to be consecrated before they can be given out, in the Simojovel municipality of Mexico, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos, File)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Relatives look at the bodies of people killed the day before during a police raid targeting the Comando Vermelho gang in the Complexo da Penha favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo, File)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Relatives look at the bodies of people killed the day before during a police raid targeting the Comando Vermelho gang in the Complexo da Penha favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo, File)
Indigenous people attend the opening ceremony of the People’s Summit offsite from the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)
Indigenous people attend the opening ceremony of the People’s Summit offsite from the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)
A couple ride past a community hall damaged by dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks recorded in a matter of hours in Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)
A couple ride past a community hall damaged by dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks recorded in a matter of hours in Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)
Chicken vendor Silvino sips on “terere”, an infusion of cold yerba mate as he waits for customers at Market No. 4 in Asuncion, Paraguay, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz, File)
Chicken vendor Silvino sips on “terere”, an infusion of cold yerba mate as he waits for customers at Market No. 4 in Asuncion, Paraguay, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz, File)
Maria Claudia Tarazona kisses her son Alejandro during the funeral service for her husband, presidential hopeful and opposition Sen. Miguel Uribe, who died from wounds suffered when he was shot at a political rally, in Bogota, Colombia, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
Maria Claudia Tarazona kisses her son Alejandro during the funeral service for her husband, presidential hopeful and opposition Sen. Miguel Uribe, who died from wounds suffered when he was shot at a political rally, in Bogota, Colombia, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
Migrants from Haiti stand in line outside the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid office to apply for asylum in Mexico City, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
Migrants from Haiti stand in line outside the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid office to apply for asylum in Mexico City, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny performs in concert during his “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” tour in Mexico City, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)
Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny performs in concert during his “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” tour in Mexico City, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)
A man wounded in a fight smokes next to his injured friend as they wait for an ambulance after a fight in a shopping arcade in downtown Santiago, Chile, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
A man wounded in a fight smokes next to his injured friend as they wait for an ambulance after a fight in a shopping arcade in downtown Santiago, Chile, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
Competitor Cristofer Chacha crosses the finish line in the annual llama race that commemorates World Wetlands Day in Ecuador’s Llanganates National Park, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)
Competitor Cristofer Chacha crosses the finish line in the annual llama race that commemorates World Wetlands Day in Ecuador’s Llanganates National Park, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)
A person in costume buys a snack at a small store ahead of carnival celebrations in downtown Montevideo, Uruguay, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)
A person in costume buys a snack at a small store ahead of carnival celebrations in downtown Montevideo, Uruguay, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico, File)
Photo editing by Ricardo Mazalan, deputy director for storytelling and photos for Latin America and Caribbean, and photo editors Leslie Mazoch, Anita Baca and Jon Orbach.