Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Gang violence racks city: A weeks-long wave of gang violence in the Haitian capital has forced more than 14,000 people from poor neighborhoods to flee their homes and shelter in churches and sports stadiums. The mayhem began in mid-June, when Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier—an ex-cop who now heads the heavily armed G9 gang federation—said he was launching a revolution to free Haiti from all elites: the government, the opposition, and the wealthy. Armed gangs looted major food warehouses and set up blockades, making access to parts of the city impossible, and they attacked a Doctors Without Borders clinic, the only source of free medical care in the area. Meanwhile, the coronavirus is spreading rapidly and hospitals are reporting oxygen shortages.

Managua, Nicaragua

Dissidents flee: As Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega continues his crackdown on dissent, journalists and opposition politicians have begun fleeing abroad rather than wait to be arrested. In the past month, authorities have jailed at least five opposition leaders who could have run against Ortega in the upcoming November election, and detained dozens of other Nicaraguans regarded as foes of the Sandinista regime. Journalists Sergio Marin, Julio López, and Carlos Chamorro left the country in recent weeks, and Luis Carrión—a Sandinista commander who fought alongside Ortega in the Nicaraguan revolution—went into exile after hearing his arrest was imminent. Carrión said that Ortega is taking “political hostages” to use as bargaining chips to pressure the U.S. into lifting sanctions against his regime.