Claims that Nicaragua has abolished elections followed a headline that stripped Daniel Ortega’s remarks of their historical and political context. The full speech tells a different story, says BECCA RENK FOSTER

LEO BOIX reviews two powerful Latin American novels in which myth and crime fiction expose the deadly consequences of patriarchy, clandestine abortion and state violence

England survived a thrilling Azteca encounter, but the stadium and its supporters created one of the tournament’s defining nights, writes JAMES NALTON

ENRIQUE SANTIAGO ROMERO says the Colombian far-right’s election victory is deeply suspect — and the United States has its fingerprints all over it
 

Once a source of national pride, Cuba’s healthcare system declines as energy shortages deepen crisis, writes ANDREA RODRIGUEZ

The UN blames gangs for Haiti’s turmoil, while ignoring decades of foreign intervention and support for an unelected government that lie at the heart of the country’s continuing crisis, says RUBEN BRETT

Bolivia’s protests are a response to Rodrigo Paz’s attempt to privatise core sectors of the economy and unravel two decades of socialist progress, say WIPHALAS ACROSS THE WORLD

From post-human revolution in Puerto Rico to trans poetics and queer mythmaking, these three books that imagine new ways of being together

Over 1,000 hostile US sanctions remain in place on Venezuela, while Britain continues its colonial theft of gold, writes MATT WILLGRESS

The US blockade of Cuba raises risks of a new global pandemic, experts warn at Unison conference

In the wake of his recent humanitarian visit to Cuba, RICHARD BURGON points to the now urgent need to defend the island’s political sovereignty and its right to self-determination

HELEN VASSALLO recommends a gripping Argentinian crime story about gender violence and the weaponisation of religion

Newly revealed documents reveal that MI5 taught Brazilian secret police the techniques deployed by the 1964-85 military dictatorship in horrific prisons like Rio de Janeiro’s House of Death. SARA VIVACQUA reports

ADRIAN WEIR charts the intercontinental trade union solidarity with Cuba and its desperate predicament

CARLOS MARTINEZ reports on China’s role in helping Cuba develop self-sufficiency in renewable energy, which would shield it from the sort of pain Donald Trump is inflicting with his oil blockade

CLAUDIA WEBBE says the US is tightening the noose to destroy Cuban socialism — the need for immediate, international solidarity is urgent

While US restrictions tighten economic and social pressures on Cuba, international allies and grassroots campaigns are stepping in to support the island’s resilience, writes BERNARD REGAN, secretary of Cuba Solidarity Campaign

The indictment of Nicolas Maduro after a deadly US assault is just the latest phase in a long campaign against the Bolivarian government, warns FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ

If the United States wants international success in a game it built, maybe it should embrace the joy of the game rather than the unnecessary military pageantry, writes JAMES NALTON