REUTERS: Four Nigerians, rescued in Brazil, survived 14 days on a ship's rudder →

On their tenth day at sea, the four Nigerian stowaways crossing the Atlantic in a tiny space above the rudder of a cargo ship ran out of food and drink.

They survived another four days, according to their account, by drinking the sea water crashing just meters below them, before being rescued by Brazilian federal police in the southeastern port of Vitoria.

Their remarkable, death-defying journey across some 5,600 kilometers (3,500 miles) of ocean underlines the risks some migrants are prepared to take for a shot at a better life.

REUTERS: Neo-Nazi groups multiply in a more conservative Brazil →

Last November, just hours before a social gathering for Haitian immigrants in the town of Itajai in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, event organizer Andrea Muller received a chilling message.

"Cancel the Haiti exhibition or we will commit a massacre," read the subject line of the email, seen by Reuters. "Santa Catarina is a land of WHITE PEOPLE, FOR WHITE PEOPLE," the anonymous sender wrote, signing off with the Nazi salute "SIEG HEIL."

REUTERS: Cultural center on wheels brings the arts closer to working-class Brazilians →

At one of Latin America's largest commuter bus terminals in Brazil's gritty downtown Sao Paulo, 84-year-old Rerizenil de Paula Santos waits on a bus decorated with neon lights and bright graffiti amid the hustle and bustle of rush hour.

It is the 10th time she has boarded this first-of-its-kind project, known as the cultural center on wheels. Its aim: to bring art and music into the lives of busy, working-class Brazilians.

Kaca Novais, 36, sings and plays inside the cultural bus from the Every Tuesday Festival, in Sao Paulo, Brazil May 9, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

REUTERS: Embattled U.S. Rep. George Santos was drag queen in Brazil pageants, associates say →

U.S. Representative George Santos competed as a drag queen in Brazilian beauty pageants 15 years ago, two acquaintances told Reuters on Wednesday, adding to contrasts that have drawn criticism of the openly gay Republican congressman's staunchly conservative views.
A 58-year-old Brazilian performer, who uses the drag name Eula Rochard, said she befriended the now-congressman when he was cross-dressing in 2005 at the first gay pride parade in Niteroi, a Rio de Janeiro suburb. Three years later, Santos competed in a drag beauty pageant in Rio, Rochard said.

REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

REUTERS: Venezuelans try to rebuild after shattered U.S. migration dreams →

Julio Perez, a 38-year-old auto mechanic, sold his car and tools to make the dangerous journey from Venezuela to the United States.

But like many migrants in the two months since the United States changed its immigration policy, he opted to board a plane back to Venezuela.

Julio Perez, 38, who had hoped to get to the U.S. to work for money to build a house for his family in Venezuela, stands in front of the gate of his old mechanical workshop, in El Tocuyo, Venezuela December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Jesus Hernandez

REUTERS: Latin America's 'pink tide' leaders congratulate Brazil's Lula on election win →

Latin America leaders on Sunday congratulated Brazil's Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva after he won a third term as president of the largest country in South America, consolidating the region's "pink tide" of elected leftist leaders.

His victory over far-right president Jair Bolsonaro leaves Brazil joining Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Peru in a growing leftist bloc.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro speaks after a bilateral meeting with Chile's President Gabriel Boric (not pictured) at the Casa de Narino, in Bogota, Colombia, August 8, 2022. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

REUTERS: Trailblazing Brazilian trans lawmakers face more conservative Congress →

Erika Hilton, a 29-year-old Sao Paulo city council member, just made history as one of the first two transgender lawmakers elected this week to Brazil’s Congress.

But the victory is bittersweet, Hilton said, after a stronger-than-expected showing by President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies in Sunday’s general election consolidated a robust right-wing coalition among her future colleagues, who she said have voiced transphobic sentiments.

Erika Hilton, first travesti elected by the State of Sao Paulo for federal deputy, talks during an interview in Sao Paulo, Brazil October 4, 2022. REUTERS/Carla Carniel

REUTERS: In divisive election, Brazil's trans candidates face threats, intimidation →

At her campaign headquarters, Brazilian congressional hopeful Duda Salabert gently lays out the newspaper clippings sent to her in August. Her photo is on many of the pages, and Nazi swastikas and profanities have been scribbled over them.

"You are a danger to society," reads one. "You need to be isolated as soon as possible, preferably in a concentration camp."

Brazilian congressional hopeful and transgender woman Duda Salabert walks with her bodyguards at the City Council, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil September 12, 2022. REUTERS/Cristiane Mattos

THE GUARDIAN: ‘We must not show fear’: Colombia’s children learn to defend their way of life – a photo essay →

It is the weekend, but the classroom is full of children bearing green and red batons and adorned with scarves and ribbons. In the town of Toribío, in south-west Colombia, the Indigenous Guard is teaching their children how to avoid being recruited into militias, and defend their lands in Cauca province, notorious as one of the country’s most turbulent.

Young members of Colombia’s Indigenous Guard. The guard is non-violent and exists to protect nature and the community. Image by Nadège Mazars. Colombia, 2022.

REUTERS: Latin America's kids slid into education black hole during pandemic →

In Bolivia's highland city La Paz, Maribel Sanchez's children spent much of the last two years huddling over a small smartphone screen to attend online classes amid a lengthy lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The two boys, aged 11 and eight, frequently missed lessons when their timetables collided as the family had no computer. Bolivian school children only finally returned to in-person classes in March this year, many still not full time.

Students wearing protective masks attend a class in person as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico June 22, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez