Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

JOSHUA GOODMAN

Latin America correspondent based in Miami

Freed American Edgar Jose Marval Moreno is assisted by medical professionals upon arrival at Kelly Airfield Annex, after he and nine fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between U.S. and Venezuela, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023, in San Antonio, Texas. Six of the Americans released arrived at Kelly Airfield Annex. (AP Photo/Stephen Spillman)

US, Venezuela swap prisoners: Maduro ally for 10 Americans, plus fugitive contractor ‘Fat Leonard’

The United States has freed a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in the South American country and the return of a fugitive defense contractor.

This image provided by the Justice Department and contained in the affidavit in support of a criminal complaint, shows Manuel Rocha during a meeting with a FBI undercover employee. The Justice Department says Rocha, a former American diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, has been charged with serving as a covert agent for Cuba's intelligence services since at least 1981. Newly unsealed court papers allege that Manuel Rocha engaged in "clandestine activity" on Cuba's behalf for decades, including by meeting with Cuban intelligence operatives. (Justice Department via AP)

Former career US diplomat charged with secretly spying for Cuban intelligence for decades

Newly unsealed court papers allege that Manuel Rocha, an former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, engaged in “clandestine activity” on Cuba’s behalf for decades.

FILE - An FBI seal is seen on a wall on Aug. 10, 2022, in Omaha, Neb. A former American diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia has been arrested in a long-running FBI counterintelligence investigation, accused of secretly serving as an agent of Cuba’s government, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Former US ambassador arrested in Florida, accused of serving as an agent of Cuba, AP source says

The Associated Press has learned that a former American diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Bolivia has been arrested in a long-running FBI counterintelligence investigation and is accused of secretly serving as an agent of the Cuban government.

US expels an ex-Chilean army officer accused of a folk singer’s torture and murder

The U.S. has expelled a former Chilean Army officer accused of torturing and killing folk singer Victor Jara during the country’s bloody 1973 coup.

This undated photo provided by Erin Stewart and Moizeé Stewart shows Savoi Wright. Wright’s Oct. 24, 2023 arrest in Venezuela, which had not been previously reported, has become the latest flashpoint in the tenuous relationship between the U.S. and Nicolás Maduro’s government that critics say should lead to a return to sanctions. (Erin Stewart/Moizeé Stewart via AP)

American arrested in Venezuela just days after Biden administration eases oil sanctions

A California man’s family is pleading for his release after they say he was wrongfully arrested in Venezuela and held for ransom just days after President Joe Biden eased crippling oil sanctions on the socialist-run government.

FILE - In this July 2021 photo provided by Sea Shepherd, the Chang Tai 802, a Chinese-flagged ship, fishes for squid at night on the high seas off the west coast of South America. Hazardous work conditions sometimes akin to slavery have been detected on nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels around the world, including this one, but identifying those responsible for abuses at sea is hampered by a lack of transparency and regulatory oversight, according to research by the Financial Transparency Coalition released on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. (Isaac Haslam/Sea Shepherd via AP, File)

China leads list of labor abusers, sometimes akin to slavery, detected on fishing vessels worldwide

A new report has identified nearly 500 industrial fishing vessels where workers face hazardous, forced conditions sometimes akin to slavery.

FILE - James Biden arrives at the White House to attend the State Dinner for South Korea, Oct. 13, 2011, in Washington. Republicans are increasingly focused on President Joe Biden's brother, Jim Biden, as they dig for evidence that could be used for impeachment proceedings. They haven't turned up any proof of wrongdoing by the president. However, they recently subpoenaed Jim Biden and others as part of their investigations. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)

Jim Biden’s last name has helped open doors. It also has made him a target of House Republicans

Republicans are increasingly focused on President Joe Biden’s brother Jim as they dig for evidence that could be used for impeachment proceedings.

FILE - This June 13, 2016, file photo shows Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Florida. Jorge Hernández is expected to play a key role in the October 2023 Manhattan federal trial of two veteran DEA agents charged in a $73,000 bribery conspiracy involving leaked information about ongoing drug investigations. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)

‘Greed and corruption': Federal jury convicts veteran DEA agents in bribery conspiracy

A federal jury convicted two longtime U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration supervisors Wednesday of leaking confidential information to defense attorneys as part of a bribery conspiracy that prosecutors said imperiled high-profile cases and the lives of overseas drug informants.

This photo provided by the FBI on Oct. 25, 2023 shows Brian Jeffrey Raymond. The former CIA officer accused of drugging and sexually assaulting at least two dozen women during overseas postings around the world pleaded guilty Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. to federal sex abuse charges. (FBI via AP)

Ex-CIA officer accused of sexually abusing dozens of women pleads guilty to federal charges

A former CIA officer accused of drugging and sexually assaulting at least two dozen women has pleaded guilty to federal sex abuse charges.

FILE - Pedestrians walk near a poster asking for the freedom of Colombian businessman and Venezuelan special envoy Alex Saab, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. The U.S. Justice Department is prosecuting Saab for alleged money laundering. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

DEA agent leaked secret information about Maduro ally targeted by US, prosecutor says

Prosecutors played wiretaps in federal court in New York showing a federal narcotics agent leaked sensitive case information about one of Washington’s top criminal targets in Venezuela — Alex Saab.

FILE - Venezuelan President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodriguez, left, shakes hands with Venezuelan opposition delegate Gerardo Blyde Perez in Mexico City, Aug. 13, 2021. Venezuela’s government and opposition will resume their dialogue, mediated by Norway, with talks scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 17,2023 in Barbados, Norway’s embassy in Mexico said on Oct. 16, 2023 in a brief statement. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

Venezuela and opposition reach deal on electoral conditions. They plan to sign Tuesday in Barbados

Venezuela’s government and opposition have reached an agreement on new electoral conditions that once signed Tuesday in Barbados will trigger relief from the U.S. government on energy sanctions it imposed on President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

Icebergs float in the Southern Ocean off the coast of the South Orkney Islands, north of the Antarctic Peninsula, on March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/David Keyton)

Factory fishing in Antarctica for krill targets the cornerstone of a fragile ecosystem

Fishing for krill is banned in U.S. waters due to concerns it could impact whales, seals and other animals that feed on the shrimp-like creatures.

FILE - This June 13, 2016, file photo shows Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Florida. Jorge Hernández is expected to play a key role in the October 2023 Manhattan federal trial of two veteran DEA agents charged in a $73,000 bribery conspiracy involving leaked information about ongoing drug investigations. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)

Shadowy snitch takes starring role in bribery trial of veteran DEA agents

A beefy, bald-headed informant known by the Spanish nickname Boliche – bowling ball – is expected to play a key role in the federal trial this month in New York of two veteran U.S.

FILE - DEA Principal Deputy Administrator Louis Milione, right, stands behind Attorney General Merrick Garland during the announcement of an international law enforcement operation targeting fentanyl and opioid traffickers on the Darknet during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in Washington. In September 2023, Milione, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s recently departed second-in-command returned for a new stint with Guidepost Solutions, the high-powered consulting firm where he previously advised Purdue Pharma and a drug distributor fighting sanctions over a deluge of suspicious painkiller shipments. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

Revolving door redux: The DEA’s recently departed No. 2 returns to a Big Pharma consulting firm

Washington’s revolving door kept spinning this week as the DEA’s recently departed second-in-command returned for another stint with a consulting firm where he previously advised Purdue Pharma.

In this image from video provided by the Tampa Police Department, Joseph Ruddy, a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa, hands his business card to Officer Taylor Grant, outside his home in Temple Terrace, Fla., on the evening of July 4, 2023. When police arrived at his house to investigate a hit-and-run, Ruddy, one of the nation’s most prolific federal narcotics prosecutors, was so drunk he could barely stand up straight, leaning on the tailgate of his pickup to keep his balance. (Officer Taylor Grant/Tampa Police Department)

Body cam catches elite federal prosecutor offering his Justice Department card in DUI crash arrest

Body-camera video obtained by the AP shows one of the nation’s most prolific federal drug prosecutors offering police his business card in an apparent attempt to leverage his position to blunt the fallout from a Fourth of July crash in which he is accused of striking another vehicle and leaving.

This artist sketch depicts Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith of the Fairfax County General District Court, presiding over the assault and battery trial of CIA officer trainee Ashkan Bayatpour, seated left, in Fairfax, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Standing in front of the judge are the prosecutor, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Jenna Sands, left, and Bayatpour's defense lawyer Stuart A. Sears, right. The judge found Bayatpour guilty Wednesday of attacking a fellow CIA trainee with a scarf in the stairwell of CIA headquarters at Langley last year. Seated right is an unidentified defense team member. (Dana Verkouteren via AP)

CIA stairwell attack among flood of sexual misconduct complaints at spy agency

A CIA officer trainee has been convicted in Virginia of attacking a female colleague with a scarf and kissing her inside a stairwell at the agency’s headquarters in Langley.

FILE - Colombian paramilitary warlord Salvatore Mancuso is escorted by U.S. DEA agents upon his arrival to Opa-locka, Florida, May 13, 2008. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio called on the Biden administration Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, to reject Colombia's request for extradition of Mancuso after he was named a peace envoy in the South American nation. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

Senator Rubio urges Biden administration to reject a former warlord’s extradition to Colombia

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is calling on the Biden administration to reject Colombia’s request for extradition of a former warlord after he was named a peace envoy in the South American nation.

FILE - Former U.S. Rep. David Rivera speaks with media outside Miami federal court, in Miami, Dec. 20, 2022. The former Miami congressman who signed a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government not only did no apparent work, but also channeled a large chunk of the money to a yacht company on behalf of a fugitive billionaire, according to new allegations in a civil suit filed Friday, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Joshua Goodman, File)

Judge criticizes prosecutors’ handling of Venezuela case against ex-Miami congressman

A federal judge in Miami is criticizing prosecutors for an apparent attempt to undercut a court order and try to take control of an oceanside condo belonging to a former Republican congressman ahead of a high-profile trial connected to a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s government.

FILE - In this image from video provided by C-SPAN, Louis Milione, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's principal deputy administrator, speaks during a hearing held by the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health in Washington on Dec. 2, 2021. Milione, the DEA’s second-in-command, quietly resigned in 2023, amid reporting by The Associated Press that he previously consulted for a pharmaceutical distributor sanctioned for a deluge of suspicious painkiller shipments and did similar work for the drugmaker that became the face of the opioid epidemic: Purdue Pharma. (C-SPAN via AP, File)

Revolving Door: DEA’s No.2 quits amid reports of previous consulting work for Big Pharma

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s second-in-command has quietly stepped down amid reporting by The Associated Press that he previously consulted for a pharmaceutical distributor sanctioned for a deluge of suspicious painkiller shipments and did similar work for the drugmaker that became the

FILE - Former Venezuelan military spy chief, retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal, walks out of prison in Estremera on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain on Sept. 15, 2019. Carvajal, wanted on charges of drug trafficking by the United States, is on his way from Spain to the New York on extradition orders, an official with knowledge of the case and his lawyer said Wednesday July 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

Ex-Venezuelan spy chief is extradited from Spain to US on drug trafficking charges

A former Venezuelan spymaster close to the country’s late leader Hugo Chávez has been extradited to New York from Spain to face decade-old drug trafficking charges.

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2012 file photo, police patrol a coca field as hired farmers uproot coca shrubs as part of a manual eradication campaign of illegal crops in San Miguel on Colombia's southern border with Ecuador. The U.S. State Department confirmed on July 13, 2023 that the Biden administration has suspended satellite monitoring of coca crops in Colombia. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)

Biden administration suspends satellite monitoring of Colombian coca crops as cocaine surges

The Biden administration has quietly suspended satellite monitoring of coca crops in Colombia amid a surge of cocaine flowing into the U.S. from South America.

FILE - Haiti's President Jovenel Moise walks with his wife Martine to the National Palace after being sworn-in, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Feb. 7, 2017. Attorneys for the widow of the slain president filed a lawsuit on June 22, 2023 in Florida against those accused in his assassination, which is still under investigation. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)

Widow of slain Haitian president files lawsuit against suspects seeking trial and damages

Attorneys for the widow of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moïse have filed a lawsuit in Florida against those accused in the assassination.

Former President Donald Trump leaves the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in Miami. Trump appeared in federal court Tuesday on dozens of felony charges accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents and thwarting the Justice Department's efforts to get the records back. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Trump’s historic federal arraignment was virtually invisible to the public

Former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on federal charges in Miami was historic. Yet it was virtually invisible to all who wanted to follow it.

Former President Donald Trump greets supporters at Versailles restaurant on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in Miami. Trump appeared in federal court Tuesday on dozens of felony charges accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents and thwarting the Justice Department's efforts to get the records back. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In court, Trump faced charges with no cameras present. Outside, he campaigned for all to see

Former President Donald Trump gave a wave and thumbs-up to crowds gathered outside the federal courthouse in downtown Miami as he left his first court appearance on federal criminal charges.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump, rally outside the Trump National Doral resort, Monday June 12, 2023 in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In Miami, Trump’s ardent backers are a sign of the city’s rightward shift

MIAMI (AP) — Florida’s shift to the right is perhaps nowhere more notable than in this vibrant swath of the state’s southeast coast where the latest Donald Trump drama is unfolding.

FILE - U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, April 14, 2023. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration stripped one of the nation's largest drug distributors of its license to sell highly addictive painkillers Friday, May 26, after determining it failed to flag thousands of suspicious orders at the height of the opioid crisis. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

After yearslong delay, DEA revokes license of drug distributor over opioid crisis failures

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has stripped one of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical distributors of its license to sell highly addictive painkillers after determining it failed to flag thousands of suspicious, high-volume orders at the height of the opioid crisis.

In this image from video provided by C-SPAN, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram speaks during a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science in Washington on May 10, 2023. At center left behind Milgram is Louis Milione. After temporarily leaving the DEA in 2017, like dozens of colleagues in the agency's powerful-but-little-known Office of Diversion Control, Milione immediately went to work as a consultant for some of the same companies he had been tasked with regulating, including Morris & Dickson. He was named deputy administrator in 2021. On another front, a federal watchdog is investigating whether Milgram improperly awarded millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to hire her past associates. (C-SPAN via AP)

DEA’s failure to punish distributor blamed in opioid crisis raises revolving door questions

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has allowed one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to keep shipping highly addictive painkillers for nearly four years after a judge recommended it be stripped of its license for its “cavalier disregard” of thousands of

In this image from video provided by C-SPAN, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram speaks during a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science in Washington on May 10, 2023. At center left behind Milgram is Louis Milione. After temporarily leaving the DEA in 2017, like dozens of colleagues in the agency's powerful-but-little-known Office of Diversion Control, Milione immediately went to work as a consultant for some of the same companies he had been tasked with regulating, including Morris & Dickson. He was named deputy administrator in 2021. On another front, a federal watchdog is investigating whether Milgram improperly awarded millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to hire her past associates. (C-SPAN via AP)

Takeaways of AP report on DEA probe of drug distributor accused of fueling opioid epidemic

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has allowed one of the nation’s largest wholesale drug distributors to keep shipping addictive painkillers for nearly four years despite a judge’s recommendation to strip its license for turning a blind eye to thousands of suspicious op

US judge in Texas dismisses charges against Swiss banker allegedly tied to Venezuela bribery scheme

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in Houston has dismissed criminal charges against a Swiss banker accused of helping stash millions in bribes paid to senior Venezuelan oil officials over long delays in bringing the case to trial.

In this July 2021 photo provided by Sea Shepherd, the Chang Tai 802, a Chinese-flagged ship, fishes for squid at night on the high seas off the west coast of South America. During an at-sea encounter, an Indonesian crew member screamed from the stern of the vessel “I want to go home.” The Chang Tai 802 fished for more than a year and finally returned to port in China in August 2022, according to research by the Peruvian fishing consultancy Artisonal. After a brief visit, it returned to South America a month later. (Isaac Haslam/Sea Shepherd via AP)

Study: China’s squid fleet avoids Peru to dodge new port law

A port regulation adopted by Peru to combat illegal fishing by Chinese squid vessels appears to have driven the world’s largest overseas fishing fleet deeper into the shadows and raised the risk of forced labor.