2017 AP LATIN AMERICA YEAR END PHOTOS - A military police officer conducts a head count of inmates at the Alcacuz prison in Nisia Floresta, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017. Military police entered the prison in northeastern Brazil where a temporary wall separating two rival gangs was being built, after a week of chaos and fighting between rival gangs that left dozens of inmates dead. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
December 11, 2017 - 9:02 PM
In this photo gallery, The Associated Press highlights some of the top images made during 2017 by photojournalists based in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Across the region, severe weather and natural disasters had fatal consequences. Mexico was struck by two deadly earthquakes and a string of hurricanes battered the Caribbean. Wildfires caused historic devastation in Chile and flash flooding surprised residents in Peru's desert capital, Lima.
Violence surged again in Mexico, with the resort city of Acapulco hit particularly hard. Brazilian police lost control of more of Rio de Janeiro's slums to gangs. Political unrest in Venezuela killed 369 people. A fire at an overcrowded children's home killed 40 girls in Guatemala, while domestic violence left scars on survivors across Argentina.
Despite all the bad news, the region's peoples found solace in their traditions and community. Peruvians dolled up in fantastical costumes for the Snow Star festival. Mexican indigenous in Chiapas worked to launch their first presidential candidate: a woman known as "MariChuy." And Pope Francis visited Colombia where the rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia laid down their arms under the peace deal signed with the government.
In the world of sports, female boxers worked to pave the way to Cuba's first women's boxing team, and cowboys were bucked off horses in Uruguay. Latin America soccer darling Leonel Messi tied the knot in his native Argentina.
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See all the photos at the AP Images photo blog, curated by photo editors Enric Marti, Dario Lopez, Leslie Mazoch and Anita Baca in Mexico City.
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On Twitter:
Enric Marti: https://twitter.com/EFM1959
Dario Lopez: https://twitter.com/DarioLopezMills
Leslie Mazoch: https://twitter.com/LeslieMazoch
Anita Baca: https://twitter/com/LatDesk
AP photographers and photo editors: https://twitter.com/AP/lists/ap-photographers
News from © The Associated Press, 2017