"It's just after dawn and on the gleaming Pacific Ocean, 365 miles off the coast of Costa Rica, the hunt is on for pirates. But these 21st-century buccaneers are looting the treasure beneath the waves, not the gold and silver coins buried long ago on Cocos Island a few miles away."

"PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti -- Only cactus grows along the dirt road fringing arid fields on the way to the isolated village of Bas des Moustiques, on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Port-de-Paix in Haiti."

"Scientists are raising the alarm about the possible environmental consequences of a huge shipping canal that could cut across Nicaragua, from the Pacific to the Atlantic."

"A former democratic senator and governor from Florida, Bob Graham, visited Cuba this week to discuss oil spill prevention and preparedness during a trip that has caused a stir among exiles and Cuba watchers due to his traditional support for tough sanctions against the Communist-ruled Caribbean island."

"SOUBISE, Grenada -- When Hurricane Ivan slammed into this small island almost a decade ago, Esley Sanderson leaped from inside his house to save his life."

"Tropical storm warnings were issued for Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean on Monday as Tropical Storm Chantal chugged along a course that could take it near Florida's Atlantic coast by the weekend."

"As Central American coffee growers are staggered by a spreading fungal disease, the price and availability of good coffee hangs in the balance."

"The government of Nicaragua is fast-tracking a bill that would authorize a company from China to build a new canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The dream of a Nicaraguan canal dates back more than a century."

"LIMÓN, Costa Rica -- Costa Rican environmentalist Jairo Mora Sandoval was murdered on May 30, while attempting to protect leatherback turtle nests on Moín Beach, on Costa Rica’s northern Caribbean coast. He was 26."

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A U.S. agency has issued a long-awaited report saying it found no proof that decades of military practice bombing on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques sickened residents who blame it for high rates of cancer, asthma and other illnesses."