Latin America & Caribbean in Review

This monthly gallery features some of the top photojournalism made by Associated Press photographers documenting Latin America and the Caribbean during the month of December.

In this photo published in December, a Mexican federal police officer assigned to the National Guard and a migration agent help a woman off the cargo hold of a truck packed with migrants being smuggled, at an immigration checkpoint where the truck was stopped in Medellin de Bravo, Veracruz state, Mexico, Nov. 26, 2019. The final tally of people being smuggled in the truck was 74. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

A former policeman walks through an abandoned home, torched by the Zetas cartel eight years ago in Allende, Coahuila state, Mexico, Dec. 3, 2019. In an act of revenge cartel members in 2011 razed and burned houses and disappeared people just by bearing the last name of the alleged traitor. Residents of the small town of Villa Union, 12 miles from Allende, said that they fear a return to the days of 2010-2013, when the old Zetas cartel killed, burned and abducted Coahuila citizens.  (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Fighting cocks are kept inside boxes before being made to fight at the Campanillas cockfighting club in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, Dec. 18, 2019. Puerto Rico’s governor signed a bill authorizing cockfighting in defiance of a federal ban on the practice. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

A member of the Caracas FC fan club holds the edge of a giant banner before the final championship match of the national league, between Deportivo Tachira and Caracas FC, at Estadio Olimpico in Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 1, 2019. Venezuela is the only South American country where baseball and not soccer is the No. 1 sport. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva celebrates scoring at a friendly soccer match with members of the Landless Workers Movement in Guararema, Brazil, Dec. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

An anti-government demonstrator is knocked over by a police water cannon in Santiago, Chile, Dec. 9, 2019. Student protests have become a nationwide call for socio-economic equality and better social services, so far forcing Chilean President Sebastian Pinera to increase benefits for the poor and disadvantaged and start a process of constitutional reform. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A dog barks on top of a chapel for Saint Lazaro in​​ Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba, Dec. 16, 2019. The Catholic Saint, protector of the sick, is also known as the Afro-Cuban Yoruba deity “Babalu-Aye.” (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Former soccer great Diego Maradona flashes victory signs to fans below at the Casa Rosada government house after meeting with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec. 26, 2019. Decades ago, Maradona held up his team's soccer trophy at this spot on the balcony after winning the World Cup in Mexico in 1986. (AP Photo/Marcos Brindicci)

Kenya's Kibiwott Kandie celebrates after winning the annual Sao Silvestre race in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Dec. 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

In this photo published in December, a family sits outside their home as forensic workers investigate a body at a crime scene in the Rivera Hernandez neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Nov. 30, 2019. The shifting lines of control of the various gangs, MS-13, Mara 18 and Los Vatos Locos, dodge and weave through Rivera Hernandez, a place where even the police are afraid. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

A woman sits behind the coffin of Mario Pavon, one of the prisoners who died the previous day during a riot inside El Porvenir prison, as his remains are carried away by family members in a truck after claiming the body at the morgue in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Dec. 23, 2019. At least 16 prisoners died during fighting inside a detention center in Honduras, two days after rioting at another prison killed 18 inmates, authorities said. (AP Photo/Elmer Martinez)

Garbage litters Capurro Beach in the bay of Montevideo, Uruguay, Dec. 2, 2019. The UN Climate Change Conference COP25 kicked off in Madrid with urgent calls to make serious progress on climate action. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

In this photo published in December, Zaida Bravo, who suffers Parkinson's disease and is malnourished, waits for dinner on her dirty mattress in her one room living quarters in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Nov. 28, 2019. The 48-year-old's sister Ana Bravo brings her food when she can, but for the last four years the older sister has had trouble affording even rice or cornmeal. “We can't find her medicine or even know how to help her, so we're letting what happens happen,” Ana Bravo, 57, said. “Sometimes, I'm afraid to go inside and find her dead.” (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

A woman places a Panamanian flag on the grave of a military man who died during the 1989 U.S. military invasion that ousted Panama's strongman Manuel Noriega, on the 30th anniversary of the invasion in Panama City, Dec. 20, 2019. According to official figures, 300 Panamanian soldiers and 214 civilians died during the invasion, though the number remains controversial and human rights groups believe it is much higher. Twenty-three U.S. soldiers also perished. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Argentina's new President Alberto Fernandez, left, embraces outgoing president Mauricio Macri after taking the oath of office at Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Graffiti against Bolivia's former President Evo Morales that reads in Spanish "Evo murderer, dictator" covers the entrance to a neighborhood in La Paz, Bolivia, Dec. 3, 2019. Morales held office for nearly 14 years, starting in 2006, and twice won reelection with healthy majorities as the country's economy boomed. But he wore out the welcome for many, especially protesters who accused him of rigging this year's third reelection vote.(AP Photo/Juan Karita)

A fan of Brazil's Flamengo soccer team reacts after England's Liverpool scored a goal against her team as she watches a live broadcast of the FIFA Club World Cup final soccer match, in the Rocinha slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dec. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Female members of the Zapatista militia, carrying bows and arrows, wait for coffee at sunrise during a gathering titled The Second International Meeting of Women Who Fight, organized by the women of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in Caracol Morelia, Altamirano municipality, Chiapas state, Mexico, Dec. 27, 2019. The Zapatistas have self-governed over a large swath of Mexico's southern-most state since the rebels rose up in arms to demand greater indigenous rights in 1994. (AP Photo/Isabel Mateos)

Isaac Tepas, comforted by his mother Alba Marquez de Tepas, points toward his father William Tepas who departs with a group of Salvadorans granted temporary visas to work on a rose farm in Mississippi, following a send-off event at El Salvador International Airport in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, Dec. 19, 2019. The first group of 50 workers left for the US, under a migrant worker program that is granting visas for 100 Salvadorans to spend several months working in the US agricultural sector. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

Eliacer Flores, who says his eye was injured when he was shot by police during an anti-government demonstration, poses for a portrait during a protest outside La Moneda presidential place in Santiago, Chile, Dec. 13, 2019. The U.N. released a report which stated that there have been serious violations of human rights during the repression of recent protests in Chile. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo)

People gather around a giant baby Jesus statue in preparation for Christmas Eve in Mexico City, Dec. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

---

Edited by Moises Castilo, AP photojournalist based in Guatemala City.