Mexico’s President expressed his condolences for the victims of a deadly gas tanker explosion north of Mexico City. The death toll rose to 20 people, with at least 36 others hurt. The bodies of the sons of two prominent Mexican journalists were laid to rest in the state of Chihuahua, just days after they were gunned down. A local governor said one of the men was killed because of a drug debt. Japanese researchers say they may have found a lost continent that once existed off the coast of Brazil. The slab of granite found in the Atlantic may be part of a land mass swallowed by waves. And Panama has ordered schools to close and government offices to reduce open hours in an effort to save power. A severe drought is causing the country to suffer from a power shortage.

The sons of prominent Mexican journalists David Paramo and Martha Gonzalez were killed by gunman as they were driving home. A spokesman said that the murders are likely not related to their parents’ work. Two people were killed in Venezuela after their plane crashed into a building. Plumes of smoke were seen rising into the sky as crews rushed to the scene. Ecuador’s President Correa defended the country’s ambassador to Peru after a supermarket fight with female shoppers. The ambassador allegedly hit two Peruvian women after an argument in a checkout line. And books and records from author Ernest Hemingway’s home in Cuba will now be preserved in Boston’s John f. Kennedy library. Hemingway wrote some of his most famous works in Cuba.

In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor Nicolas Maduro won a razor-thin victory in Sunday’s presidential election. Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles said that he would only accept the results after a full recount. At least 33 people were killed in a deadly bus crash in Peru. The packed passenger bus went off a cliff. Police suspect the crash may have been caused by the bus’ condition and driver error. Chile’s former president Michelle Bachelet is ready for another go at the helm. At a massive rally in Santiago, Bachelet accepted the Socialist party’s nomination and launched her campaign. And people in Peru drummed their way to a world record. More than 1500 people turned out in Lima to break the Guinness world record for largest number of “cajon” percussion players.

Thirteen Peruvian nationals are missing and feared dead after a French oil company helicopter crashed in Peru on its way to the company’s oil fields. Authorities don’t yet know what caused the helicopter to come down. In Chile, authorities began exhuming the body of famed poet Pablo Neruda today. It’s an effort to clear up four decades of suspicion about how the Nobel Laureate died in the days after Chile’s military coup. Thousands of people ran through Bogotá to protest against the manufacture and use of landmines in Colombia. People of all ages joined the run, including some who lost limbs in landmine explosions. And two U.S. lawmakers have asked the Treasury Department for the type of license Beyoncé and Jay-Z had to travel to Cuba. The U.S. trade embargo prevents most Americans from traveling to the island without a special license.

A bus in Rio de Janeiro went over the rails of an overpass and fell some 30 feet to the street below killing at least seven people and injuring eleven others. Many of the injured are listed in critical condition and the death toll is expected to rise. At least thirty-one people have died from flash flooding in parts of Argentina’s capital. The floods-caused by torrential downpours- was deep enough to almost completely cover cars on some streets in Buenos Aires. There were clashes in today as police used tear gas to forcibly remove some two thousand alleged squatters today off of land in Peru.  Former residents say they were stunned by the sudden arrival of police on land they claimed was unoccupied for nearly thirty years. And Mexican soccer clubs will be kicking around orange-colored soccer balls for the rest of the season in an effort to fight obesity. The move is part of a campaign to promote physical exercise in the world’s second most obese country.

Celia Renteria was sure her father was still alive when she climbed up the rocky embankment early Sunday, as temperatures dipped into the 40s, said California Highway Patrol Officer Gil Hernandez. When officers responded more than an hour and a half later, they found Alejandro Renteria, 35, was dead.

“She was very courageous, being able to walk through the dark, through bushes and very rough terrain to get help for her dad,” Hernandez said. “Had she just waited there, we probably would not have found her until the next day.”

The 2010 Ford Escape was launched about 200 feet down into the canyon along an isolated stretch of the Sierra Highway in the high desert of northern Los Angeles County at about 1 a.m. Sunday, the CHP said. The vehicle overturned several times.

Celia managed to extricate herself and walk through rugged terrain to a nearby home, but nobody answered the door, the CHP said. Then she hiked up the embankment and along the road to a commuter rail station in nearby Acton where she flagged down a passing motorist at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.

In all, she trekked 1 1/2 to 2 miles.

“She walked quite a distance in a very, very threatening environment,” CHP Sgt. Tom Lackey told KABC-TV. “It’s very steep and it’s brushy and there’s also coyotes in the background.”

A helicopter transported the girl to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She was treated for minor injuries including bumps and bruises and a cut on her face.

“She’s in good condition,” Lyndsay Hutchison, a hospital spokeswoman, said Monday. She could not provide any details, citing privacy laws.

On video shot by the family in the hospital, the girl said she was cold and hurt, according to KCBS-TV. She told her family she was saddened to learn her father did not survive the crash.

A coroner’s spokesman said Monday that Alejandro Renteria was a resident of the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles.

Television footage showed crews using a long tow cable to remove the severely damaged black SUV from the canyon.

The CHP was investigating whether alcohol played a role in the crash.

Acton is a small town tucked in the mountains between Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert.

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Associated Press writer Robert Jablon contributed to this report.

In an exclusive interview with Noticiero Telemundo on Monday, Isabel Carrero Gomez alongside her two sons Miguel Perez Carrero and Mauricio Perez Carrero gave their side of the story regarding the man who has been a central figure in the plane crash that killed Rivera and five others.

“My father was famous for adhering to safety measures,” said son Miguel.

The lawsuit the family filed March 8 maintains that the fatal crash was due to the plane’s condition. They intend to disprove that the Mexican citizen suffered a heart attack or was incapacitated in some way, as Starwood’s Director of Operations Christian Esquino Núñez suggested was a possibility in an interview on “Al Rojo Vivo con Maria Celeste.”

“He had flown with Jenni Rivera before, but he didn’t fly the plane just because he knew her,” said Mauricio, who said his father had mentioned Rivera’s interest in purchasing the Learjet25 before its crash. “The company that owns the plane had to hire the best pilot in the world to fly the best artist.”

RELATED: New Jenni Rivera biography reveals deeper look at the singer’s scandals, career and family

A separate civil lawsuit previously filed in Los Angeles by relatives of four of the deceased victims – Arturo Rivera, a publicist; Jacob Yebale, makeup artist; Mario Macias Pacheco, attorney; and Jorge Armando Sanchez Vasquez, Rivera’s hairdresser – states that Perez Soto did not have the instrument flight rule license needed to fly the plane at 35,000 feet and according to the filed suit, he was not licensed to fly “passengers for hire.”

But Soto’s widow maintains that the flight was business as usual for the pilot. She says even after she learned of the crash, she thought her husband had survived – and even prepared for his homecoming.

“I had his pajamas, slippers, a glass of milk and a sandwich ready in case he arrived hungry,” said Carrero Gomez, whose sons are both commercial pilots.

RELATED: Jenni Rivera’s voice “lives on” in new song

Soto’s son Miguel said that the family has never thought Soto was incapacitated in any way before taking the pilot’s seat after Rivera’s sold out concert at Monterrey Arena.

“The truth is we never doubted his ability to fly; we never thought anything would happen,” said Miguel.

“But we’re sure he fought for his life and did everything possible to remedy any failure with the plane.”

Retired leader Fidel Castro made a rare public appearance yesterday, voting in Cuba’s parliamentary elections. Millions of Cubans went to the polls to elect the country’s National Assembly. Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Oviedo was killed in a helicopter crash over the weekend. The 69-year-old was best known for his role in a 1980s coup. Authorities in Mexico City are probing the Pemex building’s wreckage for victims and clues to the cause of the explosion.   The blast killed 33 people and injured 121.  This weekend, Copacabana played host to a unique Carnival celebration – a parade for dogs.  Dogs strolled through the streets in costume and drank nonalcoholic beer that tasted like meat. 

Alejandro Torres was co-pilot alongside 78-year-old Miguel Perez Soto when the Learjet 25 nose-dived from 28,000 feet en route to Toluca, Mexico on Dec. 9.

Torres, a Mexican citizen, passed away in the plane crash, as did the head pilot and other passengers.

A civil lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles court by the families of four of the six victims – Arturo Rivera, a publicist; Jacob Yebale, makeup artist; Mario Macias Pacheco, attorney; and Jorge Armando Sanchez Vasquez, Rivera’s hairdresser – claims Torres did not hold licensing required to fly a Learjet.

Related: Read the Jenni Rivera lawsuit

The families and estates of the deceased victims are seeking compensation for “punitive damages” from all parties involved with the decision to rent and fly the plane the morning of Dec. 9. Jenni Rivera Enterprises, Inc., as well as the owners and financiers of the Learjet 25, have been named defendants in the lawsuit.

“What I ask for is that the name of my son comes out clean and vindicated,” said Lizette Alvarez, Torres’ mother told NBC Corpus Christi affiliate  KRIS-TV. “That’s what I ask for as a mother – for his name to be respected, and to give him the place that he deserves.”

Attorney Craig Sico, who specializes in aviation law, said he is confident that his investigation will prove that Torres was innocent of any wrongdoing which may have caused the crash.

“We think this is completely an aircraft issue and we believe that the aircraft issue is one that will bear out to be either maintenance or design of some nature.”

Since Rivera’s death, the 43-year-old banda and norteña  singer has posthumously dominated Billboard’s Latin music charts.

“La Misma Gran Señora”  – released just two days after the tragic plane crash – is currently ranked #1, with 2011′s “Joyas Prestadas: Pop” and “Joyas Prestadas: Banda”  rounding out the top three albums on the list of top-selling Latin albums.

NBC Affiliate KRIS-TV contributed to this report

Opposition leaders in Venezuela said President Hugo Chavez is no longer fit to govern and new elections should be held. The ailing leader has not been seen for almost a month as he recovers from surgery in Cuba. His inauguration takes place on Thursday. Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto announced reforms for 2013 in a televised address yesterday.  He promised to address education, improve the economy and create jobs. Five Americans and two Peruvians are dead after a helicopter crashed in the Amazon jungle in Peru. The people on board worked for an oil exploration firm.  The cause of the crash is unknown. Argentinean soccer player Lionel Messi won the Balloon d’Or World Player of the Year award for a fourth year running. Only 25, the Barcelona player earned a world record in 2012 for scoring 91 goals in one year.