The week at a glance ... Americas

Michoacán, Mexico

Death toll reaches new high: At least 96 people were killed in drug violence on a single day this week, the bloodiest day yet in the all-out war on drug cartels launched in 2006. In the state of Michoacán, gunmen ambushed a convoy of federal police, killing 12 officers. In the city of Mazatlan, 29 inmates were shot and stabbed to death in a fight between drug gangs. Other gun battles claimed lives across the country. The soaring violence came on the very day President Felipe Calderón published an op-ed in major Mexican newspapers defending his deployment of army troops to areas where cartels hold sway. “If we remain with our arms crossed,” he wrote, “we will remain in the grip of organized crime, we will always live in fear, our children will have no future, there will be more violence, and we will lose our freedom.”

Mexico City

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Matador runs away: A Mexican matador was arrested and charged with breach of contract after he got scared and ran out of the ring in the middle of a bullfight. Christian Hernández, 22, had been badly gored a few months ago. This week, when the bull charged toward him, he dropped his cape and leaped over the wall, drawing hoots and boos from the crowd. Police released him after he paid a fine. “There are some things you must be aware of about yourself,” Hernández said. “I didn’t have the ability, I didn’t have the balls, this is not my thing.” He has announced his retirement.

Havana

Dissidents want trade: Dozens of Cuba’s most famous anti-Castro dissidents have called on the U.S. to ease its embargo against their country. “We share the opinion that the isolation of the people of Cuba benefits the most inflexible interests of its government, while any opening serves to inform and empower the Cuban people and helps to further strengthen our civil society,” the dissidents said in a letter to the U.S. Congress. The letter urges support of a pending bill that would lift the ban on Americans traveling to Cuba and increase U.S. food exports. The 74 signers include blogger Yoani Sánchez and hunger striker Guillermo Fariñas.