Regional News

HAVANA,  (Reuters) – When the U.S. embassy in Havana reopened last May to Cubans seeking visas after a nearly five-year hiatus, the once proud 1950s vintage building was in shambles.

BOGOTA,  (Reuters) – Four Indigenous children who were missing for more than five weeks in a jungle in Colombia’s south following a deadly plane crash arrived in the capital Bogota early today for medical treatment.

SANTIAGO,  (Reuters) – Chile has been hit by its most severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) outbreak in years, killing four infants and putting strain on pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) capacity.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Trillions of dollars in reparations are owed to nations affected by slavery, a recently concluded study on the quantification of reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery (TCS) in the Americas and the Caribbean has found.

BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) – A major Argentine local currency debt swap concluded ‘very successfully’, a government spokesperson said yesterday, as the country looks to keep state finances afloat amid rampant inflation at 109% and dwindling foreign currency reserves.

WASHINGTON/HAVANA,  (Reuters) – China has reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island roughly 100 miles (160 km) from Florida, the Wall Street Journal said yesterday, but the U.S.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will announce more than US$100 million in new assistance for the Caribbean when she visits The Bahamas today, including the establishment of two U.S.

LIMA,  (Reuters) – A group of indigenous protesters in Peru’s remote Amazon region attacked two oil tankers with gasoline bombs apparently because they are angry about changes by the government to social oil funds, the operator of the vessels said yesterday.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, one of the leading contenders to be the country’s next leader, said yesterday he will resign to focus on winning the presidential nomination of the ruling party for the 2024 election.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – Mexico’s president said yesterday a key priority next year will be to improve public sector salaries, as the country gears up for the next presidential election in June 2024.

(Trinidad Guardian) After weeks of speculation, the Prime Minister declared that Local Government Elections will take place on Monday, August 14.

QUITO,  (Reuters) – Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso’s political movement Creating Opportunities will not field candidates for the country’s early presidential or legislative elections, it said yesterday.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil’s government yesterday unveiled how it plans to meet a pledge to eliminate deforestation in the Amazon by 2030, using strengthened law enforcement against environmental crimes and other measures in the world’s largest tropical rainforest.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Mexico’s ruling party comfortably captured a major historic stronghold of the opposition in an election on Sunday, consolidating President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s hold on power ahead of the battle to succeed him next year.

BUENOS AIRES,  (Reuters) – Argentina’s economy ministry said yesterday it had launched a voluntary asset conversion operation as the South American country battles tumbling foreign reserves that threaten its ability to meet payments.

BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – Brazil’s government will launch a social program to pay additional grants to poor families that work in forest protection, environment minister Marina Silva said yesterday, in a bid to boost protection of the Amazon rainforest.

BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – Brazil’s government today unveiled how it plans to meet a pledge to eliminate deforestation in the Amazon by 2030, using strengthened law enforcement against environmental crimes and other measures in the world’s largest tropical rainforest.

RIYADH,  (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived in Saudi Arabia today, state media reported, as the kingdom continues to expand its diplomatic outreach beyond traditional Western alliances.

(Trinidad Express) Coast Guard officers were the ones responsible for the rape and battery of a 21-year-old Venezuelan woman at the Heliport in Chaguaramas last month.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexicans were voting in a state election on Sunday that looks poised to bolster President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ahead of the race to succeed him, with his party forecast to capture the chief remaining bastion of the country’s old rulers.