After considering the proposals made by opposition parties and NGOs, and irregularities during the recent election for governor in the province of Tucumán, Argentina's top electoral court has announced more than 20 measures aimed at reinforcing the transparency of the October 25 general elections.
A group of United Nations experts have started to analyze water samples in the Argentine northeastern province of San Juan where a spill from a malfunctioning cyanide pipeline in a gold mine belonging to Canada's multinational Barrick Gold has caused a water emergency. The Veladero mine in San Juan is one of the largest in Argentina and apparently the spill reached the rivers Jachal, Las Taguas and Blanco.
Pope Francis met Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Sunday hours after warning Cubans to beware the dangers of ideology and the lure of selfishness as the island enters a new era of closer ties with the United States. Latin America's first pope and Castro, the region's last surviving revolutionary icon of the 20th century, discussed religion and world affairs at the home of the 89-year-old retired president for about 40 minutes.
Dissidents opposed to Cuba’s regime were arrested when they tried approaching Pope Francis in Havana on Sunday, an activist group reported. The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba identified the dissidents as Patriotic Union of Cuba members Zaqueo Baéz, Boris Reni, Aymara Nieto Muñoz and Maria Josefa Acon Sardiña, who is also a member of the Ladies in White, a peaceful protest group founded by female relatives of Cuban political prisoners.
The Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara’s daughter, Aleida Guevara refused to go to a mass Pope Francis conducted on Sunday during his historic Cuban trip, saying it would be “hypocritical” of her to be present.
Argentine president Cristina Fernández took part in Pope Francis' Sunday's mass from Havana's Plaza de la Revolucion, as she watched the pontiff in the company of her Cuban counterpart Raul Castro. Sitting next to the Cuban president, CFK followed Francis' services as he called for society to “protect the most fragile,” in a service witnessed by more than 100,000 worshippers at the Havana landmark.
Brazil's Supreme Court banned corporate contributions to political campaigns and parties, a hot issue as investigators in the country's biggest corruption scandal say such financing was used by businesses to win lucrative contracts with state-run oil company Petrobras.