Colombian President Gustavo Petro discussed with Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro the possibility of tackling drug trafficking together on the border between the two countries, particularly in the Catatumbo River where a joint action plan is under development given the security crisis stemming from activities by the National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas.
The African Union's (AU) public health agency released an advisory Thursday noting that 5,842 cases of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) had been recorded in 21 countries, with 38 deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Africa (CDC Africa) warned of an upward trend, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Central Africa.
Venezuelan opposition leaders were told by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the Donald Trump administration would hold Edmundo González Urrutia as the truthful President of Venezuela following the controversial July 28, 2024, elections Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won based only on a declaration from the National Electoral Council (CNE) later upheld by the Supreme Court, both of which are under the control of the Chavista regime.
Argentine President Javier Milei said Thursday during his appearance before the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos (Switzerland) that we must eliminate the virus of woke ideology that has been subverting the Western civilization's values over the past few years. Milei likened this aberrant ideology to a virus and insisted it was the cancer that must be removed if the golden age was to prevail.
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team landed in Buenos Aires Wednesday to discuss Argentina's eligibility for a US$ 11 billion new loan to make up for the South American country's currently negative reserves. The mission is headed by the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department Deputy Director Luis Cubeddu.
As controversial US Ambassador Marc Ostfield completed his assignment in Asunción, the US diplomatic mission was left temporarily under Chargé d'Affairs Amir Masliyah -who has been Deputy Mission Chief since July 2022.
The US dollar fell Wednesday below R$ 6 following Donald Trump's second inauguration this week in Washington DC, thus reaching its lowest level since November. Meanwhile, the stock market fell for the first time after three straight rises. The commercial dollar closed Wednesday at R$ 5.946 after hitting R$ 5.91 around 2 pm. So far this year, the US dollar went down by 3.79%.
Former Salvadoran President Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena, better known as Mauricio Funes, died Tuesday local time in exile in Nicaragua where Daniel Ortega's Sandinista regime had granted him citizenship, the Health Ministry announced in a statement.