
At least nine people were killed following an assault on the Ecuadorian Artisanal Fishing Port of Esmeraldas Tuesday morning by a group of 30 heavily-armed militias who arrived in two boats and a cab and then left by sea. The perpetrators are still unaccounted for, it was reported.

Negotiations for an agreement between Mercosur and Canada to eliminate tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods, services, intellectual property, and government purchases are to resume after more than three years, CNN Brazil reported. The initiative had been halted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro Sunday said he was willing to meet with former paramilitary leaders to discuss the peace process. The head of state, a former guerrilla fighter himself, insisted that those who have served their sentences and who have publicly expressed their willingness to meet should explain to what extent the peace process ... can be finished and finalized.

Peruvian health authorities are detecting a surge in the number of cases of Covid-19 nationwide. Health Minister Rosa Gutiérrez told reporters that the increase had been focused on Lima and in the northern parts of the country.

Uruguayan health authorities have issued a series of recommendations to nationals of the South American country traveling abroad, particularly to Argentina, for the Easter Weekend due to a surge in the number of dengue cases detected in the neighboring nation. Health Minister Karina Rando stressed that those returning from that country and from Brazil should be attentive to possible symptoms for 10 or 12 days.

The Venezuelan administration of President Nicolás Maduro was dealt another international setback Thursday when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday turned down new objections filed by Caracas regarding the territorial dispute with Guyana over the oil-rich Essequibo.

Argentina made official its return to the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), founded in 2009 and from which it had left in 2019, to promote its institutional revitalization and build an increasingly integrated region, official sources said Thursday.

By Jorge G Castañeda and Carlos Ominami (*), NEW YORK – The best way to safeguard democracy in Latin America is to build strong welfare states. But since this is a medium- to long-term project, meeting the short-term threat of authoritarian populism will require more immediate solutions.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández and his Chilean colleague Gabriel Boric discussed Wednesday in Santiago issues of bilateral and regional interest during an encounter to celebrate the 205h anniversary of the so-called Abrazo de Maipú (Maipú hug) between independence heroes José de San Martín and Bernardo O'Higgins.

A US judge Wednesday ordered the arrest of former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique, who is said to have received millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for awarding works to the Brazilian company Odebrecht. The Court revoked Toledo's parole and ruled him taken into custody to proceed with his extradition to his country, where he faces charges of corruption.