Latin America

• Sunday, January 20th 2019 - 05:07 UTC

  Lopez Obrador vows to end fuel theft; dozens die when thieves puncture gasoline pipeline

  

  Mexico’s president vowed on Saturday to redouble his fight against an epidemic of fuel theft after thieves punctured a pipeline north of Mexico City, causing an explosion that killed at least 73 people and injured 75 others. The blast underscored the deadly perils of the fuel-theft racket, which has cost the government billions of dollars a year and has been the target of a weeks' long crackdown by the administration of Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

• Friday, January 18th 2019 - 10:12 UTC

  Evo Morales’ Bolivia: Abiding the constitution or ensuring the results of sustained economic growth

  

  The Economist has published a piece on Bolivia and its first indigenous president, Evo Morales, who has managed the economy of the continent's poorest country with sustained success during thirteen years. But he has also a strong authoritarian attitude, given his dominance of government branches, and the support of the electorate, mostly indigenous or mestizo. In this scenario, he is running for a fourth consecutive presidential period, which the Constitution bans.

• Friday, January 18th 2019 - 09:30 UTC

  Brazilian government meets Venezuelan opposition leaders to discuss Maduro's “illegitimacy”

  

  Brazilian and US officials met Venezuelan opposition leaders in Brasilia on Thursday to discuss the political crisis in the oil-rich country ruled by president Nicolas Maduro, Brazil's foreign ministry reported.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 19:30 UTC

  Nine killed and dozens injured with car-bomb in Bogotá next to police academy

  

  At least nine people were killed and dozens more injured in a car bombing at a police academy in Colombia's capital, Bogotá on Thursday, recalling the high-profile attacks associated with bloodiest chapters of the country's drug-fueled guerrilla conflict.

• Thursday, January 17th 2019 - 07:42 UTC

  Bolsonaro and Macri agree to “review and perfect” Mercosur, and advance trade talks with EU

  

  Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri said they agreed to continue integrating their economies (number one and two in South America), as strategic partners, by “perfecting” the Mercosur trade block and pressing ahead with negotiations that are already underway, such as the ongoing free trade and cooperation agreement with the European Union.

• Wednesday, January 16th 2019 - 08:42 UTC

  Massive organized fuel theft in Mexico, denounces Lopez Obrador

  

  Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that widespread fuel theft extended to oil drilling platforms and he pledged to take actions to alleviate shortages sparked by his crackdown on gasoline thieves.

• Tuesday, January 15th 2019 - 09:26 UTC

  Colombia working on a (conservative) replacement for Unasur

  

  Colombian President Ivan Duque said he is talking with like-minded conservative leaders to create a regional bloc that would replace the Venezuelan-influenced Union of South American Nations, Unasur.

• Monday, January 14th 2019 - 09:20 UTC

  Peru establishes an annual Patagonian toothfish TAC of 161 tons

  

  The Peruvian Ministry of Production has established the maximum allowable catch of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) resource for the current year at 161 tones. According to ministerial Resolution 007/2019, the quota may be modified if the Institute of the Sea Peru has proven evidence of greater availability of the resource, for which purpose it shall remit the recommendation with the corresponding measures to the Production ministry.

• Monday, January 14th 2019 - 08:45 UTC

  Italian political militant at large for years extradited from Bolivia/Brazil to Rome

  

  An Italian former communist militant captured in Bolivia is on a plane back to Rome, officials have confirmed. Cesare Battisti, 64, is wanted for four murders in Italy during the 1970s, which he denies committing. He was extradited after being found in Santa Cruz de La Sierra in an international police operation.

• Friday, January 11th 2019 - 21:16 UTC

  Mexico's crackdown on fuel theft generates supply shortfalls

  

  Gasoline shortages in Mexico sparked by a crackdown on fuel theft prompted warnings from business leaders that industries like car making will suffer if the shortfalls persist as lines at gas stations in the capital grew during the week.