Latin America

• Wednesday, September 19th 2018 - 09:03 UTC

  Peruvian president in standoff with congress: fresh elections if reforms are not approved

  

  Peru's president is facing a standoff with lawmakers over his call for a referendum on anti-corruption measures and constitutional reforms.

• Friday, September 14th 2018 - 09:20 UTC

  South Korea interested in becoming associate member of the Pacific Alliance

  

  South Korea and Chile agreed on Wednesday to bolster substantive bilateral partnerships in various sectors on the basis of their free trade agreement (FTA). Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha and his Chilean counterpart Roberto Ampuero held talks on the sidelines of a regional meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Hanoi, according to Kang's ministry.

• Tuesday, September 11th 2018 - 14:57 UTC

  Hunger increases and affects 39 million people in Latin America

  

  Hunger reached 821 million people in 2017 worldwide, of which about 39 million are Latin American, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The figure represents a deterioration of 6.1% in Latin America and the Caribbean compared to previous years and could be due to the economic slowdown in South America, especially marked by the case of Venezuela, the UN agency said on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, September 11th 2018 - 09:29 UTC

  El Niño 2018/19 could be a repeat of 2015/16, cautions WMO

  

  There's a 70% chance of a recurrence of the El Niño weather event before the end of this year, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The last El Niño occurred in 2015-16 and impacted weather patterns around the world, but researchers say they are not expecting this new one to be as intense as 2015-16.

• Monday, September 10th 2018 - 18:15 UTC

  Several dead in military complex amid revelations of coup plans in Venezuela

  

  Eight alleged criminals were killed on Sunday at the most important military complex in Venezuela amid the revelations about plans for a coup supported by the government of the United States.

• Friday, September 7th 2018 - 09:22 UTC

  Latin American countries will receive Venezuelan migrants even with expired documents

  

  Eleven Latin American countries say that they have agreed to allow Venezuelans leaving their homeland to enter their countries even if their travel documents have expired. More than 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled the country's hyperinflation and severe shortages, but many do not have valid passports because renewing them can take years.

• Friday, September 7th 2018 - 09:12 UTC

  United States describes Nicaragua's civil unrest a threat to the region's security

  

  United States declared Nicaragua’s civil unrest a threat to the region’s security, saying government repression of protests risked creating an overwhelming displacement of people akin to Venezuela or Syria. More than 300 people have been killed and 2,000 injured in crackdowns by Nicaraguan police and armed groups in protests that began in April over an abortive plan by leftist President Daniel Ortega’s government to reduce welfare benefits.

• Tuesday, September 4th 2018 - 08:41 UTC

  Brazil's Real and Argentina's Peso slumped on Monday

  

  The Brazilian Real slumped on Monday as mounting concerns over this year's presidential election added to global risk aversion, while the Argentine peso extended a recent sell-off that also spread into stock markets in Latin America.

• Friday, August 31st 2018 - 07:43 UTC

  Argentine peso plummets and central bank raises interest rate to 60%

  

  The Argentine Peso plummeted 15.6% to a new record on Thursday, and ended trading at 39.87 after having reached almost 42 Pesos to the US dollar in mid afternoon. This follows on the Wednesday which also witnessed the Argentine currency slide 7% to the greenback.

• Thursday, August 30th 2018 - 09:11 UTC

  Macri addresses the nation; IMF pledges more support but Peso falls 7%, a record 34 to the US dollar

  

  Argentina's Peso suffered its biggest one-day slide in almost three years on Wednesday after the central bank sold reserves for a second straight day and the president asked the International Monetary Fund for early release of standby funds.