Latin America

• Tuesday, December 27th 2016 - 08:52 UTC

  Guatemalan authorities open 12 shelters due to low temperatures

  

  Twelve shelters have been opened in different parts of Guatemala to serve low-income people, due to the low temperatures, the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) said on Monday.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2016 - 20:09 UTC

  Maduro reopens Colombian border after eight days

  

  The government of Nicolás Maduro Tuesday reopened its border with Colombia, eight days after closing it to combat smuggling, it was announced.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2016 - 18:50 UTC

  Fireworks market explosion kills at least 31 in Mexico

  

  A huge explosion on Tuesday at the San Pablito fireworks market outside Mexico City has killed at least 31 people, according to the latest reports, while scores were injured. It was said that there were around 300 tonnes of fireworks on site at the time of the explosion, but that is yet to be confirmed.

• Wednesday, December 21st 2016 - 06:44 UTC

  Four people die as Colombian freighter fails takeoff attempt

  

  A Colombian freighter belonging to the airline Aerosucre failed to get properly airborne from Puerto Carreño and ended up crashing onto the ground and bursting into flames five nautical miles from the runway.

• Tuesday, December 20th 2016 - 08:19 UTC

  Macri and Bachelet agree on a Mercosur-Pacific Alliance meeting in first half of 2017

  

  Argentina and Chile agreed to organize a major Mercosur, Pacific Alliance trade blocks' meeting during the first half of 2017. Last Friday Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and her cabinet were in Buenos Aires with peers Mauricio Macri and ministers as part of an agenda of regular meetings to address a joint agenda.

• Monday, December 19th 2016 - 08:22 UTC

  Cuban dissidents still under Raul Castro's iron fist despite alleged openness

  

  Government officials have arrested dozens of Cuban dissidents as well as an American human rights lawyer, it was reported Sunday. Others were kept from marching in Havana to demand the relaease of political prisoners in what would indicate that the one-party communist state is in no mood for dissent, despite all that was said to US President Barack Obama and Pope Francis.

• Saturday, December 17th 2016 - 17:03 UTC

  Colombia's Central Bank lowers interest rate to tack inflation

  

  The Central Bank of Colombia Friday surprisingly decided to lower the interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.50 percent to support the recovery of the economy and to push inflation towards the target set for the coming semester.

• Saturday, December 17th 2016 - 16:48 UTC

  Raul Castro's Cuba allows farmers to hire workers directly

  

  The Cuban government Friday allowed farmers to hire workers directly and no longer have to go to cooperatives in a step to set aside strict controls on their economy to boost production for a country which imports more than two-thirds of its food. In other areas of the economy, such as restaurants, Cuba has already allowed small business owners to hire their staff directly.

• Friday, December 16th 2016 - 23:59 UTC

  Google, Cuba close deal to improve speed of internet connection

  

  Google and Cuba's state-owned telecommunications company Etecsa signed an agreement to improve the speed of access to Google products on the Internet, which means an improvement in Internet access on the island, where Google first landed in 2014.

• Thursday, December 15th 2016 - 08:28 UTC

  Colombia's FARC expels five commanders who rejected demobilization; fears they will turn to criminal gangs

  

  Colombia's FARC rebels have expelled five commanders for refusing to demobilize and join a peace process with the government aimed at ending more than five decades of war, guerrilla leadership said. The five commanders, all from units in the country's southeast jungle, include one former participant in four-year-long peace talks in Cuba.