Latin America

• Monday, October 3rd 2016 - 08:52 UTC

  Colombians turn their back on peace deal: Santos and FARC allies in rejection

  

  Colombian voters appeared to have shocked their government, world leaders and pollsters by blasting away its hopes for a historic peace deal with the Marxist FARC rebels on Sunday, near-complete referendum results showed. Reversing the trend of earlier opinion polls, voters appeared to have narrowly defied the government's pleas to ratify its plan to put 52 years of bloody conflict behind them within months.

• Monday, October 3rd 2016 - 07:40 UTC

  Temer visits Macri to address trade and making Mercosur more flexible and universal

  

  Argentine president Mauricio Macri will be receiving his Brazilian peer Michel Temer in Buenos Aires on Monday morning to address bilateral relations in several fields, mainly political, trade, Mercosur, and security and development in the long shared border areas. According to official sources Temer´s delegation arrives with foreign minister Jose Serra, Industry and trade minister Marcos Pereira and head of defense Raul Jungmann.

• Friday, September 30th 2016 - 11:05 UTC

  Colombia peace referendum has national support but regional vote shows battle lines

  

  Two public opinion polls released on Wednesday indicate that the recently peace deal between the government with the FARC is likely to be ratified by Colombia’s electorate on Sunday. President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leader “Timochenko” signed peace on Monday, but before this agreement can be fully ratified, Colombians will vote on the deal in a referendum first.

• Friday, September 30th 2016 - 07:35 UTC

  UN human rights chief reaffirms ongoing collaboration with Colombia peace accord

  

  Speaking to the media just days after the signing of the historic peace agreement in Colombia and ahead of the 2 October national poll in which Colombians will have their say on the accord, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reiterated that his Office (OHCHR) will continue to follow the progress of the human rights aspects of the agreement.

• Thursday, September 29th 2016 - 11:01 UTC

  Region of the Americas is declared free of measles by World Health Organization

  

  The Region of the Americas is the first in the world to have eliminated measles, a viral disease that can cause severe health problems, including pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and even death. This achievement culminates a 22-year effort involving mass vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella throughout the Americas.

• Thursday, September 29th 2016 - 09:07 UTC

  Sunday deadline for Falklands' competition open to university students

  

  This Sunday, October 2nd, ends the deadline to participate in the regional competition sponsored by the Falkland Islands government and the UK embassies in Uruguay, Brazil and Chile addressing the issue, “Why would I like to meet my neighbors from the Falkland Islands?” The competition is open to university students from the three countries and the prize is a weeklong trip to the Falkland Islands with all expenses paid.

• Wednesday, September 28th 2016 - 09:50 UTC

  Obama names first ambassador in Cuba in fifty years, but needs Senate confirmation

  

  The United States has tapped Jeffrey DeLaurentis, United States' top diplomat in Havana, to become the first official ambassador to Cuba in five decades. “The appointment of an ambassador is a commonsense step forward toward a more normal and productive relationship between our two countries,” President Barack Obama said in a statement.

• Wednesday, September 28th 2016 - 09:33 UTC

  Kerry and Maduro meet in Cartagena and agree to continue bilateral discussions

  

  United States Secretary of State John Kerry met Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday, the first formal encounter between the two since Kerry became the top U.S. diplomat. The two sat down together after a ceremony in the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias to mark the signing of a peace agreement to end a 52-year armed conflict.

• Tuesday, September 27th 2016 - 07:41 UTC

  Following Colombia, “Malvinas, one of three issues pending solution in Latin America”

  

  Following the peace agreement signed in Colombia, only three main issues remain pending in the Americas, devolution of Guantanamo to Cuba, the Falklands/Malvinas dispute and a sea outlet for Bolivia, according to Bolivian president Evo Morales who hailed the deal rubricated on Monday in Cartagena before world leaders.

• Tuesday, September 27th 2016 - 06:48 UTC

  Colombia peace accord challenges: Sunday's referendum and 7.000 combatants laying down their weapons

  

  As thousands of Colombians offered both hope and skepticism, the government of Colombia and FARC Marxist rebels who fought a bitter civil war for more than half a century signed a historic peace accord on Monday, closing the Western Hemisphere's longest armed conflict. The deal will have a first test next Sunday when the Colombian people will vote on a referendum.