
Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said on Monday that its founder Julian Assange's internet was shut down by the government of Ecuador, deflecting blame from the U.S. or British governments which have sparred with Assange for releasing sensitive material.

Spain has, for the first time ever, asked the annual Iberian-Latin American Summit for its support on the Gibraltar sovereignty question. It has asked the Colombian Government, as the organizers of the 28/29 October event to circulate the text for the summit to adopt a resolution for the resumption of sovereignty talks over Gibraltar.

Colombia's Democratic Center party founded by former president Alvaro Uribe criticized on Sunday The New York Times for a recent editorial accusing the ex head of government of blocking the peace process in the country and calling on him to act as a true statesman. The party said that the NYT editorial constitutes an offence to the millions of Colombians who voted against the terms of the peace accord between the government and the main guerrilla group, FARC.

By José María Figueres (*) - The key to protecting Antarctica’s Ross Sea may well lie with Russia. On Monday the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, comprising 24 nations and the European Union, will discuss, once again, the creation of a large, marine protected area in the Southern Ocean.

The European Union and Mercosur could strike a free trade deal within two years, according to Argentina’s Commerce Secretary Miguel Braun. After Brexit, Mercosur would be open to a separate trade deal with the UK. Trade negotiations between the EU and Mercosur nations are still on track, despite the UK’s decision to leave the bloc and uncertainty over the future of the EU’s other major trade agreements – TTIP and CETA.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has revised its economic growth projections for the region and now expects a 0.9% average contraction for Latin America and the Caribbean this year. Economic activity is expected to pick up in 2017 with average growth of 1.5%, according to a press release by the United Nations agency.

With Haiti facing the dual challenges of addressing the impact of Hurricane Matthew and restarting preparations for the holding of the much-anticipated elections, the United Nations envoy for the Caribbean country on Tuesday expressed support for the recommended extension of the UN mission there by six months until mid-April 2017.

Matthew, meanwhile, lost its hurricane status, subsiding to a “post-tropical cyclone” after cutting a swath from Florida to South Carolina in United States. Matthew crashed ashore on Haiti’s southern coast on Tuesday as a monster Category 4 storm, packing 230 km winds.

The president of Colombia was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for pursuing a deal to end 52 years of conflict with a Marxist rebel group, the longest-running war in the Americas, just five days after Colombians rejected the agreement in a shocking referendum result.

International Monetary Fund said that the economy of Latin America and the Caribbean will shrink 0.6% this year, compared with its earlier projection of a 0.5% contraction. The prediction is part of the latest edition of the IMF's World Economic Outlook, which points out that while major regional economies such as Brazil and Venezuela are suffering, most other countries in the area continue to expand.