Latin America

• Saturday, January 11th 2020 - 09:35 UTC

  Mexico shocked at school shooting and killing by a student

  

  An 11-year-old boy shot and killed his teacher on Friday at a school in northern Mexico and wounded six other people before killing himself, authorities said. As shocked Mexicans searched for explanations for the school shooting - a rare event for the country - officials said they were investigating a possible link to the Columbine High School massacre in the US in 1999.

• Saturday, January 11th 2020 - 09:26 UTC

  Gold bar, evidence of Spanish plundering of Aztec empire 500 years ago

  

  A new scientific analysis of a large gold bar found decades ago in downtown Mexico City reveals it was part of the plunder Spanish conquerors tried to carry away as they fled the Aztec capital after native warriors forced a hasty retreat.

• Friday, January 10th 2020 - 14:25 UTC

  Colombia eradicated 100.000 hectares of coca in 2019, president Duque reports

  

  Colombia, a top source of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine, eradicated more than 100,000 hectares of the crop last year, President Ivan Duque said on Thursday. The Andean country has come under repeated pressure from the United States, an important destination for cocaine shipments, to reduce coca cultivation, especially as crop figures shot up in recent years.

• Friday, January 10th 2020 - 09:59 UTC

  International Contact Group on Venezuela support Guaido's reelection, except Uruguay

  

  A dozen countries working on ways to end Venezuela's crisis on Thursday gave their backing to opposition leader Juan Guaido as a parliamentary speaker, rejecting the claims of a rival.

• Friday, January 10th 2020 - 09:58 UTC

  Mexico grants political asylum to members of Ecuadorean opposition holed in its Quito embassy

  

  Mexico granted political asylum on Thursday to four members of Ecuador's opposition holed up in its embassy in Quito since widespread social unrest in October, the foreign ministry said. The four lawmakers, including former Congress speaker Gabriela Rivadeneira, “took a commercial flight to Mexico” early Thursday, the ministry said in a statement.

• Friday, January 10th 2020 - 09:53 UTC

  Mercosur summit in Paraguay will address a review of the external tariff

  

  The upcoming Summit of Heads of State of the Southern Common Market Mercosur, to be held in late June or early July this year, will be held in Encarnacion, capital of Itapúa Department, Paraguay.

• Friday, January 10th 2020 - 09:15 UTC

  One of Mexico's most dangerous volcanoes belched ash and rock into the sky

  

  Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano dramatically spewed a fiery cloud of ash and rock into the sky on Thursday, though it did not prompt authorities to raise their eruption alert level.

• Thursday, January 9th 2020 - 09:45 UTC

  Walmart confirms it is the largest retailer in Mexico; last year it opened 134 new stores

  

  Walmart last year launched its biggest expansion in Mexico since 2013, opening 134 new stores in its top foreign market and boosting its presence by nearly five percent, the retailer said on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, January 8th 2020 - 09:55 UTC

  Guaidó sworn as Venezuelan Assembly speaker for another term, despite Maduro's forces, goons and blackout

  

  Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido was sworn in for another term as speaker of parliament on Tuesday after a tense stand-off with the armed forces who initially prevented him from entering Congress.

• Wednesday, January 8th 2020 - 09:46 UTC

  Chilean activity down and poor prospects for this year, following weeks of social unrest

  

  Economic activity in Chile dropped 3.3% in November, led by a slump in mining activity, the central bank has said, and officials predicted low growth for the coming year as the country reels from anti-government unrest. The prediction is based on Chile’s economic activity index or IMACEC (Indicador Mensual de Actividad Economica).