Latin America

• Monday, February 20th 2017 - 10:05 UTC

  Incumbent candidate leading in Ecuador election but run off seems inevitable

  

  Former Vice President Lenin Moreno, a leftist advocate for the disabled who was paralyzed in a 1998 robbery attempt, was leading in Ecuador’s presidential election Sunday, but was at risk of falling just short of avoiding a runoff on April 2. Moreno, 63, is the close ally of outgoing President Rafael Correa, under whom he served as vice president from 2007 to 2013.

• Friday, February 17th 2017 - 10:25 UTC

  Mexico looking at Argentina and Brazil as an alternative for US corn

  

  Mexican politicians are saber rattling against the US agriculture sector, and it looks like Argentina is ready to fill the gap. In effect Mexico's agriculture minister said on Thursday he will lead a business delegation to Argentina and Brazil to explore buying yellow corn, part of a drive to lessen Mexico's U.S. dependence given uncertainty over President Donald Trump's trade policies.

• Friday, February 17th 2017 - 09:58 UTC

  Trump nominates first Hispanic (anb traditional Republican) as Secretary of Labor

  

  President Donald Trump on Thursday nominated former National Labor Relations Board member R. Alexander Acosta to serve as U.S. secretary of labor, one day after Trump's original choice withdrew. Acosta is dean of the Florida International University College of Law in Miami and is Trump’s first Hispanic nominee.

• Monday, February 13th 2017 - 10:59 UTC

  Panama Papers office raided as part of the Petrobras/Odebrecht investigation

  

  The offices of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers leak, were raided on 9 February as part of an ongoing investigation into Brazil's biggest corruption scandal, the so called Operation Carwash (“Lava Jato” in Portuguese) involving the state-run oil company Petrobras.

• Monday, February 13th 2017 - 09:33 UTC

  OAS Observation Mission Begins Deployment in Ecuador for General Elections

  

  The Organization of American States Electoral Observation Mission (OAS/EOM) to the general elections and referendum that will be held in Ecuador on February 19 began its deployment this week.

• Saturday, February 11th 2017 - 07:36 UTC

  Mercosur meeting in March to address internal tariffs and Mexico

  

  Mercosur foreign ministers will be meeting next March 9 in Buenos Aires in the framework of Argentina's pro tempore chair and following on the Argentine/Brazilian presidents recent meeting when it was decided to give the group a new thrust taking advantage of the new world scenario.

• Wednesday, February 8th 2017 - 08:02 UTC

  Macri and Temer agree to open Mercosur and to closer ties with Mexico

  

  The leaders of Brazil and Argentina said on Tuesday they would pursue closer ties with Mexico and other Latin American nations alarmed by U.S. President Donald Trump's promises to tear apart trade deals and build a wall in the Mexican border to protect American jobs.

• Monday, February 6th 2017 - 23:00 UTC

  Crop destroying caterpillar rapidly spreading across Africa; maize production endangered

  

  New research announced by scientists at CABI (Center for Agriculture and Bioscience Information) confirms that a recently introduced crop-destroying armyworm caterpillar is now spreading rapidly across Mainland Africa and could spread to tropical Asia and the Mediterranean in the next few years, becoming a major threat to agricultural trade worldwide.

• Monday, February 6th 2017 - 22:42 UTC

  Crime and violence cost Latin America and the Caribbean 3.55% of GDP

  

  A study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) estimates the direct annual cost of crime and violence in Latin America and the Caribbean at US$261 billion or 3.55% of GDP, roughly what the region invests on infrastructure and double the average cost for developed countries. It is also the equivalent income for 30% of the poorest population, underscoring the grave development impact violence has on the region.

• Saturday, February 4th 2017 - 06:47 UTC

  Temer and Macri meet next week to make Mercosur an effective free trade space

  

  Brazil and Argentina will attempt to eliminate trade barriers which limit or impede Mercosur trade, ensuring a free trade space, “the sooner the better”, revealed Brazilian diplomats in anticipation of the presidential summit next week, when Mauricio Macri is received by Michel Temer in Brasilia.