Latin America

Sunday, August 13th 2023 - 19:53 UTC
Slain candidate's party picks successor for Ecuador's elections

Ecuador's Movimiento Construye of slain presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio announced Saturday that his former running mate Andrea González Náder will pick up his baton for the Aug. 20 elections. Villavicencio, 59, was shot dead on Aug. 9 as he was leaving a rally in Quito after receiving threats from drug traffickers.
Sunday, August 13th 2023 - 19:47 UTC
Peruvian prosecutor files new charges against Castillo

Peru's Public Prosecutor's Office has filed new charges against former President Pedro Castillo Terrones for the alleged crimes of abuse of authority and passive bribery, among others, it was reported in Lima during the weekend.
Saturday, August 12th 2023 - 10:41 UTC
Chile's Social Development Minister resigns amid scandal

Giorgio Jackson, of President Gabriel Boric Fnt's Democratic Revolution (RD) party, Friday turned in his resignation as Social Development Minister following his involvement in a corruption scandal splashing several cabinet members and even the head of state, it was reported in Santiago.
Friday, August 11th 2023 - 12:36 UTC
FBI's help requested in Ecuadorian candidate's murder probe

Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso Thursday asked the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to support his country in the investigation of Wednesday's murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, it was reported in Quito. An FBI team is due in Ecuador shortly, Lasso said.
Friday, August 11th 2023 - 11:17 UTC
Major haul of cocaine in Rotterdam: eight tons in a shipment of Ecuadorean bananas

Ecuador again is headlines. Netherlands authorities have seized eight tons of cocaine in the port of Rotterdam, prosecutors announced on Thursday. The drug is valued at an estimated US$660 million and represents the biggest haul ever recorded at the port. The last biggest was a 4,500-kilogram haul made in 2020.
Friday, August 11th 2023 - 09:12 UTC
Ecuador: Six Colombians accused of killing presidential candidate; State of emergency and elections ratified

Six people have been arrested in Ecuador late on Thursday in connection with the killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio following a political rally a day earlier.
Thursday, August 10th 2023 - 11:25 UTC
Hitmen assassinate Presidential candidate in Ecuador

Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio died after being attacked by hitmen on his way out of a campaign rally in downtown Quito ahead of the upcoming Aug. 20 elections, Interior Minister Juan Zapata confirmed in the Ecuadorian capital. Other people were wounded, it was reported.
Wednesday, August 9th 2023 - 10:34 UTC
Colombian President wants to create “Amazon NATO” to defend jungle “with weapons”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro Urrego Tuesday suggested during his speech at the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) Summit in the Brazilian city of Belém that an international environmental court should be created to prosecute crimes in the area, in addition to an “Amazon NATO” to defend the region “with weapons”.
Wednesday, August 9th 2023 - 10:31 UTC
Eight Amazon countries sign Belem Declaration

Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela Tuesday signed the Belém Declaration on the opening day of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) Summit in the Brazilian State of Pará, Agencia Brasil reported.
Tuesday, August 8th 2023 - 10:19 UTC
Regional leaders convening in Brazil to prevent rainforest destruction

Leaders from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, which make up the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) are to convene Tuesday and Wednesday in Belém, the capital of the Brazilian state of Pará to discuss a new development model to put an end to the cycle of destruction that is devastating the largest tropical forest on the planet.