Politics

• Friday, August 16th 2013 - 17:46 UTC

  Ecuador ‘forced’ to drill for oil in pristine Amazon rainforest; ‘rich countries have failed us’

  

  Ecuador has abandoned a conservation plan that would have paid the country not to drill for oil in previously untouched parts of Yasuni National Park in the Amazon rainforest. President Rafael Correa said rich nations had failed to back the initiative, leaving Ecuador with no choice but go ahead with drilling.

• Friday, August 16th 2013 - 17:42 UTC

  World Cup 2014 exposes Brazil’s lack of non-commercial aircraft infrastructure

  

  Non-commercial aircraft are expected to carry as many as one in nine international visitors to the World Cup in Brazil next year by some estimates, but industry leaders say the country is unprepared for the oncoming swarm.

• Friday, August 16th 2013 - 16:31 UTC

  UK asks EU to ‘urgently’ send a team to gather evidence on Gibraltar/Spain ‘borders’ row

  

  Britain has asked the EU to “urgently” send a team to Gibraltar “to gather evidence” on extra border checks at the centre of a growing row with Spain. PM David Cameron spoke to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to raise “serious concerns” that Spain's actions are “politically motivated”.

• Friday, August 16th 2013 - 03:27 UTC

  South American defense ministers meet to improve monitoring of Amazon region

  

  South American defense ministers gathered in the northern Brazilian city of Manaus on Thursday to discuss how to improve monitoring of the huge Amazon region. Attending the seminar which runs through Friday are Brazil's Celso Amorim, Colombia's Juan Carlos Pinzón and Ecuador's María Fernanda Espinosa.

• Friday, August 16th 2013 - 03:15 UTC

  Chief coordinator of Rio’s 2016 Olympics resigns triggering fears about Brazil’s ability to stage the games

  

  The head of the public body coordinating planning for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro has resigned, raising concerns about the city's ability to stage the first games in South America. Resignation of Marcio Fortes, who headed the Olympic Public Authority, was confirmed Wednesday by the organization.

• Friday, August 16th 2013 - 02:57 UTC

  Paraguay new president pledges ‘war on poverty’ and improved relations with neighbours

  

  Conservative businessman Horacio Cartes was sworn in as president of Paraguay on Thursday, amid slowly improving relations with South American neighbors, and Mercosur members, damaged by the 2012 removal of populist President Fernando Lugo, who was impeached on incompetence.

• Thursday, August 15th 2013 - 15:23 UTC

  Invoking Falklands and common cause with Argentina, ‘Rajoy has burnt his boats with PM Cameron’

  

  Roger Boyes, Diplomatic Editor of The Times, has criticised the recent tactics by Spain and urges the conservative government to return to a more positive approach to the Gibraltar question. Likewise by invoking the Falklands and making common anti-British cause with Argentina the Spanish PM “has burnt his boats with British PM David Cameron”.

• Thursday, August 15th 2013 - 13:35 UTC

  Malvinas/Gibraltar in Garcia Margallo’s agenda when he visits Argentina and meets Timerman

  

  Spain’s Foreign affairs ministry Director General Ignacio Ibañez confirmed that Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo, would raise Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands with his Argentine counterpart, Hector Timerman, during a visit to Buenos Aires in early September.

• Thursday, August 15th 2013 - 03:51 UTC

  Mercosur controversy, Cartes main challenge when he takes office on Thursday

  

  Most presidents and top authorities that will attend the inauguration of Paraguayan president-elect Horacio Cartes on Thursday morning arrived in Asunción on Wednesday and most of them have already held private meetings with the future leader of the country.

• Thursday, August 15th 2013 - 03:45 UTC

  With defiant fury Cristina Fernandez launched the campaign for October election

  

  In an extremely aggressive speech in the aftermath of primaries defeat, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez blasted the media for misinterpreting electoral results, charged against the Mayor of Tigre Sergio Massa who was the big winner on Sunday, pressed for full commitment from her allies and promised more of the same in support of the ‘socially inclusive model’.