
Law enforcement officers in the Argentine province of Córdoba raided a residence in an exclusive country club and arrested the wife and children of Ecuadorean druglord Alfonso Macías, alias “Fito,” whose escape from jail earlier this month triggered a wave of unprecedented violence nationwide.

Brazilian authorities have determined that former President Jair Bolsonaro produced false certificates attesting to his vaccination against Covid-19 to enter the United States, it was reported this week.

A meeting on Wednesday, in the framework of the Davos' World Economic Forum (WEF), between Foreign Secretary David Cameron with the President of Argentina Javier Milei and Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, was described by a Foreign Office spokesperson as “warm and cordial, setting out mutual support for a more constructive relationship between the UK and Argentina”.

Ecuadorean authorities Thursday arrested two people in connection with Wednesday's murder of Prosecutor César Suárez, who was handling the case of the Jan. 9 assault on a TV station amid the growing wave of drug trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime violence. Various guns and two vehicles were also seized in the operation, it was explained.

According to Brazil's Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, there should be no pricing services provided by nature given their value to the planet and to human beings. She made those remarks this week during her appearance at one of the panels at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Agencia Brasil reported.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a meeting in Brasilia on Thursday with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's special advisor Celso Amorim to discuss trade and cooperation between the two countries, it was reported. Wang Yi and Vieira are to meet again Friday for the signing of a series of agreements after which they will be issuing a joint statement to the press, it was also explained.

Paraguay's Central Bank (BCP) Thursday released a report showing that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for 2023 was 3.7%, making it the fourth lowest in South America in addition to falling within the target range (3.8%). It also meant a decrease from 2022's 8.1%.

The strength of the dollar in alternative markets is once again exerting pressure on financial dealings on Thursday, with the exchange rate gap reaching 60%, posing challenges to President Javier Milei's economic plan amidst soaring inflation and increasing poverty.

Argentine President Javier Milei said his 25-minute meeting Wednesday with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the World Economic Forum was “very good” after a verbal agreement was reached last week between the credit agency and the South American country. It was the first time that Milei and Georgieva saw each other face to face.

Ecuadorean Prosecutor César Suárez who was handling the investigation into the Jan. 9 seizure of a Public TV station by a drug-trafficking gang, was shot dead Wednesday in Guayaquil, adding to the South American country's wave of crime and violence. Suárez took over 20 gunshots, it was reported. National Police specialized units have been assigned to the case.