Since 7 am local time Sunday (GMT -4), around 4.78 million Paraguayans started voting for the new President, who will take over from Mario Abdo Benítez on Aug. 15, it was reported in Asunción. As per Paraguayan law, there is no runoff, so whoever gets the most votes Sunday, even by the slightest of differences, will be declared the winner.
The US State of Florida Friday passed an amendment to the current election law which would allow Republican Governor Ron DeSantis to remain in office while running for President next year. As per the previous Florida law, anyone running for another office needed to step down from their current position. The new bill creates an exception for state officials running for President or Vice President.
Fulfilling a campaign promise, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday officially recognized approximately 207,199 hectares (800 square miles) of six ancestral territories, the two largest of which are in the Amazon, the world's largest rainforest and a key carbon absorption site that helps moderate climate change, it was reported.
Former Uruguayan President José Pepe Mujica said Argentines have long lost confidence in their currency; hence the jump of the blue (a euphemism for black market) dollar.
The Peruvian Government of President Dina Boluarte Friday sent troops to the southern region of Tacna, bordering Chile, to support the National Police (PNP) handle the migrant crisis, Defense Minister Jorge Chávez announced.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, and the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, gathered in Bogota's Casa de Nariño Friday to discuss the ongoing peace process in the South American country and other bilateral issues. Borrell also announced donations of € 26 million.
Ecuadorian gangs linked to drug trafficking have been likened to terrorists by the administration of President Guillermo Lasso in a move to curb the escalating violence, it was reported. The decision was taken after a State and Public Security Council (Cosepe) meeting.
After Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) ordered access to the message application Telegram be banned nationwide after failing to honor a request to turn over to law enforcement information on a high-profile school shooting, the company said it would appeal the measure.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva has been reported to be planning a major Summit in the form of a retreat in Brasilia on May 30 and is sending letters of invitation to his South American colleagues to relaunch the South American Union of Nations (Unasur), as per an O Globo article.
Businessman Marcelo Odebrecht has been fully released from jail in Brazil Friday after serving his sentence for corruption, illicit association, and money laundering that went public in the Operation Lava Jato scandal. He had been doing community work at a hospital in exchange for a sentence reduction.