https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif http://en.mercopress.com/ Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella will not attend the United Nations General Assembly and has delegated the country's address to his vice president, José Manuel Restrepo, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, September 24. It is the first time in recent history that a Colombian vice president has taken on that role.

]]> Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:30:00 GMT The United States government removed Venezuela and Bolivia from the category of countries that Washington says have failed to demonstrably combat international drug trafficking, while keeping Colombia, Afghanistan and Myanmar on that list. The determination, sent to Congress on Tuesday and released by the State Department on Wednesday, is part of the annual assessment of the 23 countries deemed major drug transit or producing states, five of which had been designated last year as having "failed demonstrably."

]]> Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:35:00 GMT Peru will join the Americas Shield, the US-backed security coalition against transnational organized crime, President Keiko Fujimori announced on Thursday after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Government Palace.

]]> Thu, 10 Sep 2026 21:45:00 GMT Colombia's human rights ombudsman has challenged President Abelardo de la Espriella over the release of footage showing him walking among the bodies of suspected FARC dissident fighters killed in a military operation, in the first public disagreement between the rights body and the government that took office on August 7.

]]> Wed, 09 Sep 2026 09:33:00 GMT All 13 Latin American countries assessed in the PISA 2025 report, released Tuesday, scored below the OECD averages in the three subjects measured, in an edition marked by broad declines and by Argentina's worst performance since it began taking part in the test.

]]> Wed, 09 Sep 2026 06:32:00 GMT Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella completed his first month in office on Monday with a series of foreign policy decisions that reverse his predecessor Gustavo Petro's approach and tighten alignment with the United States and Israel.

]]> Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:52:00 GMT A court of Ecuador's National Court of Justice on Friday sentenced former president Lenín Moreno to five years in prison for bribery, in the case over kickbacks linked to the construction and financing of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant. The same sentence was handed to China's former ambassador in Quito, Cai Runguo, and to former representatives of the Chinese state builder Sinohydro, Yang Huiju and Song Dongsheng.

]]> Thu, 03 Sep 2026 08:11:00 GMT When Colombian former President Gustavo Petro convened an emergency CELAC session in the first week of January, the assumption in most South American foreign ministries was that the region would answer the United States with one voice. Eight months later, the answer is still fragmented — and Venezuela's oil is flowing north at a rate not seen in two decades.

]]> Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:31:00 GMT Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the Liberal Party's presidential candidate and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's main rival in October's elections, met on Sunday in São Paulo with El Salvador's justice and public security minister, Gustavo Villatoro, and announced he will incorporate into his programme measures inspired by President Nayib Bukele's security policy.

]]> Mon, 31 Aug 2026 22:13:00 GMT The Panama Canal will reduce the number of vessels allowed to cross from 38 to 34 a day from September 3, and to 32 from the 15th, as well as imposing new draught restrictions, because of falling water levels linked to El Niño. According to the waterway's authorities, rainfall since May has been 34% below the historical average and inflows to the basin have dropped 44%. Around 5% of world maritime traffic passes through the canal.

]]> Mon, 31 Aug 2026 08:46:00 GMT