MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[A magnitude 7.7 earthquake shakes Panama]]> The epicentre was about 14 kilometres southwest of Pitaloza Arriba, a sparsely populated area near the Pacific coast some 240 kilometres from the capital, at shallow depth A magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook Panama on Friday at 12:56 local time, centred on the Azuero peninsula in Herrera province, according to the US Geological Survey. Panamanian authorities have not so far confirmed any casualties, though inspections are continuing and they have not ruled out injuries or people trapped. Damage to buildings was reported in several provinces.

]]> Fri, 09 Oct 2026 22:38:00 GMT <![CDATA[Trump declines to back Lula or Flávio Bolsonaro as Brazil votes]]> Trump gave vague answers. “I'm following it very closely. It's a very important country. The people of Brazil are fantastic. It's a very important election” US President Donald Trump has not endorsed either of the two leading candidates in Brazil's presidential election on Sunday, unlike in recent elections in Honduras, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Costa Rica.

]]> Sun, 04 Oct 2026 08:57:00 GMT <![CDATA[Uruguay ranks third in Latin America for international air passengers per capita]]> Uruguay ranked third in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025 for international air passengers per inhabitant, according to Airports Council International figures presented in Lima this week, despite its small share of the region's total traffic.

]]> Sat, 03 Oct 2026 09:40:00 GMT <![CDATA[Latin American airports will need US$178 billion to nearly double their traffic]]> The organisation also argued that airport charges, set by each country's regulators rather than by the airports themselves, account for a small share of airline costs Airports in Latin America and the Caribbean will require investment of around US$178 billion over the next thirty years to handle demand that would rise from 809 million passengers this year to around 1.5 billion in 2045, according to projections presented in Lima at the annual assembly of Airports Council International.

]]> Tue, 29 Sep 2026 07:30:00 GMT <![CDATA[De la Espriella announces the reopening of oil exploration in Colombia, including fracking]]> Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella announced on Friday that his government will "fully" reopen hydrocarbon exploration and the signing of new contracts, including hydraulic fracturing, during the swearing-in of businessman Joaquín Gutiérrez as president of Ecopetrol, the country's largest company.

]]> Sat, 26 Sep 2026 11:06:00 GMT <![CDATA[“The UN has more reason to exist every day”, Uruguay's president said two days after Milei]]> “The UN has more reason to exist every day,” Orsi said, while calling for multilateral institutions that are “more effective, more representative” and closer to people's needs Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi defended the United Nations' relevance and condemned the economic embargo on Cuba before the General Assembly on Thursday, in an address of just under twenty minutes that contrasted with that of his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milei, two days earlier from the same podium.

]]> Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:41:00 GMT <![CDATA[De la Espriella skips the UN and delegates Colombia's address to his vice president]]> “You know I promised not to leave Colombia and I am going to keep that,” the president said in a video 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 <![CDATA[US removes Venezuela and Bolivia from list of countries failing on drugs]]> 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 <![CDATA[Peru joins the Americas Shield during Rubio's visit to Lima]]> Fujimori said the move relaunches joint work between the two countries and rejected the idea that it compromises Peruvian sovereignty 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 <![CDATA[Colombia's human rights ombudsman challenges De la Espriella over display of bodies]]> “I do not recall seeing a president walking among the dead and feeling proud of those deaths,” Ombudsman Iris Marín said 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