CNN: After pouring billions into Venezuela over the last decade, China is cutting off new loans to the Latin American nation. It’s a major reversal of relations between the two nations, experts say. It also comes at the worst time for Venezuela, which is spiraling into an economic and humanitarian crisis. “China is not especially interested in loaning more money to Venezuela,”… Read more »
UPI: The governor of Venezuela’s Táchira state has said some drivers next week could begin to pay gas stations with Colombian pesos or U.S. dollars. Táchira Gov. José Vielma Mora said gas stations under the new currency program- aimed at Colombian drivers- will be jointly operated by Colombian companies and Venezuela’s government-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, oil company. The… Read more »
REUTERS: President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis to be the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than five decades, setting up a fierce confirmation battle with Republicans in Congress opposed to Obama’s opening with the communist-ruled island.
REUTERS: President Michel Temer has not managed to convince Brazilians his government is better than that of his ousted predecessor Dilma Rousseff, and his popularity remains low, according to a poll on Tuesday.
BBC NEWS: A judge in El Salvador has reopened an investigation into the 1981 El Mozote massacre – considered one of the worst atrocities in the civil war. The judge accepted a request put forward by three human rights groups to re-open the case based on a Supreme Court ruling in July.
Al Jazeera: Just last week, western media was praising the Colombian peace agreement. Four years of negotiations in Cuba, commentators noted, had finally put an end to a 50-year conflict between the government and the left-wing rebel movement Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and involving various right-wing paramilitary groups and narco cartels that had claimed an estimated 200,000 lives,… Read more »
AL JAZEERA: Venezuelan bus drivers have caused traffic chaos in Caracas by parking their buses in the street, protesting against the country’s economic crisis. Hundreds of drivers joined the strike on Wednesday, demanding better pay, more security against violent crime and spare parts for their buses. Tyres, car batteries and motor oil are on a long list of goods that have… Read more »
STRATFOR: A number of recent developments, protests on Thursday notwithstanding, have raised the odds that Venezuela could default on its foreign debt repayments, triggering a cascade of events that would destabilize the country. Though the country has lived with the specter of default for years, Venezuelan officials have shown a willingness — given the existential threat that a default would pose to the… Read more »
BBC: Five members of Cuba’s national volleyball team have been convicted of raping a Finnish woman during a World League tournament in Tampere. Four of the men, including the captain, were given five-year jail sentences while a fifth is facing a prison term of three and a half years. They were detained in the southern Finnish city on 2 July… Read more »
UN News Center: 20 September 2016 – Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina, was among several leaders from South America addressing the opening day of the United Nations General Assembly who highlighted the need to tackle challenges that affected his region, but also the world: eradicating poverty; addressing climate change; and combating drug trafficking and violence associated with organized crime. He… Read more »