Eight dead after hot air-balloon with 21 passengers catch fire in Santa Catarina, Brazil, people seen jumping from the rapidly descending balloon to escape the flames
Haiti government hires Erik Prince to fight back against gangs that have taken over large parts of the country. Prince has previously operated drones to kill gang members and now 150 mercenaries are expected to arrive in the island nation during the summer
Argentina applies new anti-mafia law in the troubled city of Rosario, allows prosecutors to request the same sentence for all members of a gang regardless of their individual role and enables judicially authorized intervention zones with sweeping investigative powers such as raids and wiretaps, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich comments that "this all-out war is one we are winning"
Brazil raises the legal age for transgender people to receive hormone therapy from 16 to 18 years, also raises the minimum age for sexual reassignment surgery that involves a potentially sterilising effect from 18 to 21 years and bans the prescription of puberty blockers for children or adolescents with gender dysphoria
Brazil builds 13-kilometer four-lane highway through the protected Amazon rainforest to ease traffic for the expected 50,000 COP30 climate summit attendees, the state describes the project as a sustainable highway with bike lanes and solar lighting, other developments for the summit include airport expansion and port redevelopment
Cuban government offices in the city of Caibarién only service people who bring their own power generators due to the constant blackouts, employee at the state-owned BPA bank says the measure is duly consulted and authorized by the higher authorities
Cuba's population decreases by 307,436 people during 2024 to 9,748,532 inhabitants after the lowest birthrate recorded in the country in the past six decades, Cuba has been unable to achieve a 2.1 fertility rate since 1977 and more than a quarter are 60 years old or older, more than 90% of the population is estimated to be living in extreme poverty
Argentina's president Javier Milei orders the country's withdrawal from the World Health Organization, spokesperson Manuel Adorni says the decision is based on profound differences in health management especially during the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country will not allow an international organization to intervene in its sovereignty and much less in its health
Argentina's President Javier Milei doubles down on statements made at the WEF Forum in Davos against feminism and the LGBTQIA+ community, tells them to not get in the way and calls extreme gender ideologues pedophiles, writes on X that the world elites' ideology under the guise of good intentions and well-crafted rhetoric aims to impose an agenda whose only consequence is the infinite expansion of the state and the death of freedom
Colombia walks back decision to ban US military flights carrying deported migrants from landing in the country after being threatened with punitive tariffs, President Gustavo Petro who at first was threatening Colombian tariffs on US goods says they have agreed to accept migrants without limitation or delay
Chile's President Gabriel Boric visits Antarctica along with his defense minister to reaffirm his country's claim to sovereignty in the area, is the first Latin American leader to visit the south pole, the US state department says seven countries maintain territorial claims in the area but that US and most other countries instead recognize the Antarctic Treaty
Guatemalan and Salvadoran security forces arrive in Haiti to join fight against the rampant gang violence, will reinforce the US- and UN-backed initiative Multinational Security Support where they work with the Haitian police helmed by Kenyan police officers
Venezuela's government announces USD 100,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González, González in Spanish exile after the election where the opposition claim election fraud and has shown that tally sheets from the voting machines show they won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro, González' campaign announces international tour starting with meeting President Javier Milei in Argentina
Record low 114 homicides in El Salvador during 2024, down from 214 in 2023 and 6,615 in 2015, more than 83,000 arrested since 2022 when President Nayib Bukele's administration was granted a state of exception after street gangs killed 62 people in a matter of hours, Bukele extremely popular due to the improved safety
Venezuela's Supreme Court fines TikTok USD 10 million for failing to control harmful viral inhaling challenge which lead to the deaths of three teenagers and the poisoning of 200 others, President Nicolás Maduro supports the decision citing the need for accountability
Intensified debate regarding Indigenous people after the death of Tanaru who was the last member of an uncontacted group in the south-western Brazilian Amazon, the man who was also called "man of the hole" where his digging was presumed to be linked to his spiritual world lived alone for at least 26 years after the rubber industry among other things spread in the area, Tanaru's 8,000 hectares now contended as the law only protects populated areas, 114 different isolated groups reported in the country of which 85 has not been confirmed
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish cult Lev Tahor breaks into shelter to recapture 160 minors and 40 women that were taken from their compound two days earlier by authorities on accusations of sexual abuse and forced pregnancies, the Attorney General's Office comments that police managed to locate and protect everyone again
Argentina's President Javier Milei vows to install nuclear reactors to power artificial intelligence servers, says that nuclear energy is the only source that is sufficiently efficient, abundant and rapidly scalable to cope with the development of our civilization, the country currently has three nuclear power plants in operation providing 9% of the energy consumed
Venezuela outlaws saying authorities are illegitimate or that the economic sanctions applied on the country are appropriate, the law is named the Simón Bolívar Organic Law (of superior rank) against the imperialist blockade and in defence of the Republic, the name chosen in response to the US Bolivar Act which is an acronym for Banning Operations and Leases with the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime, several laws closing civic space passed lately and human rights organisations compare the path to Nicaragua where hundreds of opponents have been driven into prison or exile and thousands of organizations have been shut down
At least 184 people killed in gang attack over the weekend in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, were accused of witchcraft after gang leader Jean Monel Felix' son fell ill and died, most of the killed were over the age of 60
Millions without power in Cuba after electrical grid collaps during Wednesday morning, follows string of countrywide blackouts, Energy Minister Vicente de la O'Levy says he expects the system to be back online by Thursday, shortages of food, medicine, water and electricity have lead to record-breaking numbers of Cubans fleeing the country in the past three years
Jair Bolsonaro will soon be charged with attempted coup, according to sources within the Brazilian police force, last week several military officers, including a brigadier general, were arrested on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Lula da Silva in connection with the alleged 2023 coup attempt
Argentine President Javier Milei fires Foreign Minister Diana Mondino after she voted in the UN to lift the US trade embargo against Cuba, 187 countries voted in favor of the non-binding resolution and the US and Israel voted against
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suffers small brain hemorrhage after fall at home and cancels trip to BRICS summit in Russia, according to official statement he is be able to carry out work as usual but is advised to avoid long-distance air travel
Argentina the only G20 country that refuses to sign a feminist statement with a list of commitments written by Brazil, President Javier Milei will attend the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November, which will be the first time he will meet Brazilian President Lula da Silva
Armed members of the Gran Grif criminal gang kill at least 70 residents of the Haitian village of Pont-Sonde, including ten women and three infants, and 45 homes and 34 cars are said to have been set on fire, motive still unclear
The Dominican Republic announces plan to per week deport up to 10,000 Haitians who made it to the neighboring country after the recent lawlessness, according to the UN, the Dominican Republic sent back 200,000 Haitians last year
Venezuela plans to issue arrest warrants for Argentina's President Javier Milei, his sister Karina Milei and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich over the expropriation of state-owned aircraft at the behest of the US Justice Department, which claimed it actually belonged to Iranian airline affiliated with the terrorist-designated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Peru's former president between 1990 and 2000, Alberto Fujimori, passes away at the age of 86 from cancer, known for fighting communists and was forced to flee to Japan in 2000 after allegations of election fraud
All gifts to Argentine President Javier Milei are declared and include a chainsaw key ring, a pair of underwear, a mug with the inscription "socialism kills" from a German fan, Toblerone, a toy dog, the Argentina national soccer team jersey during a trip to Israel, red wine and olive oil from Georgia Meloni and cognac of the Hennessy XO brand from Emmanuel Macron
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro brings forward the start of the Christmas celebration for the third time during his administration, which was announced in a speech to the people during his show Con Maduro+ broadcast on Youtube, this year the celebration starts on October 1st, while in 2020 it was on the 15th and in 2021 on the 4th of October
The US recognizes Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of Sunday's presidential election, which incumbent President Nicolás Maduro also claims to have won, the Venezuelan electoral authority states Maduro won with 51 percent of the vote, but no explanatory data has been published
Incumbent President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition coalition declare themselves victorious in Sunday's presidential election in Venezuela, the opposition with its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia claiming 70 percent of the vote compared to the official 44
Thirteen sharpnose sharks in Brazil test positive for cocaine, the concentration is said to be more than 100 times greater than what has ever been found in aquatic animals
New images show what is believed to be the world's largest uncontacted tribe, the Mashco Piro people of the Peruvian Amazon, and the organization Survival International is now calling for logging companies in the area to have their licenses revoked
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele threatens companies that raise food prices with the same means he used against gang criminals, alleging wholesalers and importers engage in tax evasion, bribery and smuggling, and urging them to either end the price increases or don't complain about what happens afterward
Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Caputo expresses his desire to lower the voting age from 16 to 14 years as a result of the government's bill to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 and President Javier Milei states the 2025 mid-term elections will be a hugh triumph for his party La Libertad Avanza
The month-on-month price increase in Argentina according to the consumer price index decreases to 4.2 percent in May compared to last month's figure of 8.8 percent, inflation for the first five months of 2024 was measured at 71.9 percent
Argentine President Javier Milei gets reform bill passed in the Senate by 37-36 vote after 11 hours of debate, bill is expected to pass required vote on each individual article and would be Milei's first successful legislative change since taking office six months ago
Honduras outlines emergency measures against gang crime, plans on designating serious gang criminals as terrorists and builds a 20,000-capacity prison where it currently has 21,000 prison inmates in 30 detention facilities, measures resemble those implemented in neighboring El Salvador by Nayib Bukele which reduced murder rates and raised the president's popularity but also drew criticism from rights groups
Florida court orders Chiquita Brands International to pay USD 38 million to the families of eight Colombian men murdered by paramilitary squad United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia which were supported with USD 1.7 million between 1997 and 2004, the company has argued that it was extorted and that the payments were necessary to protect its employees from armed Marxists such as the FARC guerilla
Argentine President Javier Milei on 36-hour trip in Silicon Valley and meets with Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Javier Milei has not once publicly thanked his 81-year-old father Norberto, who Javier says beat him as a child and became a successful businessman in the bus industry, lawyer Eduardo Vacirca, who worked with the father for four years, says he believed that you got ahead in life by beating and putting people down
Close to 500 protesters in Peru's capital Lima after government passes law deeming trans people eligible for mental health care, health ministry says in statement it rejects the stigmatization of LGBTQ+ people and that the legal language simply seeks to ensure more complete health coverage
Javier Milei granted emergency powers by parliament of Argentina to enable reformation of the state, including privatization of numerous large state-owned companies, the proposal still needs to be approved by the senate which previously rejected similar bills from the parliament
Haitian gang leader Vitel'homme Innocent meets CNN in a gold car and gold chains around his neck, leads the way to a rococo mansion, sits on a gold sofa and says that the Haiti they had, the pearl of the Antilles, in which they grew up, can return to being the most beautiful and that one day someone can sit in the Champ de Mars park and have an ice cream, admit that he made some mistakes and regret that he got involved in politics
Argentina's President Javier Milei confirms his relationship with 43-year-old actress Fátima Flórez has ended after they started dating eight months ago, saying it is as a result of her overwhelming professional success as she has received numerous job offers in the US and Europe
Argentine President Javier Milei and Commander of the United States Southern Command, Laura J. Richardson, meet in Ushuaia in southern Argentina and announce the establishment of a naval base in the city, in March Richardson gave a presentation on the necessity to neutralize China and Russia in Latin America and Milei points to Antarctica as a motive for the construction of the base
Ecuadorian police raid the Mexican embassy in the capital Quito and arrest Ecuador's former vice president Jorge Glas, who is accused of corruption and bribery and sought political asylum at the embassy, leading to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador breaking diplomatic relations with the country
Argentina's President Javier Milei says during a speech at the opening of Congress that his reforms will be introduced with or without the support of the political leadership and that if they seek conflict, they will get conflict, is also proposing a social contract for the political class based on ten principles such as the inviolability of private property, non-negotiable fiscal balance and tax reductions
Argentina's former president and Javier Milei's predecessor, Alberto Fernández, is being indicted on Thursday for embezzlement by improperly favoring certain insurance brokers in the handling of public insurance contracts, the husband of Fernández's private secretary, the insurance broker Héctor Martínez Sosa, is also charged
The local government of the province of La Rioja in Argentina defaults on debt payment of USD 26 million on Monday, the green bonds were issued after a restructuring in 2021 due to a default in 2020 and was mostly invested in wind farms, one of which was sold for USD 171 million, which in turn was then invested in two more wind farms
Surplus in Argentina's state budget for the first time since August 2012 and President Javier Milei writes in response to Economy Minister Luis "Toto" Caputo's post on X "let's go, Toto", that zero deficit is non-negotiable followed by his traditional rallying cry "Long live freedom, damn it"
Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro formally accused of participation in coup attempt, is being given 24 hours to return his passport, he is also accused of spying during his administration and this week the police raides the home and office of his son Carlos and other related properties
Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile between 2010 and 2014 and between 2018 and 2022 dies in helicopter crash, had a fortune of an estimated USD 2.4 billion
Argentine President Javier Milei's reform package is sent back to square one and Milei refers on X to list of what he believes are the loyalists and traitors, and the government writes in a statement that they got their positions waving the banner of change just to betray their voters
Argentina's La Rioja region, where 67 percent work for the state, plans to issue bonds, bocades, for USD 28 million that could be used to pay local taxes, public services and, in theory, private companies, comes after President Javier Milei cut the government spending and refuses to pay the 20.8 billion ARS that Governor Ricardo Quintela believes the region is entitled to
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele claims election victory with 81 percent of the vote after 31 percent of votes counted, TIME highlights that he has called himself the world's coolest dictator and 48-year-old voter Sara Leon says that if he's a dictator, may we have a dictator for 100 more years
Argentina's lower house approves Javier Milei's reform proposal by 144 to 109 votes after three days of debate, on Tuesday lawmakers will vote on each of the articles and then the Senate awaits
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa signs decree that foreign prisoners should be extradited, the country has 32,000 prison places but 33,000 prisoners of which 10 percent have foreign citizenships according to survey in 2022 and this year at least 20 people have been killed in the country's prisons
Argentina's President Javier Milei strips the fiscal chapter from his bill, which included, among other things, an increase in export taxes and the income tax, Economy Minister Luis Caputo argues the changes will make the bill easier to pass in Congress, saying that the 500 articles that remain represent a structural change
Argentina's government requests up to USD 66,000 from organizations and trade unions as compensation for the police operations during the demonstrations on December 22 and 27, the organization Libres del Sur writes in a statement that the bill they received was sent from the Ministry of Security with a 10-day payment deadline
Argentine President Javier Milei's sister Karina is called El Jefe, meaning male boss, and is said to manage his diary, decide who has access to him and how he dresses, and Javier have said that Kari is Moses while he is her spokesman
Argentina's President Javier Milei announces in his first interview after being elected that trading dollars on the unofficial market is no longer illegal and no one will be prosecuted for it, and Foreign Minister Diana Mondino says contracts will be able to be issued in, for example, bitcoin, beef and milk after the package of measures will go through
Argentina's newly elected President Javier Milei presents 300 measures which includes prepare all state-owned companies to be privatised, deregulating the healthcare and the tourism industry, removing price controls on rental properties and abolishing the law that allow the government to set prices and margins for private companies
Argentina's Minister of the Security Patricia Bullrich says at a press conference that if they try to take to the streets there will be consequences, that measures will be taken until the space is completely freed and that the least possible force will be used but it will increase in proportion to the resistance
The Milei administration spokesman Manuel Adorni announces that the Argentinian government will halve the number of chauffeurs for public servants and intends to sell two aircraft that they say were only used as political privileges, saying that they will continue to inform every day about the reduction of privileges
Argentina's new economy minister, Luis Caputo, devalues the official exchange rate of the country's currency, the Argentine peso (ARS), by 54 percent against the USD to 800 ARS per USD, the black market exchange rate is around 1000 ARS per USD while the official was previously 350
Javier Milei takes office as president of Argentina and cuts the number of ministries in half, intends to review all government employee contracts and reduce the number of civil servants by 34 percent
Volodymyr Zelenskyj will participate in the inauguration ceremony of Argentine President Javier Milei on December 10, which will be the first trip to Latin America since the war with Russia, but Brazilian President Lula Da Silva will not attend, among other confirmed guests are Viktor Orbán, King Felipe VI of Spain, the party leader of Vox and Jair Bolsonaro
Referendum in Venezuela results, according to the country's authorities, in 90 percent support for annexing the Essequibo region of Guyana with a voter turnout of close to 50 percent, the mineral- and oil-rich region makes up two-thirds of Guyana
Argentina's incoming president Javier Milei plans to call Congress into extraordinary sessions the day after he is sworn in to launch what he says is a massive package of reforms, saying they will not wait until the regular session in March because it is urgent
Argentina's newly elected President Javier Milei announces that the shutdown of the country's central bank is non-negotiable and that the future government's official information is only published on X
Representatives of Argentine labor unions ready to oppose newly elected President Javier Milei's reforms and left-wing organizations meet to plan how to struggle against austerity
Guyana's President Irfaan Ali says his country will not tolerate Venezuela's claim to two-thirds of Guyana which he says is unlawful and unfounded, referring to the disputed Essequibo region and Venezuela's upcoming referendum on the issue
Libertarian populist Javier Milei is the favorite ahead of Argentina's presidential election on Sunday, which according to opinion polls looks set to go to a second round on November 19, the country has the world's third-highest inflation and has depleted almost all of its foreign currency reserves
Kidnapped council of Duran, Ecuador, Bolivar Vera, found dead with bound hands, bloody clothes and shot in the chest, the country of 17.5 million has had 3,567 murders in the year through early July and presidential elections are scheduled for October 15
Self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei, leading with a third of the vote after Argentina's primary election ahead of the general presidential election on October 22, wants to shut down the central bank, introduce the dollar as currency, deregulate and privatize the economy, political commentators expected his constant insults to other politicians to hurt him and he is called a fascist by his opponents
Honduras plans to set up prison on Islas del Cisne island 250 kilometers from land to house 2,000 gang leaders, President Xiomara Castro has promised to introduce drastic measures against criminal gangs such as Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), biologists are worried about the island's ecosystem
China and Russia positive to Venezuela's intentions to be included in the BRICS cooperation, in a meeting with Brazil's re-elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro declared the country's strive to join the organized cooperation between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
Police search the home of Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro on suspicion of him falsifying his vaccination status to gain entry to the United States, seizing both Bolsonaro's and his wife's cellphones and arresting close associates
Santiago Pena wins the presidential election in Paraguay, protests are triggered and the right-wing candidate Paraguayo Cuba, who came in third with 23 percent of the vote, requests a recount, calls for protests and says the election was stolen
More than 60,000 imprisoned since last year in El Salvador and since Nayib Bukele became president, the number of murders per year has decreased from 2,398 in 2019 to 496 in 2022, new prison that the president calls a common sense project with room for 40,000 are being built and this week the
Hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters storm the National Congress building as well as the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in Brasília after clashes with police, claim the election was stolen and call for military intervention to overthrow President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Honduras declares war against gangs, several hundred police officers involved in operations during a state of exception in 162 neighbourhoods to combat rising extortion and to counter allegations that the government has not done enough to combat rampant crime, follows example set by
At least 29 people killed in wave of violence involving arson, robbery, and looting sweeping northern Mexico after the arrest of notorious drug lord El Chapo's son Ovidio Guzmán, Guzmán who is described as a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel is wanted by the United States and his
47-year-old Ecuadoran René Salinas Ramos legally changes gender to help gain custody of his two daughters as the country's laws favors mothers in custody battles, LGBTQ groups express concern that the move will result in the Assembly starting to legislate against them and say it does not make
Juan Guaidó ousted as opposition leader in Venezuela after the US and several European countries recognized him as the legitimate leader in 2019 and an interim government was established ready to take over after the supposed resignation of President Nicolás Maduro
Venezuela claims the English-speaking area of Essequibo in Guyana with 125,000 inhabitants, insists that the 1777 border of the Essequibo River is the more natural one as opposed to current borders established by an arbitration court in Paris in 1899, now instead of refugee flows from Guyana, instead people flee to the country, including Anneris Valenzuela, 23, who says life is better than in Venezuela, although it is quite tough as they use lanterns since there is no electricity.
Brazil's incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro breaks the 45-hour silence after the election loss with a two-minute speech without mentioning his opponent Lula da Silva, does not mention confirming the election results but says he will follow the constitution, regarding his supporters' truck blockades, he says the popular movements are a result of indignation at the way the electoral process was conducted and peaceful protests are always welcome but the methods of the left should not be used
Truck drivers block roads in Brazil after incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro's election loss, truckers were one of candidate's staunchest supporters, union president distances himself, saying group of participating drivers is small, isolated and linked to far-right
Jair Bolsonaro has 50.3 percent and Lula da Silva 49.7 percent of the voter support according to poll ahead of second round of presidential election in Brazil held on Sunday, according to another poll Lula has a narrow lead
26-year-old Nikolas Ferreira won the most votes in Brazil's congressional elections, declares himself at war against the silent threat of communism that he claims victory for presidential candidate Lula will bring, has campaigned alongside incumbent president and candidate Jair Bolsonaro
Brazilian politician Roberto Jefferson resists federal police arrest at his home, fires rifles and throws grenades during hours-long siege, injures two police officers, announces on Whatsapp that he refuses to surrender but he could later be taken into custody, former ally of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has now distanced himself from him
Presidential candidate Lula accuses soccer star Neymar of only supporting incumbent President Bolsonaro because of a previous debt pardon from his income tax debt, saying he believes the soccer player is afraid that if he wins the election he will find out how much
Federal police in Brazil launch investigation into whether pollsters have formed a cartel to manipulate election results, polls ahead of the country's election early October greatly underestimated the support for the incumbent president Bolsonaro, current legislation prohibits the publication of fake polls
EU Ambassador in Nicaragua Bettina Muscheidt is asked to leave the country and is declared persona non grata according to diplomatic sources, the decision follows a statement by the EU in which it urged president Daniel Ortega to "restore democracy", no official comments from the government yet
20 members of the Jewish cult Lev Tahor detained in massive raids by law enforcement authorities in Mexico, the group who claims everyone had the necessary permits and paperwork to stay in the country practices a fundamentalist version of hassidism where women are required to cover themselves in black from head to toe and young girls are forcibly wed to older men
All of Cuba without power after Hurricane Ian swept through causing severe flooding, sustained winds of 56 mps/125 mph registered, around 40,000 people evacuated from the Pinar del Río province
Bolivia's President Luis Arce declares 2022 The Year of the Cultural Revolution to Eliminate the Patriarchy, says the pandemic and the structural crisis of capitalism have deteriorated the living conditions of women, proposes that the UN General Assembly declares a decade of the elimination of patriarchy as it is the most ancient system of oppression and also linked to colonialism and capitalism