South America

LA PAZ, Aug 1 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Bolivian President Luis Arce will participate in the next Brics Summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta confirmed at a press conference.

His presence in the Brics forum in South Africa from August 22 to 24, in compliance with an invitation from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, will put Bolivia back on the global scene, the foreign minister noted.

BUENOS AIRES, July 31 (Reuters) - Argentina's Economy Minister Sergio Massa said on Monday the country will not use "a single dollar" of its own reserves to make a $2.7 billion repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due this week.

Massa, who is also a presidential candidate in this October's election, said in a speech that it would be possible because of an extended swap deal with China and a new loan from the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).

LA PAZ, July 27 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Bolivia may shift from being an exporter of natural gas to Brazil and Argentina to becoming an importer by 2030.

A report by British energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie indicates that Bolivia’s natural gas production will decline faster than expected. The reason is the aging of the country’s production fields and the absence of new discoveries.

According to the study, Bolivia’s natural gas production is expected to fall from 39 million cubic meters per day in 2022 to 11 million m³/day in 2030.

QUITO, July 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The mayor of Ecuador’s third largest city was slain Sunday in a shooting that killed one other person and wounded four more, including two suspected attackers, officials said.

Agustín Intriago, a 38-year-old lawyer, belonged to the local Better City movement in the port city of Manta and was recently re-elected to a term that began in May.

BUENOS AIRES, July 23 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Argentine President Alberto Fernández spoke with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva to discuss a new understanding ahead of this year’s elections, it was reported in Buenos Aires.

22 July 2023; MEMO: Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil announced on Friday that his country is looking forward to raising the value of trade with Turkiye to $3 billion, Anadolu Agency reported.

During a press conference in Istanbul with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, Gil highlighted the significant investment and cooperation policies developed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Latin America.

BUENOS AIRES, July 16 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — A total of 17 Argentine provinces are under yellow alert due to weather forecasts heralding extremely cold temperatures, the National Meteorological Service (SMN) announced.

The SMN also said these temperatures reaching -10.8 degrees Celsius in El Calafate, Santa Cruz (south), and -8.9 degrees in La Quiaca, Jujuy (north), might be dangerous for children and elderly or chronically ill people.

CARACAS, Jul 12 (NNN-ABN) – The Venezuelan government said yesterday, it supports Cuba’s condemnation of the “manipulative conduct of the European Union (EU)” in organising an upcoming EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit in Brussels, Belgium.

“Venezuela decisively supports the condemnations made by Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla,” the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

SAO PAULO, Jul 12 (NNN-CMA) – At least four people were killed, including two minors, when suspects opened fire on a bar in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, local media reported yesterday.

Based on reports from the Sao Paulo Civil Police, the incident occurred minutes before midnight on Monday, in the Parque Paraiso neighbourhood of the Itapecerica da Serra district.

Two people were wounded in the shooting, which saw two suspects arrive on a motorcycle and fire multiple shots into the bar before fleeing.

QUITO, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ten people were killed and ten injured, including children, in two shootings Sunday in Guayaquil, the Ecuadoran port city in the grips of a bloody war between drug trafficking gangs, officials said.

The shootings took place in two poor neighborhoods of the city that has seen at least three similar attacks since April.

The first shooting killed four people and injured 10 — including children aged 2, 13 and 14 — in Siete Lagos in the south of the city, the prosecutor’s office said on Monday.