Stories for December 2023

Sunday, December 31st 2023 - 23:27 UTC
Bolivian court bans Evo from 2025 candidacy

Bolivia's Plurinational Constitutional Court (TCP) Friday ruled that indefinite reelection is not a human right and therefore former President Evo Morales was banned from running for office in 2025. Under the TCP's new consideration, such a right can now be legally restricted, which reverses a criterion approved by this same court in 2017.
Sunday, December 31st 2023 - 23:24 UTC
Argentina sends note rejecting BRICS entry

The Argentine Government of President Javier Milei this week sent a note announcing that the South American country would not be joining the BRICS group on Jan. 1 as agreed upon with the previous administration of Alberto Fernández.
Sunday, December 31st 2023 - 23:22 UTC
Covid-19: Alert issued in Paraguay amid growing number of cases

Paraguayan health authorities have issued an alert amid an increase in the number of Covid-19 and influenza cases that are pushing the national sanitary network to its limits, it was reported in Asunción.
Sunday, December 31st 2023 - 23:20 UTC
1982 South Atlantic War: Crippa launches fundraiser to bring back his plane

Retired Argentine Navy pilot Owen Crippa launched this week a fundraiser to bring back from the United States the Italian-built Aermacchi MB-339 with which he attacked the HMS Argonaut on May 21, 1982, during a reconnaissance mission amid the South Atlantic war over the Falkland Islands. He reportedly needs US$ 50,000.
Sunday, December 31st 2023 - 23:13 UTC
Colombia: Petro signs free college education decree

After mistakenly claiming that Argentina had expelled some 20,000 Colombian university students, President Gustavo Petro upped the ante and decreed that such studies would henceforth be free in his country.
Saturday, December 30th 2023 - 11:33 UTC
Argentina: Beneficiaries of social aid found not to be in need

Argentina's Human Capital Ministry on Friday ordered the suppression of 4,588 social assistance plans whose beneficiaries were found to have incurred expenses incompatible with such assistance, it was reported in Buenos Aires.
Saturday, December 30th 2023 - 11:26 UTC
Violence mounting regionally, Uruguayan police chief says

Uruguayan Police Director José Manuel Azambuya said Friday that the growth in violence recorded recently in the South American country was of regional proportions. “We have seen that violence has been growing, not only in our country but it is regional,” Azambuya maintained during a press conference in Montevideo.
Saturday, December 30th 2023 - 11:16 UTC
Petro opens arms to free-ride students targeted by Argentine bill

Colombian President Gustavo Petro Friday announced on social media that his government would assist some 20,000 nationals from his country who might be affected by Argentine President Javier Milei's proposed austerity measures regarding spending cuts including an end to tuition-free studies for non-resident foreigners.
Saturday, December 30th 2023 - 10:58 UTC
Argentina's Supreme Court to review Milei's decree in February

Argentina's Supreme Court (CSJN) Friday agreed to review the constitutionality of President Javier Milei's recent emergency decree (DNU) deregulating most of the country's economy but announced it will not happen until after the Jan. 2024 Judiciary recess
Saturday, December 30th 2023 - 10:38 UTC
UK says Venezuela's military maneuvers “unjustified”

The United Kingdom said Venezuelan President Nicolàs Maduro's decision to up his country's military readiness over the Essequibo dispute with Guyana was “unjustified.” The Bolivarian forces deployed over 5,000 troops in response to the arrival in the area of the Royal Navy's HMS Trent.