Alternate Assemblyman and social media influencer Cristhian Nieto (of the opposition Revolución Ciudadana party of former President Rafael Correa) and his wife Nicole Burgos were shot dead in the Ecuadorean port city of Manta in the province of Manabí on Sunday evening in the middle of a circus function Mrs. Nieto was broadcasting on Tik-Tok.
On his way back from California, Argentine President Javier Milei stopped in El Salvador for Nayib Bukele's new inauguration ceremony, which was also attended by other heads of state and government, such as King Felipe VI of Spain with whom he exchanged a brief moment that caught the eye given the recent diplomatic crisis with the Socialist administration of Pedro Sánchez.
Presidents Santiago Peña of Paraguay and Xiomara Castro of Honduras, who also chair the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) respectively, got together while in San Salvador during Nayib Bukele's new inauguration as President of El Salvador to discuss issues related to how to promote a joint agenda, it was reported.
Canada recently increased temporary work visas for Mexico, Guatemala, and the Caribbean.
Haiti's transitional council managed to appoint a prime minister this week as the Caribbean country keeps fighting street gangs for effective control of Port-au-Prince and other key locations nationwide. Garry Conille has been chosen for the post he already held between Oct. 2011 and May 2012 under then-President Michel Martelly. Conille has been UNICEF's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean since January 2023.
Chinese investors who have poured millions of dollars into the Chancay mega-port on the coast of Peru, along the Pacific basin and which hopefully in the near future will have land connections to Latin America's largest economy,
A Constitutional complaint was filed against Peru's Attorney General Juan Carlos Villena for irregularities in charges he filed against President Dina Boluarte. The move will shield the head of state under investigation for corruption and has a meager 5% positive image.
Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora will be traveling to Russia next week for an encounter with Vladimir Putin, it was confirmed in La Paz Wednesday. Putin and Arce last held a telephone conversation on May 13 to advance bilateral cooperation issues. As war preparedness rises globally, Bolivia's role as that of a country hosting Iranian troops and guns cannot be ignored.
The global container shipping capacity has been strained due to the Red Sea/Suez Canal situation and a restocking cycle in the U.S. and Europe with strong purchasing of Chinese goods. On May 17, the Shanghai Export Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) rose to 2520.76 points, a 9.3% increase from the previous week and more than a 130% increase since the Red Sea crisis in December, points out the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
Venezuelan authorities announced Tuesday they were withdrawing the invitation previously extended to the European Union (RU) to monitor the July 28 elections in a move that cast additional doubts over a process that has for long looked fudgy following the disenfranchisement of opposition leader María Corina Machado.