South America

BRASILIA, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Brazil plans to nominate former central bank governor Ilan Goldfajn to head the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday, as Latin America's largest economy seeks to secure its first presidency of the institution.

The development bank will elect its next president on Nov. 20 after the ouster of Mauricio Claver-Carone in an ethics scandal.

LIMA, Oct 15 (NNN-ANDINA) — October 20 is the deadline to vote for Peru’s tourist icon Machu Picchu, nominated as the World’s Leading Tourist Attraction 2022, and thus allow it to obtain its fifth title in the global edition of the World Travel Awards —also known as the Oscars of World Tourism.

NECOCLI, Colombia (AP) — Venezuelan Gilbert Fernández still plans to cross the dangerous Darien jungle into Panama and head toward the United States over land, despite a U.S. announcement that it will grant conditional humanitarian permits only to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants arriving by air.

“The news hit us like a bucket of cold water,” Fernández said Thursday, a day after the announcement, which also stated that Venezuelans arriving by land at the Mexico-U.S. border would be returned to Mexico.

QUITO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador reported 43 new confirmed cases of monkeypox on Wednesday, bringing the country's total confirmed cases to 185.

Of the 185 patients, 67 have been discharged from hospital, while the epidemiological fence for 308 contacts is maintained, the Ministry of Public Health said in a statement.

Sixteen Ecuadorian provinces have been affected by monkeypox, with Pichincha, Guayas and Azuay ranking top with 63, 61 and 19 cases respectively.

CARACAS, Oct 11 (NNN-ABN) – The weekend landslide in Venezuela’s north central state of Aragua, has killed 36 by yesterday afternoon, with 56 persons still missing, Minister for Internal Relations, Justice, and Peace, Remigio Ceballos, said.

The Venezuelan government has distributed 300 tonnes of food and water in the affected area, he said, adding that, more than 3,000 members of the police and fire departments, the Civil Protection agency and the Bolivarian National Armed Forces have been deployed, to help with the recovery efforts.

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 11 (NNN-TELAM) – Argentine President, Alberto Fernandez, reshuffled his cabinet yesterday, appointing three new women ministers, the office of the presidency said.

Fernandez “has called on three women of different ages, geographic origins and extensive experience in their fields, to be part of his cabinet, in order to deepen the breadth of views and management efficiency,” his office said, in a statement.

BOGOTA, Oct 9 (NNN-TELESUR) — The Colombian government declared maximum alert in the Caribbean island of San Andres before the passage of storm Julia, which will strengthen in the coming hours to become a hurricane.

“It is highly probable that storm Julia will become a hurricane and reach San Andres between 19H00 and 21H00 hours”, said President Gustavo Petro, in a message on his Twitter account.

GEORGETOWN, Oct 6 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The former British colony of Guyana, to the north of Brazil and on the Caribbean has emerged as one of the continent’s top oil producers and is poised to become a leading global energy exporter.

Since 2015 an Exxon Mobil-led consortium has made a swathe of high-quality oil discoveries in offshore Guyana in the 6.6-million-acre Stabroek Block, with the latest announced in July 2022. It is estimated those finds have uncovered nearly 11 billion barrels of recoverable oil resources in the Stabroek Block with further oil discoveries to come.

BRASILIA, Oct 6 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — As India, the world leader in exports restricts rice shipments, Brazil signaled at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that together with Mercosur partners, it is ready to expand exports and help with global food security.

The Brazilian Rice Industry Association (Abiarroz) said that the country, which has exported up to 1.5 million tons of the cereal a year, has the capacity to add another 2.5 million tons, including stocks that come from neighboring Mercosur countries.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Jair Bolsonaro outperformed the polls in the first round of Brazil’s presidential election, forcing a runoff while proving that the far-right wave he rode to the presidency remains a force and giving the world yet another example of surveys missing the mark.