Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Dec 13 (EFE).- Thousands of people participated in protests Sunday in more than 100 cities across Brazil, demanding an end to the administration of President Dilma Rousseff, who faces impeachment in the lower house of Congress. One of the biggest protests took place in Brasilia, the country's capital, where about 5,000 people, according to police estimates, ga...

Media Release by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba - The President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, arrived in Havana yesterday, December 13, leading a delegation of government officials and business leaders with the goal of strengthening relations with Cuba. Solís indicated that during the official visit, he hoped to conclude the process of normalization of bilate...

Wikimedia Commons Quito, Dec 11 (EFE).- Ecuador and Sweden have signed an agreement that will enable Swedish prosecutors to question WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at Ecuador's embassy in London, the Andean nation said Friday. Negotiations began in June and the agreement was reached on Thursday, Ecuador's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it will enter into force "in the c...

As officials in Costa Rica work on a “Plan C” to allow stranded Cuban migrants to reach their desired destination in the United States, desperation is being felt across the various shelters in the northern region of the country. Nearly 5,000 stranded Cubans are currently sheltered in Costa Rica; their situation has been exacerbated by the actions of the government of Nicaragua against them. Whe...

Wikimedia Commons Rio de Janeiro, Dec 9 (EFE).- Two Brazilian brothers ages 17 and 20 were arrested Wednesday after dressing in typical Arab robes and saying they were going to detonate a fake bomb on a public bus in the town of Pelotas, in Rio Grande do Sul state, local media reported. In a video provided by one of the witnesses showing the moment when the two young men boarded the bus, on...

By Emilio J. Lopez Miami, Dec 8 (EFE).- Cuban immigration to the United States grew by almost 80 percent in 2015 out of fear that the thaw in relations between Washington and Havana might at any time put an end to the advantages Cubans currently enjoy the minute they set foot on U.S. territory. Since Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced to the world on Dec. 17, 2014, their determination to...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After a decade-long commodity super cycle, the 2016 growth outlook for Latin America remains subdued as external and domestic risks persist, says Fitch Ratings in a new special report. Against this backdrop, Fitch expects little upward sovereign rating movement in the region in 2016. To the contrary, negative rating pressures could increase if countries are unable to adj...

Wikimedia Commons By Sara Gomez Armas Havana, Dec 7 (EFE).- "Papa," the U.S. film about the darkest years in the life of Ernest Hemingway that successfully skirted the longstanding embargo so it could be shot in Cuba, had its world premiere on the island that became his "true home," the legendary writer's granddaughter, Mariel Hemingway, who plays a part in the movie, said. "The film sho...

Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Dec 7 (EFE).- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or IACHR, experts who examined the disappearance of 43 Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School students in southern Mexico said Monday that a study done by a weather and satellite imagery center bolsters the theory that the missing students' bodies were not burned at the dump in Cocula. "The satellite images ...

Wikimedia Commons Baghdad, Dec 5 (EFE).- Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi demanded Saturday that Turkey withdraw its troops from Iraqi territory, the day after a first contingent of Turkish soldiers advanced toward the city of Mosul in the northern part of the country. Al-Abadi described as "a serious violation of Iraqi sovereignty" the entry of Turkish forces into Nineveh province, who...

Supporters of President Maduro rally in Caracas EFE/AGENCIA VENEZOLANA DE NOTICIAS/ Caracas, Dec 4 (EFE; additional reporting by The Costa Rica Star).- A few incidents have been reported during the National Assembly elections Sunday in Venezuela, where some voters ate ballots and military personnel tried to enter election precincts, Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez said. "They'r...

Star Breeze Seattle, WA (PRWEB) December 04, 2015 - Today, Windstar Cruises announces a new program for guests traveling on Costa Rica & Panama Canal itineraries. The Canal Celebration, a deckside festival, invites guests to experience the sights and sounds of the Panama Canal while enjoying amenities and activities that highlight the Panamanian culture. New for 2015/16, Windstar guests...

Wikimedia Commons Santiago, Dec 3 (EFE).- A veterinarians' association and an oceanographer said a group of scientists who discovered more than 330 dead whales beached in southern Chile put public health at risk by concealing that information for more than five months. The scientists who made the find in June and reported it to Chilean authorities on Nov. 17 allegedly withheld the informati...

Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Dec 2 (EFE).- Mexico's Profepa federal environmental protection agency returned or seized 11,250 pine trees from the United States from Nov. 3 to Nov. 25 due to the presence of blight not previously detected in the country, officials said. Profepa inspectors banned sales of the trees under the Christmas Tree Importation Verification and Inspection Program for ...

Source: Facebook Culiacan, Mexico, Dec 1 (EFE).- The burned van found with two bodies inside in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa last month belonged to the two Australian surfers reported missing in the area, state officials said. The van was found on Nov. 21 in the city of Navolato and investigators suspect that the bodies found in the vehicle are those of Dean Lucas and Adam Russ...

Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Release - A new round of migration talks was held between the delegations of Cuba and the United States, which were headed by Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, Director General of the United States Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Edward Alex Lee, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. During the meeting, both Parties r...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Caracas, Nov 28 (EFE).- Venezuela's Food Minister Carlos Osorio denied that the government's sale of food at rock-bottom prices beginning Saturday, a week before the legislative elections, could be considered an "election gimmick." Opposition candidates are passing the word "on social networks that this operation will last no longer than election day" on Dec. 6, wh...

Source: Flickr Commons Tegucigalpa, Nov 28 (EFE).- A nurse of the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, kidnapped last Nov. 25, was found murdered Saturday in a village near the Honduran capital, officials said. The body of nurse Henry Marcial Matamoros, 45, was buried in the mountain village of Yaguacire on the south side of Tegucigalpa, and was discovered by a group o...

Supporters of President Maduro rally in Caracas EFE/AGENCIA VENEZOLANA DE NOTICIAS/ Caracas, Nov 26 (EFE).- An opposition leader was shot dead at a campaign event in central Venezuela attended by the wife of Leopoldo Lopez, a high-profile government opponent who is serving a lengthy prison sentence, heightening tensions heading into next month's legislative elections. Luis Manuel Diaz, secr...

Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Nov 26 (EFE).- Mexico's Profepa federal environmental protection agency has intensified its search for a Bengal tiger that escaped from a hunting ground a month ago in the southern state of Guerrero. The big cat is in an area known as El Potrerito, part of the Coyuca de Benitez municipality, the institution said Wednesday in a statement. Working in coordina...

Source: Red Cross of Costa Rica United Nations Country Team Costa Rica News Release - The National Commission for Risk Prevention and Emergency Care Costa Rica (CNE in its Spanish acronym) reported 400 Cuban migrants in Peñas Blancas border facility and 1,320 migrants in 7 shelters. Highlights follow: As of 19 November at 12pm, the government reported that the situation was under control a...

San Juan, Nov 25 (EFE).- A Puerto Rican pilot decided to land his small plane in a grassy area next to a McDonald's in northern town of Hatillo to buy himself and his passenger a coffee, island authorities confirmed Wednesday. The Puerto Rican Police said that personnel with the Puerto Rico Joint Forces of Rapid Action, or FURA, were dispatched to the site on Tuesday afternoon thinking that an ...

Source; Google Maps Lima, Nov 24 (EFE).- An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale on Tuesday struck the mutual border area between Peru, Brazil and Bolivia but there have been no reports as yet of any injuries or material damage. The powerful quake occurred at 5:44 p.m. and had its epicenter in the Madre de Dios Amazon region, 83 km (51 mi.) south of the town of Esperanza some 90 km...

Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Nov 23 (EFE).- Dozens of residences at a luxury development in Mexico City's Santa Fe neighborhood, including former Miss Universe Alicia Machado's home, are on the edge of an abyss after landslides that have led to criticism of unregulated development in the capital. Santa Fe, a neighborhood in the borough of Cuajimalpa, is a newly developed area in the south...

Havana, Nov 23 (EFE).- Cuban authorities are providing "effective cooperation" to provide a "quick, adequate solution" to the plight of more than 2,000 Cuban emigrants who have been stranded for over a week in Costa Rica on the Nicaraguan border, Cuba's official media said Monday. The migrants ended up in Costa Rica after setting out from Cuba "with the intention of emigrating to the U.S., enco...

Source: Pixabay Commons Mexico City, Nov 23 (EFE).- The Federal District Attorney's Office, working with federal law enforcement personnel, arrested three men and a woman, and 17 victims of sexual exploitation were rescued in Mexico City, officials said. The victims, all adult women, were forced to provide sexual services at the Desexxx3 bar in the Mexico City borough of Centro, the DA's of...

Wikimedia Commons Rio de Janeiro, Nov 22 (EFE).- Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes on Sunday formally handed over a newly-constructed golf course, one of the most controversial projects in the preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, to the Olympic Organizing Committee. The 18-hole course covering about a square kilometer (a little over 1/3 square mile) was taken over by the organizing ...

Freedom House Press Release. Washington, November 20, 2015 - In response a growing number of Cuban migrants passing from through Ecuador and Central America, which has strained diplomatic relations between Costa Rica and Nicaragua and led to Nicaraguan authorities using force against more than 1,500 Cuban migrants, Freedom House issued the followed statement: “Nicaragua’s government should stop i...

Wikimedia Commons Washington, Nov 19 (EFE).- More Mexicans are returning to their homeland than are emigrating to the United States, with a net outflow from this country of 140,000 between 2009 and 2014, according to a report released on Thursday. The report, prepared by the Pew Research Center, says that more Mexican immigrants have returned to Mexico from the U.S. than have migrated here ...

"Pedro-Pablo-Kuczynski" by Robertovillani - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons Lima, Nov 16 (EFE).- Peruvian presidential candidate Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced that he has given up his U.S. citizenship as the right thing to do before the 2016 elections. Kuczynski, a former economy minister, said Sunday night on the television news program "Cuarto Poder" that he has taken ...

Supporters of President Maduro rally in Caracas EFE/AGENCIA VENEZOLANA DE NOTICIAS/ Caracas, Nov 19 (EFE).- The Venezuelan government on Thursday delivered a protest note to the United States after the publication of documents showing that the National Security Agency spied on employees of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. The note was delivered to the charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embass...

El Dorado airport in Bogota. Wikimedia Commons Bogota, Nov 19 (EFE).- One of the people being investigated for having participated in last week's terrorist attacks in Paris left Bogota in July and traveled to the French capital after bribing officials to let him leave the country, a source in the immigration agency told EFE. The suspect, identified as Syrian national Al Sakhadi Seham, made ...

Prime Minister Trudeau and President Peña Nieto By Helen Cook Manila, Nov 18 (EFE).- Philippine social-networking sites have been awash with praise for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who have caused a stir here among a segment of the female population since arriving for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Only minutes after they...

Panama Canal Panama Canal, Nov 17 (EFE).- Experts attending a three-day International Trademark Association meeting that kicked off here Tuesday will discuss ways to combat the transit of counterfeit goods through the Panama Canal. The Leadership Meeting is "an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges of combating counterfeiting and to advocate for measures to halt the transshipm...

Wikimedia Commons Washington, Nov 17 (EFE).- The United States last week received the first Central American children whose asylum requests were approved as part of a program launched almost a year ago, a State Department spokesman told EFE on Tuesday. "Six minors from El Salvador arrived last Thursday. They are the only ones to have arrived so far," Rubani Trimiew, spokesman for the Bureau...

Marti Noticias Twitter United States Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a veteran Florida Republican who is Chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is not happy about the treatment received by hundreds of Cuban immigrants at the hands of Nicaraguan Army soldiers yesterday at the northern border of Costa Rica. Ros-Lehtinen went on Marti Noticias, an independent news outlet tha...

Source: Wikimedia Commons WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Representative Eliot L. Engel, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today released the following statement praising Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro for his recent letter to the head of Venezuela's National Electoral Council Tibisay Lucena urging her to level the playing field to make t...

Buenos Aires, Nov 12 (EFE).- The pregnancy of a 13-year-old girl who has already given birth once before is rocking Argentine society, given that - in addition - authorities are investigating whether her situation was brought about by being raped by her mother's partner, local media reported. The girl, whose name has not been made public, had been living with her 32-year-old mother, her stepfat...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Washington, Nov 11 (EFE).- U.S. law enforcement officials arrested the godson and a nephew of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, charging them with conspiring to transport 800 kilos of cocaine to U.S. territory, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday citing sources close to the case. Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, the godson of the Venezuelan leader, and Franci...

Flickr Commons1 Mexico City, Nov 9 (EFE).- The coach of a girls' basketball team in the southern state of Oaxaca was shot to death by a father who was angry with the decision not to let his daughter play in a game, Mexican authorities reported Monday. The incident occurred at a sports facility in Oaxaca on Sunday after a game in which Guillermo Audelo, 33, had coached his team - the Dragons...