Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman. Source: Wikimedia Commons Buenos Aires, Nov 9 (EFE; additional reporting by The Costa Rica Star).- Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman is not in Argentina, the Argentine government said Monday, citing the results of an investigation. Officials ruled out the possibility that the Sinaloa drug cartel's leader was in the Argentina-Chile border region. ...

U.S. military DASH-8 aircraft. Wikimedia Commons Caracas, Nov 8 (EFE).- The Venezuelan Defense Ministry on Sunday claimed that a U.S. DASH-8 military aircraft violated its maritime airspace and the armed forces of Caracas said they detected "unusual" air activity by other U.S. "intelligence equipment" based in Curacao. The U.S. Coast Guard DASH-8, "equipped with an electro-optic system that...

Flickr Commons Rio de Janeiro, Nov 8 (EFE).- Rescue teams on Sunday found the bodies of two people who died in the avalanche of mud and mining residue that virtually wiped out seven Brazilian towns last week after two dikes ruptured. The governor of the state of Minas Gerais, Fernando Pimentel, said Sunday that hopes are dwindling for finding alive any of the 28 people who went missing when...

Tacna region Santiago, Nov 7 (EFE).- The Chilean government rejected Saturday the enactment in Peru of a new law creating a district on the border between the two countries which, it says, "includes territory that is unquestionably Chilean," and announced that it is sending a note of protest to Lima. Peruvian President Ollanta Humala enacted Saturday the creation of the La Yarada-Los Palos ...

Managua, Nov 5 (EFE).- The state-run Nicaraguan Grand Interoceanic Canal Commission on Thursday approved Chinese concession holder HKND Group's environmental and social impact studies for that waterway project, clearing the way for construction to begin. "We're authorizing HKND now to begin the design, structural and construction processes," the commission's president, Manuel Coronel Kautz, sai...

Managua, Nov 3 (EFE).- More than 50 divers removed 1.6 tons of solid waste, including tractor tires, from the bottom of San Juan del Sur Bay, one of the main attractions for tourists on Nicaragua's Pacific coast, clean-up organizers said. A total of 785 items were removed from the bay during the two-day clean-up operation, Dive Nicaragua, which organized the event for the second time, said. ...

Wikimedia Commons Rio de Janeiro, Nov 2 (EFE).- A 17-month-old boy bit and killed a poisonous snake he found in the yard of his family's house in Mostardas, a coastal city in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state, Radio Gaucha reported on Monday. The boy, whose name is Lorenzo, was playing on Sunday afternoon in the house's concrete-covered yard in an urban area where snakes are rarely seen, rel...

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Pure Hospitality Solutions, Inc., (Pink Sheets: PNOW), parent company of the Central American-Caribbean online travel Agency, Oveedia (www.Oveedia.com), announced today, that those Nicaraguan hotel properties not listed on major OTAs', will now see an influx of business opportunities, with this month's opening of the Costa Esmeralda Airport. This positively ...

The killer in Merciless stalks his next victim. Source: Globo International Globo’s production of series, known worldwide for its unique character and high quality, is set to delight the Costa Rican audience. Teletica, the largest TV network in Costa Rica, has licensed six titles from the Brazilian broadcaster’s 2015 catalog: the series ‘Merciless’ and ‘The Hunter’, the miniseries ‘Doomed’ and...

Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, Oct 28 (EFE).- A new attraction for fans of extreme tourism has been inaugurated at the foot of San Cristobal Volcano, Nicaragua's tallest, in the northwestern region of the Central American country. The site, with its inn, dining hall, visitors center, tourist service facility and trails for climbing the 1,745-meter (5,721-foot) high volcano, was constructed with a budg...

Source: Miss Mexico Facebook Mexico City, Oct 29 (EFE).- Wendolly Esparza, winner of the beauty contest title Nuestra Belleza Mexico in 2014, says she has "prepared arduously" to win the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant, a contest in which she is eager to compete now that Mexico is back in it following real estate magnate Donald Trump's departure from the show. "I have prepared arduously for this...

Wikimedia Commons Georgetown, Oct 27 (EFE).- Guyanese President David Granger has ruled out giving neighboring Venezuela access to the Atlantic as part of any settlement of the border dispute over Essequibo region. "We cannot sell out. We cannot give away. We cannot offer the adversary any corridor or any passage," Granger said on Tuesday after the successful completion of Exercise Greenhea...

Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman. Source: Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Oct 26 (EFE).- The United States is assisting with the manhunt for Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman, but U.S. law enforcement agents are not taking part in operations in Mexico, Government Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said Monday. "Not one single person" from a U.S. security agency is particip...

Havana, Oct 25 (EFE).- Tourist arrivals in Cuba totaled more than 2.6 million as of Sept. 30, with the island hitting the figure two months earlier than in 2014, the National Statistics and Information Office, or ONEI, said. Tourist arrivals during the first nine months of this year totaled 2.62 million, up by some 400,000, or 18 percent, from the same period in 2014. Canada was the top sour...

Wikimedia Commons Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct 24 (EFE). - Patricia, which weakened quickly after making landfall in Mexico as a fearsome Category 5 hurricane, caused no casualties and only minor damage, authorities said Saturday in a preliminary report. "There were some regrettable accidents ... a road accident, a fallen tree, but no major incidents," Communications and Transportation Secretar...

Source: NOAA Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct 23 (EFE). - Thousands of residents and tourists on the Pacific coasts of the Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit were evacuated as landfall approached for Hurricane Patricia, described as the most powerful tropical system in history. National emergency management office chief Luis Felipe Puente told media that since Thursday the evacuation of ...

Wikimedia Commons Port-au-Prince, Oct 23 (EFE).- Crowds of Haitian voters accompanied ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide as he set off with the presidential candidate of his Lavalas Family party, Marysse Narcisse, in a caravan to close her campaign. The caravan left from the ex-president's residence amid a crowd numbering over 1,000 partisans. Supporters of Aristide and Narcisse waited ...

With the skyrocketing costs of healthcare in America, many patients are beginning to look outside of the US for their health and dental care. Because of Latin America’s reputation for healthcare quality and as an enjoyable place to rest and recover post-surgery, many nations in Latin America are becoming popular destinations for medical and dental tourism. Mexico is a common and popular dental car...

Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Oct 21 (EFE).- Mexican authorities have shut down nine tourist projects in Tulum, a protected natural area in the southeastern state of Quintana Roo, citing their impact on wild flora and fauna. Staff with the Profepa federal environmental protection agency verified through five environmental impact assessments and four forestry inspections of those tourist de...

Havana, Oct 20 (EFE).- The "Paquete," a peculiar system for the private, informal airing of audiovisual content in Cuba, does not threaten state television but will rather serve as a "catalyst" for its renovation and updating, according to a commentary posted Tuesday on government Web site Cubadebate. El Paquete de la Semana (The Weekly Package) has become something most Cuban households can't ...

An Uber driver in Bogota. Wikimedia Commons Rio de Janeiro, Oct 20 (EFE).- A group of taxi drivers took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday to protest a ruling by a state judge suspending a municipal ordinance in the Brazilian city that banned the use of the Uber ride-sharing application to hire private vehicles. Taxi drivers gathered at Santos Dumont Airport, located near downtown ...

DelSexto blog Havana, Oct 20 (EFE). - Cuban graffiti artist Danilo "El Sexto" Maldonado, who has been on a hunger strike for four days, was freed Tuesday after being jailed for 10 months without trial in a prison outside of Havana, as he himself told EFE from his family home. "I'm very happy to be here at home. What I want to do now is see my daughter and thank everybody who made such an ou...

Source: Flickr Commons Mexico City, Oct 19 (EFE).- Police found a dead man hanging off a bridge in eastern Mexico City, the Federal District Attorney's Office said Monday. The body had a bullet wound and was completely covered in bandages, a DA's office spokesman told EFE. The unidentified man was left hanging off the steel structure of a bridge over an intersection in the borough of Izt...

Source: Wikimedia Commons If you were to wager on the likelihood of the Nicaragua Canal project being completed, what sort of betting odds would you expect? The controversial project, which aims to compete against the Panama Canal, has attracted considerable media attention in 2015. Most of the news reports surrounding the Nicaragua Canal, which will ostensibly be located more than a hundre...

Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton. EFE file Washington, Oct 16 (EFE).- The Democratic front-runner in next year's U.S. presidential election, Hillary Clinton, backed the Obama administration's decision to normalize ties with Cuba, but she expressed concern over the human rights situation on the Communist-ruled island. In an interview with EFE Thursday in San Antonio, Clinton said the r...

Mexico City, Oct 16 (EFE).  - Some 4.5 million Mexicans living in poverty benefit from government programs that put food on their tables, President Enrique Peña Nieto said while leading a World Food Day ceremony. "We're working on different fronts against poverty and food insecurity. To get results we have to combine our efforts," Peña Nieto said during a visit to San Felipe del Progreso, a sma...

Source: Floyd Mayweather Instagram Havana, Oct 14 (EFE). - American retired boxer Floyd Mayweather, regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time, made a brief trip to Cuba this week and uploaded photos of the visit to social media. The images posted to his Twitter and Instagram accounts include one of Mayweather on a street in Old Havana, the city's historical center, surrounded by ...

Mexico City, Oct 11 (EFE).- Authorities seized 3.5 tons of shark fins and 529 kilos of sea bass swim bladders in Manzanillo, a coastal city in the western Mexican state of Colima, the Profepa federal environmental protection agency said. The animal parts came from "wildlife in Colima" and had been dehydrated, the agency said in a statement. Inspectors found the shark fins and sea bass swim b...

Source: Wikimedia Commons By Mariel Huerta Mexico City, Oct 10 (EFE).- Romi, a 10-month-old pitbull, died of poisoning after being taken for a walk in Parque Mexico, a case that would have been forgotten if almost 20 other dogs in the area had not already died that way, a growing cause for concern among the residents of the elegant Condesa neighborhood in the Mexican capital. While regre...

Source: Indian Sao Paulo, Oct 8 (EFE).- Domestically manufactured electric motorcycles and the arrival in Brazil of U.S. brand Indian highlighted the opening day of the Two Wheels Trade Show in Sao Paulo, South America's biggest motor-bike event. The first day of the biennial fair was highlighted by new scooter designs and features, iconic American motorcycle brand Indian's entry into the B...

Wikimedia Commons Morelia, Mexico, Oct 9 (EFE).- A small plane loaded with packets of cocaine crashed and burst into flames in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, an accident in which two suspected drug traffickers were killed, officials said. The Cessna slammed into a mountain known as El Organito near the Pacific coast, the Michoacan state Attorney General's Office said Thursday. T...

"Rolling Stones 26" by Gorupdebesanez - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons Havana, Oct 5 (EFE).- Cubans were astonished this weekend to see Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger strolling through the historic center of Havana, where he is on a private trip with one of his children, official media reported Monday. The British rock icon visited the Hotel Santa Isabel in the Old H...

Miami, Oct 3 (EFE).- American actor and rapper Will Smith sings again, this time doing a remix of his number "Fiesta" with the Colombian band Bomba Estereo. Missing from the music world for 10 years, Smith returns with the Colombian band doing an upbeat fusion of electro-tropical sound and rap that reflects "the impact of Latin rhythms" on the international scene. "Having a personality like ...

Wikimedia Commons Mexico City, Oct 2 (EFE).- Microsoft Corporation CEO Satya Nadella said here during a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto that the technology giant would invest around $1 billion to promote digital education and inclusion in the Latin American country. During Thursday's meeting at the Los Pinos presidential residence, Nadella said the investment would be carr...

Wikimedia Commons Bogota, Oct 2 (EFE).- Guerrilla and drug-trafficking kingpin Victor Ramon Navarro Serrano, alias "Megateo," was killed in a military operation in northwestern Colombia, officials reported Friday. The report was confirmed by the Colombian ambassador to Washington, former Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon, who posted his congratulations both to the police and the armed for...

Flickr Commons Managua, Sep 29 (EFE).- The Managua city government has approved W2E Eco Energy Investment Nicaragua S.A.'s proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant at the La Chureca landfill, on the shores of Lake Xolotlan, that will turn plastic bags into synthetic fuel. The city council granted a 30-year operating permit to the company, which plans to invest $17 million in the plant, Man...

Source: Discovery By Yeny Garcia Havana, Sep 28 (EFE).- Over the past three months, Cuba has experienced an unprecedented, albeit limited, increase in access to the Internet, with 35 new Wi-Fi hot spots popping up, thrilling Cubans and enticing many people to find creative ways to provide services by finding a way around the rules. Many "bisneros," as street vendors are known, are taking...

Rio de Janeiro, Sep 28 (EFE).- One of Rihanna's bodyguards started throwing punches at photographers in Rio de Janeiro this Sunday as the Barbadian songstress was leaving a restaurant, local media reported while airing a video of the brawl. The bodyguard's fists started flying when he found a crowd of paparazzi milling around the door to the restaurant where Rihanna had dined. The photograph...

Wikimedia Commons San Juan, Sep 27 (EFE).- A total of 1,000 soldiers are ready to be deployed along the border with Venezuela in case of aggression by Caracas amid a territorial dispute over Esequibo region and the Cuyuni River, Guyana Defense Force commander Brig. Gen. Mark Phillips said. Resorting to the use of arms is "necessary to safeguard peace, and not just to provoke a war," Phillip...

By Mario Villar United Nations, Sep 26 (EFE).- Cuban President Raul Castro made his debut in the United Nations Saturday demanding an end to the U.S. embargo on the island, which he considers "the chief obstacle to the economic development" of his country. In his first speech at the U.N., Castro said the renewal of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States plus the changes decreed b...