South America

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — Belen Diaz was walking home from college one evening when a motorcycle carrying two men made a menacing U-turn.

Terrified that she was about to be robbed for the eighth time in three years, the teaching student banged on a cab window until the driver drove her home. Diaz got away safe, but there was an unrelated fatal shooting the next day outside her gated community of two-story homes on the edge of the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil.

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 13 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Argentine authorities confirmed the detection of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 in sea lions found dead on the Tierra del Fuego shores.

“The finding was made in 7 of 21 fur seals found dead in Río Grande, in the province of Tierra del Fuego,” Argentina’s National Agrifood Health and Quality Service (Senasa) said in a statement after laboratory tests were returned. Samples had been sent for analysis as avian flu H5 was feared following the finding of the lifeless animals.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentines were voting Sunday in a primary election that will act as a bellwether ahead of October general elections and give a hint at how eager citizens are for a change in a country that is suffering one of the world’s worst inflation rates.

The primary will determine who will be the presidential candidate in the main center-right opposition coalition in which Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta is facing off against former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The "growth acceleration" plan launched by Brazil on Friday foresees 1.7 trillion reais ($347.5 billion) in investments that will rely increasingly on public-private partnerships, while driving a new ecological transition plan, the government said.

The program, known as PAC, revisits an initiative that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva first introduced in 2007 during his earlier term in office to raise investments in energy, logistics, and urban and social infrastructure.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — An Ecuadorian presidential candidate known for speaking up against cartels and corruption was shot and killed Wednesday at a political rally in the capital, amid a startling wave of gang-driven violence in the South American country.

President Guillermo Lasso confirmed the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio and suggested organized crime was behind his slaying, less than two weeks before the Aug. 20 presidential election.

LA PAZ, Aug 8 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Bolivian authorities have reported that the state-run oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) had discovered a new gas field in the Okinawa area after recent studies in the Remanso-X1 (RMS-X1) well.

The new reservoir will generate approximately US$ 5 billion in gas, it was explained. It will also contribute to savings in fuel purchases of US$1 billion, according to YPFB.

BRASILIA, Aug 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the “world must help” Brazil protect the Amazon, ahead of a summit next week on the world’s biggest rainforest, a key buffer against climate change.

“We know we have a responsibility to convince the world that investing is cheap if it’s a matter of saving the rainforest,” the veteran told a breakfast meeting with international media.

LA PAZ, Aug 1 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Bolivian President Luis Arce will participate in the next Brics Summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta confirmed at a press conference.

His presence in the Brics forum in South Africa from August 22 to 24, in compliance with an invitation from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, will put Bolivia back on the global scene, the foreign minister noted.

BUENOS AIRES, July 31 (Reuters) - Argentina's Economy Minister Sergio Massa said on Monday the country will not use "a single dollar" of its own reserves to make a $2.7 billion repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due this week.

Massa, who is also a presidential candidate in this October's election, said in a speech that it would be possible because of an extended swap deal with China and a new loan from the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).

LA PAZ, July 27 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Bolivia may shift from being an exporter of natural gas to Brazil and Argentina to becoming an importer by 2030.

A report by British energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie indicates that Bolivia’s natural gas production will decline faster than expected. The reason is the aging of the country’s production fields and the absence of new discoveries.

According to the study, Bolivia’s natural gas production is expected to fall from 39 million cubic meters per day in 2022 to 11 million m³/day in 2030.