Key Points — Argentina’s Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni presented his first gestión informe to the Cámara de Diputados Wednesday April 29 at 10:40 a.m. local time, with President Javier Milei, Karina Milei, Economy Minister Luis Caputo, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, and Capital Humano Minister Sandra Pettovello watching from the central gallery palco. — The Adorni […]

The post Argentina’s Adorni Survives First Congress Grilling appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Ecuador signed a US$1.7 billion mining contract Monday April 27 with ODIN Mining del Ecuador, the local subsidiary of China’s CMOC Group, for the Los Cangrejos gold-copper project in El Oro province. The Ecuador China gold mine deal projects total state revenue of US$4.39 billion over the project’s 26-year mine life through […]

The post Ecuador Signs $1.7 Billion Gold Deal With China’s CMOC appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Mexican Navy Special Forces (SEMAR) captured Audias Flores Silva, alias “El Jardinero,” in Nayarit Monday April 27 — confirmed by Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch on social media. The Mexico CJNG capture was the result of 19 months of surveillance and a coordinated operation involving SEMAR Special Forces, the SSPC, and the […]

The post Mexico Captures Second CJNG Cartel Boss ‘El Jardinero’ in Two Months appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Argentina’s official dollar exchange rate jumped 22.16 pesos Monday April 27 to close at 1,440.61 pesos per dollar — a level last seen February 9, 2026. The Argentina country risk spread, measured by JP Morgan’s EMBI, rose 24 basis points to 582 — the highest since April 7. April marks the first […]

The post Milei’s First Bad Month: Dollar Up 2.1%, Risk Premium Climbs appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Grupo México, the conglomerate of Mexican billionaire Germán Larrea, told the Mexican Stock Exchange on Monday it will combine its power-generation assets with Saavi Energía, the country’s largest private power producer, owned by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the BlackRock-owned infrastructure fund. The Grupo Mexico Saavi Energia platform will operate 14 plants with […]

The post BlackRock and Mexico’s Largest Mining Group Merge Power Assets to Create 4,510 MW Generation Giant appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Moody’s Ratings downgraded Ecopetrol’s global credit rating from Ba1 to Ba2 on Thursday, April 24, citing a weaker assessment of government support from Colombia (Baa3 stable). —The agency flagged higher risk of government interference, lower predictability of support mechanisms, and specific delays in Fuel Price Stabilization Fund (FEPC) payments. Outlook shifted from negative […]

The post Ecopetrol Rating Cut: Moody’s Drops Colombia Oil Giant to Ba2 appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Colombia’s banana exports reached a record US$1.309 billion in 2025, up 21.6% from 2024, with 133 million 20-kilogram boxes shipped from 52,943 cultivated hectares. —The performance made Colombia the world’s fourth-largest banana exporter behind Ecuador, Guatemala and the Philippines, and the third-largest in Latin America — overtaking Costa Rica. —The European Union absorbed […]

The post Colombia’s Banana Exports Hit a Record US$1.3 Billion in 2025 — and Are Already Projected to Fall in 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Ecuador’s Corte Nacional de Justicia approved the Topo extradition on April 22 at 15:00, clearing Darío Javier Peñafiel Nieto — second-in-command of Los Choneros after Fito’s July 2025 transfer — for delivery to the Eastern District of New York on seven charges tied to large-scale narcotics trafficking and firearms offenses. —The decision was […]

The post Ecuador to Extradite Second-in-Command of Its Largest Drug Cartel to the U.S. appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — The CB Global Data regional approval ranking for April 2026 placed Argentine President Javier Milei in 14th place out of 18 Latin American leaders, with a positive image of 36.2% and a negative reading of 59.7%. — Milei’s positive image fell 6.1 percentage points in a single month, from 42.3% in March, […]

The post From First Tier to Sixth-Worst: Milei’s Regional Fall appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Peru’s Interior Minister José Zapata ordered an immediate reinforcement of the southern border in Tacna after Chile launched its first deportation flight, deploying 135 police officers — 100 of them transferred from Cusco, Ica, Arequipa, and Puno — The deployment includes motorized patrols, ATVs, drones for real-time aerial surveillance, and 10 illumination […]

The post The Domino Effect: Chile’s Deportation Flight Triggers Peru’s Border Lockdown appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — A Chilean Air Force Boeing 737 departed Thursday morning from Santiago with 40 irregular migrants aboard — 19 Colombians, 12 Bolivians, and 9 Ecuadorians — in the Kast government’s first deportation flight, five weeks after taking office — Of the 40 expelled, 25 were removed on administrative orders and 15 on judicial […]

The post Chile’s Kast Launches First Deportation Flight as 2,180 Venezuelans Self-Deport appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — Lima’s former mayor Rafael López Aliaga formally petitioned Peru’s National Jury of Elections (JNE) on Wednesday to suspend the proclamation of second and third-place finishers in the April 12 presidential first round, alleging that logistical failures prevented roughly 608,000 Lima voters from casting ballots and cost him 120,000 votes. He has since […]

The post Peru Election Crisis: Markets Crash as López Aliaga Alleges Fraud appeared first on The Rio Times.