Key Points —President Sheinbaum signed the Agreement for the Promotion of the National Steel Industry, requiring all government steel purchases to be sourced from domestic producers. —The pact covers 19 federal agencies and three industry chambers, with over $8 billion in investment commitments and 90,000 direct jobs at stake. —Mexico produced 14 million tonnes of […]

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Key Points —Mexico’s mining and metallurgical production rose 5.5% month-on-month in February 2026, according to INEGI data, recovering from a 6.5% annual contraction in 2025. —Gold extraction fell 1.9% year-on-year and silver declined 0.7%, but copper and zinc posted gains amid strong global prices driven by the energy transition and war-related demand. —Mexico jumped from […]

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Key Points —Haiti and the Dominican Republic agreed on April 17 to reopen shared airspace starting May 1, 2026, ending a suspension that began in March 2024. —Flights will connect Cap-Haitien in northern Haiti with three Dominican airports, but Port-au-Prince remains excluded due to ongoing gang control. —The United Nations welcomed the agreement as a […]

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Key Points —The United States, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago signed a joint statement backing Panama’s sovereignty against Chinese economic pressure. —China detained 91 Panama-flagged ships in March alone, up from 25 in January, after Panama revoked CK Hutchison’s canal port concession. —Beijing dismissed the statement as a smear, accusing Washington […]

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Key Points — Chile’s state copper miner Codelco entered a $12 million Codelco Pedernales lithium exploration project into environmental evaluation Monday April 27, 2026. The plan filed with Chile’s Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental (SEA) covers 114 boreholes across Codelco’s existing land claims in the Salar de Pedernales, Atacama Region. — The Pedernales filing opens a […]

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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 […]

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Key Points — Colombia’s Banco de la República (BanRep) is expected to deliver its third Colombia rate hike of 2026 on Thursday April 30, raising the benchmark policy rate by 50 basis points from 11.25 percent to 11.75 percent. The cycle began in late January with a 100bp hike to 10.25 percent, followed by a […]

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Key Points — Colombia recorded 48 massacres by the end of April 2026 according to Indepaz tracking data — already exceeding more than half the 54-massacre total Indepaz documented for all of 2025. The Colombia massacres 2026 trajectory marks the worst decade-start since systematic tracking began. Average pace: one massacre every three days. Total victims […]

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Key Points — US oil cargoes transiting the Panama Canal exceeded 200,000 barrels per day in April 2026 — close to the highest level since July 2022, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler. The Panama Canal oil traffic surge reflects Asian refineries’ rapid pivot to American crude as Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of […]

The post Panama Canal Oil Traffic Hits 4-Year High on Hormuz Crisis 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 […]

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Key Points — The Chile Codelco debt situation has reached a structural inflection point under President José Antonio Kast’s new government. The state-owned copper giant — the world’s largest copper producer with 1.332 million tonnes in 2025 (29.6% of national output, 6.1% of world supply) — carries debt above US$20 billion as of late 2025, […]

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Sugar cane, bananas, African palm, and pineapple are among the most widespread monocultures in Central America.

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