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 —Colombia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy will issue a resolution adding a national surcharge of 8 pesos per kilowatt-hour on upper-class households (strata 4, 5 and 6) and on commercial and industrial users. —The surcharge is designed to raise around 235 billion pesos (roughly US$66 million) in its first year and flow entirely […]

The post The Caribbean Coast Is Running Out of Power. Colombia Wants All of Its Upper-Class Households to Pay to Fix It appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Bolivia’s long-distance bus transport is operating at just 20% capacity because of diesel shortages, and the national drivers’ confederation has declared a state of emergency with a possible indefinite strike on the table. —YPFB president Claudia Cronenbold resigned on April 22 after less than a month in office, warning the state oil company […]

The post Bolivia’s Soy, Corn and Sorghum Harvest Is Stuck Because the State Oil Company Can’t Buy Diesel appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Interim president José María Balcázar swore in Carlos Pareja Ríos, a 75-year-old career diplomat and former ambassador to the United States, as Peru’s new foreign minister on the evening of April 23. —Hours before his appointment, Pareja publicly criticised Balcázar on Canal N, warning that the postponement of the F-16 contract had the […]

The post Peru’s New Foreign Minister Publicly Criticised the President Hours Before Being Sworn In appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Peru’s foreign and defence ministers resigned on April 22 after accusing interim president José María Balcázar of lying to the country about whether the US$3.5 billion F-16 contract had been signed. —The first contract phase — twelve F-16 Block 70 aircraft worth US$1.54 billion — had already been signed at Base Aérea Las […]

The post Peru’s Cabinet Signed a US$3.5 Billion American Warplane Contract Over Its Own President’s Head appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —John Barrett arrived in Caracas on April 23 as the new Chargé d’Affaires of the United States embassy, replacing Laura Dogu, who had led the mission since it reopened on March 30. —Barrett is tasked with implementing Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s three-phase plan: oil-supervised stabilization, economic recovery under Western investment, and a […]

The post Washington Sends a New Chief Diplomat to Venezuela to Push Trump’s Post-Maduro Plan Into Its Next Phase appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Colombia’s labour ministry issued Decree 0415 on April 20 ordering private pension funds to transfer approximately 25 trillion Colombian pesos (about US$6 billion) to the state pension fund Colpensiones in 30 days. —The money belongs to roughly 119,000 savers who chose to switch from private to public pension management under a 2024 reform; […]

The post Petro’s Government Forces Private Pension Funds to Hand US$6 Billion to a Public Fund appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Argentine President Javier Milei will host Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel at Casa Rosada at 14:00 on Thursday, April 23 — the first formal activity after the president’s return from his third state visit to Israel, and Thiel’s third known encounter with Milei since February 2024. —Thiel — whose estimated fortune ranges from US$23 […]

The post Thiel Brings Palantir Surveillance Franchise to Argentina as Milei Welcomes Trump’s Closest Tech Ally appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points —Luisa María Alcalde accepted President Claudia Sheinbaum’s offer on Wednesday, April 22 to lead the Consejería Jurídica del Ejecutivo Federal, leaving her post as national president of the Morena party after 18 months. —The move fills the vacancy created by Esthela Damián Peralta, who resigned the Consejería Jurídica to seek the Morena gubernatorial […]

The post Sheinbaum Promotes Party Chief Alcalde to Top Legal Post in Mexico Cabinet Reshuffle 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.

Brazilian group BTG Pactual, Latin America's largest investment bank, is awaiting authorisation from Uruguay's Central Bank (BCU) to begin operating in the local financial market following its $175 million acquisition of HSBC Uruguay, agreed in July 2025. Group executives expect regulatory approval to come through by mid-year, allowing them to begin operations gradually in the second half of 2026.

Mexico is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup even as the country has been shaken by a wave of cartel violence and revelations of mass graves.

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