Latin America News

By Paige Sutherland and Mark Katkov Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera acknowledged government failures and announced economic reforms late Tuesday, in a move to restore calm amid widespread and sometimes violent protests over economic inequality. In a nationally televised address, Piñera said he is listening to the people and apologized that Chile’s governments, including his own,...

By Laura Millan Lombrana and Sebastian Boyd Just weeks before the worst civil unrest since Chile returned to democracy 29 years ago, President Sebastian Pinera described the country as “a true oasis” amid Latin American turmoil. The billionaire investor-turned-politician isn’t alone in his glowing assessment of a country that regularly tops regional prosperity metrics. However,...

By Mat Youkee Protests have broken out across Bolivia after the country’s electoral authorities said that president Evo Morales was close to winning an outright victory in his bid for a historic fourth term in office. The country’s electoral body abruptly stopped releasing election returns late on Sunday, prompting opponents to suggest that officials were...

By Eva Vergara Protests and violence in Chile spilled over into a new day and raged into Sunday night despite the president cancelling a subway fare hike that has prompted violent demonstrations. Officials in the Santiago region said three people died in fires at two looted supermarkets early Sunday — among 60 Walmart-owned outlets that...

Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, was ahead in the first round of the nation’s presidential election, but he appeared to have failed to get enough votes to avoid a runoff in the tightest political race of his life. The Andean country’s top electoral authority said on Sunday night that a preliminary count of 84% of the...

By John Bartlett A state of emergency has been declared in the Chilean capital after simmering protests against a rise in metro fares spilled out into widespread vandalism and violence fuelled by rising cost-of-living pressures. As ordained by Chile’s dictatorship-era constitution, the state of emergency will apply to Santiago and can last for 15 days....

By Charlotte Mitchell Walk into any tourist shop in Bolivia and alongside postcards of colonial cathedrals and mist over the moonlit desert, you will see him. Evo Morales, with his shock of black hair and brightly embroidered jackets and ponchos, has ruled the landlocked Andean country for so long that for many, a Bolivia without...

By Samy Adghirni As Venezuela’s economy and politics fall apart, its architectural heritage is crumbling right along with them. The ravaged country, once Latin America’s richest, is a riot of structures: parking garages used as shelter, colonial edifices, half-built socialist public works, improvised hillside slum complexes, malls without customers. But hundreds of notable buildings have...

Peruvian president Martín Vizcarra has dissolved Congress to end a year-long battle with rightwing lawmakers over his anti-corruption campaign, but rebel legislators refused to leave the chamber as protests against them started across the country. Peru’s worst political crisis in two decades threatens unrest in the South American country and could bring lawmaking to a...

Scientists with the United Nations Wednesday released their most alarming report yet on climate change. Oceans are warming, sea levels are rising and polar ice is melting — all of that is accelerating because of increasing carbon dioxide levels. The effects have been seen in more intense storms and floods. Fish populations and dropping and...

When the day comes when the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro collapses into chaos, the U.S. humanitarian aid agency has a plan to step into the breach. USAID Administrator Mark Green told McClatchy in an interview on Wednesday that the agency has been “scenario planning” for Maduro’s departure, researching the logistical challenges that will...