QUITO - Ecuador has overwhelmingly approved a new constitution that gives new powers to the presidency to manage the economy and bolster social welfare programs. In Quito, exit polls show at least 66 percent of voters backed the new government plan. 
President Rafael Correa celebrated the victory as a crushing blow to a system that he […]

WASHINGTON - The United States has told Venezuela that its ambassador to Washington will be expelled in the latest chapter of a growing diplomatic dispute. The U.S. also slapped sanctions on Venezuelan officials for allegedly supplying arms and helping drug traffickers in South America.
The U.S. State Department announced the expulsion of the Venezuelan ambassador one […]

VANCOUVER - On Sunday, Canada’s Prime Minister dissolved his country’s parliament and called for general elections in mid-Octorber.  
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper called for elections on October 14. In doing so, he dissolved parliament, ending his two and a half year old minority government.
Canada follows the British Parliamentary system, which means voters will only […]

MIAMI - Fifteen former hostages in Colombia are reuniting with family members after Colombia’s military rescued them from the hands of leftist rebels on Wednesday. Those rescued include former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three American defense contractors. 
Ingrid Betancourt embraced her mother at a military airport in Bogota, where she arrived shortly after being rescued […]

WASHINGTON - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has annulled a controversial intelligence decree that would have forced Venezuelans to become informants and report on their neighbors or face prison time.President Chavez took the action Tuesday, saying mistakes were made that must now be corrected. The move comes just days after Mr. Chavez said the government would […]

WASHINGTON - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has used his decree powers to overhaul the country’s intelligence agencies, putting all operations under his control.The new intelligence law dissolves Venezuela’s two main intelligence services: the Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services - DISIP - and the Directorate for Military Intelligence - DIM and replaces them with new […]

HOUSTON - In Mexico, President Felipe Calderon continues his fight against powerful drug cartels as the death count mounts. More than 1,300 people have died this year in Mexico in violence connected to the illicit drug trade. In recent weeks some high-ranking police officials have been targets of drug gangs, leading some analysts to wonder […]

MIAMI - Cuba’s government says it will launch a new television station including foreign-produced content. The move is the latest in a series of changes aimed at easing restrictions and increasing economic activity on the island.
Cuban officials announced plans for the new 24-hour television channel at a conference of writers and artists in Havana. Intellectuals […]

WHITE HOUSE - President Bush says he will not end the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba until the government there releases all political prisoners.
President Bush met with former Cuban political prisoners to mark the five year anniversary of mass arrests on the island. Teachers, librarians, and journalists were among those detained five years ago this […]

MIAMI - Ecuador’s government has cut all diplomatic ties with Colombia after a military attack on Colombian rebels inside Ecuador, which killed 21 people. The Colombian attack also has raised tensions with Venezuela.
Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa explained his government’s decision in a speech late Monday, saying he felt betrayed by Colombia’s government for ordering the […]

MIAMI - Cuba’s leadership has chosen Raul Castro to become the nation’s president, after nearly 50 years of leadership by his brother Fidel. 
Cuba’s National Assembly confirmed the transfer of power to Raul Castro, from his brother, Fidel. Officials announced the decision at a meeting Sunday to select the 31 members of the governing Council of […]

WASHINGTON - Fidel Castro is the longest-serving leader in the Western Hemisphere, holding on to power despite repeated efforts by the United States to end his rule. To some Cubans, he is a revolutionary hero, but to others, he is a ruthless communist dictator.
Mr. Castro was born in 1926 to a Spanish immigrant landholder and […]

WASHINGTON - Fidel Castro has resigned as Cuba’s president, ending his nearly 50-year rule of the Caribbean nation. 
The newspaper Granma quotes Mr. Castro as saying he will not aspire to nor accept another term as president when the country’s newly-elected National Assembly meets, Sunday.
Fidel Castro has not appeared in public since undergoing intestinal surgery in July, […]

WASHINGTON - Cuba’s Fidel Castro is standing for re-election Sunday in one-party parliamentary elections, despite health problems that have kept him out of public view for more than a year.
More than eight million Cubans are eligible to cast ballots to select members of Cuba’s Communist Party-controlled National Assembly. Fidel Castro, 81, is on the ballot, and […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush says the people of Venezuela cast a vote for democracy when they rejected changes in their constitution proposed by President Hugo Chavez. 
Among other things, President Chavez wanted to change the Venezuelan constitution to enable him to run indefinitely for re-election. Fifty-one percent of those who cast ballots voted no.
President Bush hailed […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate has followed the lead of the House of Representatives and approved a free trade agreement with Peru, giving President Bush his first legislative victory on trade since Democrats took control of Congress in January.
The Senate voted 77-18 to approve the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement and sent it to President […]

CARACAS - Venezuelan voters have rejected a sweeping constitutional reform project launched by President Hugo Chavez. Opposition leaders see the vote as a major blow to the president’s efforts to impose socialist changes.
Election tallies continued past midnight, when officials finally released a count indicating a narrow victory for opponents of the constitutional reform. It was […]

WASHINGTON - Former Venezuelan Defense Minister Raul Isaias Baduel is predicting that the Venezuelan people will vote next month against proposed constitutional changes that would greatly expand President Hugo Chavez’s power.General Baduel made his comments in an exclusive interview Friday with VOA. Baduel said he is a fervent believer in democracy because he said that […]

SURINAME - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he did not discuss possible locations for a new U.S. base in Latin America on any of the five stops he made in the region in recent days. The secretary made the remark during his final stop in Paramaribo, Suriname on Saturday.
Secretary Gates made his most definitive […]

CARACAS - During the past month, tens of thousands of Venezuelan students have led massive demonstrations protesting President Hugo Chavez’ decision to shut down the country’s most popular private television station.
Students are taking final exams at Venezuela’s Central University, after missing several weeks of classes to take to the streets, mobilizing against what they see […]

FORT LAUDERDALE - The number of Venezuelans settling in the United States is growing. Experts say the reelection in December of leftist President Hugo Chavez has triggered a wave of migration from the oil-rich South American country. Many of those leaving are wealthy and fear the government’s socialist policies.
Up the highway from Miami is the […]

HOUSTON - Mexico’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, better known as Pemex, celebrated its 69th birthday on March 18, amid concerns that it is on the brink of insolvency and its production is falling.  Mexico still has plenty of oil, but internal politics prevent the investment needed to develop the resources.
At the close of President […]

STATE DEPARTMENT - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the policies of Venezuela’s populist leader Hugo Chavez are “destroying” the South American country. In congressional testimony, Rice said the ongoing U.S. feud with Mr. Chavez is deflecting attention from the good relationship the Bush administration has established with other leftist governments in the […]

WASHINGTON - Chile’s former long-time dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, is dead at the age of 91 after suffering what doctors called an acute heart attack one week ago.
Human-rights groups say General Augusto Pinochet will be remembered for the brutality of his dictatorship. According to an official report, Chilean security forces under his rule, killed more […]

CARACAS - Venezuelan election officials say President Chavez has won re-election with more than 60 percent of Sunday’s vote. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports from Caracas, Mr. Chavez’ main opponent has conceded defeat, but suggests his quest might continue, in the streets.
A deluge of rain soaked Venezuela’s capital, but did nothing to dampen the spirits of […]