Latin America

The Colombian Congress ratified the new peace deal earlier this week, which the Government and the FARC signed last week and which began to be implemented on Thursday to put an end to the domestic armed conflict that the country has experienced for over half a century.

US President Barack Obama will neither attend nor send a high-level delegation to Fidel Castro’s funeral in Santiago Cuba. Instead he will leave the country’s representation in the hands of a security adviser and the unofficial ambassador on the island.

Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro signed an agreement on Tuesday that authorizes the tourist industry to charge for services in US dollars, as an “exceptional” measure under the currency exchange scheme in effect since 2003.

Will Barack Obama return to Cuba for the funeral of Fidel Castro? At this point who will represent the US at the official sendoff for the Cuban leader has yet to be announced. The last State funeral Obama and Raul Castro were both present at was for Nelson Mandela in 2013.

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro died on Friday night at the age of 90, informed his brother, President Raul Castro, on national television. The Council of State declared nine days of National Mourning between November 26 and December 4.

Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, and the leader of the FARC, Rodrigo Londono, signed a new peace agreement on Thursday which replaces the one that was signed on September 26th and hopes to finally end the 52 years of armed conflict between the Government and this guerrilla group.