Latin American election influence operation linked to Miami marketing firm

By Zeba Siddiqui and Christopher Bing SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Miami-based digital marketing firm was behind a series of covert political influence operations in Latin America over the last year, Facebook-owner Meta said this week, a rare exposé of an apparent U.S.-based misinformation-for-hire outfit. Predictvia, which is registered as a business in Florida, says…

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Families of US detainees urge Biden to do more to deter hostage-taking

By Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. citizen Jose Pereira, who was “wrongfully detained” in Venezuela exactly one year ago, stood meters away from the White House on Wednesday and pleaded with U.S. President Joe Biden to step up efforts to bring home Americans detained abroad. Pereira was among the executives who worked for U.S….

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Mexico president asks Biden to stop USAID funding opposition groups

By Sarah Morland MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico’s president asked his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to stop the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from funding groups hostile to his government, according to a letter presented to journalists on Wednesday, echoing previous Mexican criticism of U.S. interventionism. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador did not specify…

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Exxon, Guyana’s environmental agency in breach of oil-spill insurance -court

By Kiana Wilburg GEORGETOWN (Reuters) -An Exxon Mobil unit is in breach of insurance obligations for its first offshore oil project in Guyana in part due to errors by the environmental regulator, a Guyanese court ruled on Wednesday, a decision the government rejected. Exxon “engaged in a disingenuous attempt” to dilute its obligations under its…

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Argentina could fast-track Brazilian imports in return for help financing them – sources

By Bernardo Caram BRASILIA (Reuters) – Argentina has offered to fast-track imports from Brazil if its neighbor adopts a new credit system that reduces its dependence on the dollar, which it has in short supply, officials in both governments told Reuters. The proposal would cut the processing and payment time for Brazilian products to 30…

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Texas authorities arrest wife, friend of fugitive wanted in shooting

(Reuters) -Texas authorities have arrested the wife and a friend of a man accused of killing five of his neighbors, saying the two helped the suspect evade capture for four days, a local prosecutor said on Wednesday. Francisco Oropesa was apprehended on Tuesday after a manhunt conducted by local, state and federal officials. He was…

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33 Democrats urge ban on investor-state dispute provisions in all U.S. trade deals

By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday urged the U.S. Trade Representative and State Department to eliminate investor-state dispute settlement provisions from current and future trade deals and to intervene on behalf of Honduras against a U.S. company’s nearly $11 billion claim against the country. In a letter to Secretary of…

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