International
China, Ecuador set to sign free trade agreement
| By AFP |
China and Ecuador will sign a free trade agreement after almost a year of negotiations, Ecuador’s president said Tuesday, with the deal expected to boost growth in the South American country.
“Good news to start 2023. The FTA negotiation between China and Ecuador has been successfully concluded,” President Guillermo Lasso said on Twitter.
“Our exports will have preferential access to the largest market in the world, our industries will be able to acquire machinery and inputs at lower costs.”
China is one of Ecuador’s main trading partners, with bilateral trade estimated at more than $10 billion annually.
It was Ecuador’s main non-oil trade partner in the first half of 2022, the trade ministry in Quito said.
No date had been set yet for the formal signing of the deal, which would take place after formalities were completed, it said.
The agreement, once signed, will make Ecuador the fourth Latin American country to have a free trade deal with China, after Costa Rica, Peru and Chile.
The deal is expected to boost Ecuador’s exports of shrimp, bananas, flowers, cocoa and coffee, the trade ministry said in a statement, and also to “open the doors for the export of non-traditional products such as dragon fruit, pineapple, mango, blueberries, quinoa, processed foods, fresh and canned fruits.”
Ecuador began negotiations on the deal in February 2022 after Lasso visited Beijing.
Lasso announced in September his government had secured a separate deal to extend payment terms and lower interest rates on $3.2 billion in debts held with two Chinese state-affiliated banks.
International
Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been diagnosed with skin cancer while serving a historic sentence for attempting a coup d’état. His medical team confirmed that the lesions have been removed and that, for now, he does not require further procedures, though he will need regular monitoring.
On Wednesday, September 17, Bolsonaro’s doctors confirmed the diagnosis. The announcement comes shortly after the former leader was convicted of orchestrating an attempted coup.
According to his physician, Claudio Birolini, Bolsonaro has “squamous cell carcinoma, which is neither the most benign nor the most aggressive form — it is intermediate.” Birolini warned, however, that this type of skin cancer “can carry more serious consequences.”
International
Milei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’
Argentine President Javier Milei praised Paraguay’s economic growth over the past two decades during a speech before the Paraguayan Congress on Wednesday (Sept. 17, 2025), crediting it to incentives that favored capitalism. At the same time, he contrasted that progress with what he described as Argentina’s deepening “decline” during the same period.
“If we compare the last 20 years of Paraguay with those of the Argentine Republic, we will find almost diametrically opposite results,” Milei told lawmakers during a special session of Parliament on the second and final day of his official visit to Asunción.
“While you have not stopped growing, we have deepened our decline. If we understand incentives as the engine of capitalism, Paraguay focused on preserving and strengthening them, while Argentina dedicated itself to chaining, directing, and suffocating them,” the right-wing leader stated.
International
Trump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump intensified a large-scale immigration operation in the Chicago area with the arrival of additional Border Patrol agents on Tuesday and the presence of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem during a raid.
Noem posted a video on her X account showing the immigration operation, in which DHS reportedly removed “violent criminals” from the streets. The footage shows Noem observing the arrest of a man taken into custody at his home early Tuesday morning at an undisclosed location.
“I was in Chicago today to make it clear that we will not back down,” the secretary wrote. “Our work is just beginning,” she added.
The warning from Noem was echoed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Gregory Bovino, who posted a video on X Tuesday showing multiple Border Patrol vehicles arriving in the city with the caption: “Chicago, we are here!”
Bovino, who led the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles implemented since last June, said the team will remain in Chicago to continue the mission they started in California.
Operation “Midway Blitz” is currently focused on the Chicago metropolitan area and its suburbs. Activists and residents have reported sightings of masked agents and unmarked vehicles in predominantly Latino neighborhoods.
Bolsonaro diagnosed with skin cancer amid coup conviction
Milei praises Paraguay’s growth, calls Argentina’s last 20 years a ‘decline’
Trump administration launches large-scale immigration operation in Chicago
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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