Argentina preparing legislation regulating energy sector

Sept 21 (Reuters) - The latest in Latin American politics today:

Argentina is preparing new legislation to regulate energy sector, president says

HOUSTON - Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Wednesday said his government is drafting energy legislation that would include construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants.

Fernandez told U.S. energy executives in Houston that the proposed legislation "would give certainty" to energy producers and help advance Argentina's LNG agenda.

"I am convinced that based on the amount of reserves that Argentina has, we must think about designing a country where energy is the central axis," he told an audience of executives from Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Equinor, Shell and Schlumberger.

The South American country will have an energy trade deficit this year, will register a $13 billion energy trade surplus by 2026, Fernandez said.

Hurricane Fiona heads to Bermuda, up to eight dead in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN - Hurricane Fiona strengthened to a powerful Category 4 storm as it headed toward Bermuda after carving a destructive path through the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where most were without power and up to eight people might have died from the storm.

Eric Blake, acting branch chief for the U.S. National Hurricane Center, said Bermuda would see high surf, storm surges, heavy rainfall and powerful winds even if Fiona kept on its current path and passed to the west of the island.

In Puerto Rico, where 40% of residents were still without water and three-fourths lacking power, authorities were trying to determine the scale of the destruction and start rebuilding.

Bermuda premier faces leadership challenge from former finance minister

Bermuda's Premier David Burt will face a leadership challenge from his former minister, who abruptly resigned from cabinet in February, a week before an annual budget presentation.

Former Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson sent a letter on Wednesday to Burt's center-left Progressive Labour Party (PLP) stating his intention to run for the party leader at the next conference in Oct. 19-22.

At the last General Election, the PLP won 30 seats, while opposition party One Bermuda Alliance claimed the remaining 6.

U.S. to resume full immigrant visa processing in Havana in early 2023

WASHINGTON - The United States plans to resume full immigrant visa processing in Havana for the first time since 2017, a move that follows high-level talks earlier this year between the two countries, U.S. officials said.

The change, to be implemented early 2023, will allow Cubans applying for family-based immigrant visas to interview in Havana instead of traveling to Guyana, it added.

Tensions between Washington and Havana over the Cuban government's crackdown on protests and continuing U.S. sanctions have hampered cooperation between the countries.

PAHO says Brazil, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Peru at very high risk for polio as vaccination dwindles

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Wednesday that Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Peru are at very high risk for the reintroduction of polio, as regional vaccine coverage for the disease has fallen to about 79%, the lowest since 1994.

It attributed the risk to dwindling vaccination caused by the coronavirus pandemic that had left many unprotected, after vaccines eradicated the disease in the region 30 years earlier.

PAHO said the Bahamas, Argentina, Ecuador, Panama, Suriname and Venezuela also had been identified as high-risk countries, and that nearly all of South America currently has vaccine coverage below 80%. (Compiled by Sarah Morland; editing by Diane Craft)

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