Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina received the majority support required in an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors ballot on Tuesday to be appointed the agency's new director general.

In a closed session, Grossi received the support of 24 members of the 35-nation board. Romania's Cornel Feruta received 10 votes. A further board meeting open to all IAEA member states will be held on Wednesday to appoint Grossi, according to the IAEA website.

The Board of Governors' decision will be submitted for approval to the IAEA General Conference, which consists of representatives of all 171 member states.

The new director general, appointed for a term of four years, will be the IAEA's sixth head since it was founded in 1957. The board envisages that Grossi will assume office no later than Jan. 1, 2020, the IAEA said.

The IAEA is an autonomous international organization within the United Nations (UN) system. It is the world's center for cooperation in the nuclear field and seeks to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.

Buenos Aires, Oct 29 (Xinhua/UNB) -- Argentina's Central Bank (BCRA) Monday announced stricter currency exchange controls to prevent capital flight after the left-leaning opposition defeated the conservative ruling party in general elections.

The BCRA President Guido Sandleris said the bank would restrict dollar purchases to 200 U.S. dollars per month via bank account and 100 dollars per month in cash, down from the previous limit of 10,000 dollars per month.

"As of today, we have reduced to 200 dollars a month the maximum amount that individuals can buy for saving, without the prior authorization of the central bank," said Sandleris.

The decision only applies to ordinary Argentinians, while exporters and companies involved in international transactions are not restricted, he added.

The decision aims "to protect the foreign reserves" for the incoming government that would "have a greater degree of freedom to implement its economic policies," Sandleris said.

He said Argentina's foreign reserves have fallen by 22 billion dollars since primary elections in August.

Chile, Oct 28 (AP/UNB) — It's not about a 4-cent hike in subway prices.

The decision to add 30 pesos to the cost of a ticket on Latin America's most modern public transportation system this month drew little attention inside or outside Chile, at first. People quietly fumed. A week later, high-school students launched four days of turnstile-jumping protests. Crowds of angry youths built up inside metro stations.

With no warning, on the afternoon of Oct. 18, they set fire to stations, then trains. Then grocery, department stores and pharmacies went up in flames. Hundreds of thousands of people were left stranded at home or on the streets without public transport. But instead of blaming the young protesters, Chileans from almost all walks of life used social media to call for protests against years of government mismanagement.

Santiago exploded into a week of massive street protests that culminated Friday with more than a million people in the heart of the capital and other major cities — the largest demonstrations ever in the country, according to multiple historians.

With the world wondering how modern, prosperous Chile had erupted into chaos, a protest concert drew 15,000 on Sunday to green and shady O'Higgins Park in central Santiago. There, Chileans said the rise in the cost of a metro ticket had been merely the spark that set off years of frustration with the dark underbelly of their country's long drive to be the most market-driven economy in Latin America.

"What we Chileans want is equal treatment for all, that the cake be divided up fairly," said Mario Gonzalez, 34, who runs a t-shirt printing business. "We don't want anything for free; we just want to pay a fair price."

Young, old, poor and middle-class, protesters said they were united by frustration with the so-called neoliberal model that has left Chile with region-topping prosperity along with a widely criticized private pension system, and two-tiered health and education systems that blend the public and private, with better results for the minority who can afford to pay, protesters said.

Many Chileans talk of waiting a year for an appointment with a specialist, or families receiving calls to finally set up appointments for loved ones who died months earlier. Hundreds of thousands are hobbled by educational loans that can follow them into their 40s and even 50s.

"Countries with high levels of inequality such as Chile are like recovering alcoholics. They can be well for many years, but they shouldn't forget they have a problem," said Patricio Navia, an adjunct assistant professor at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University. "Inequality is a threat to Chile's stability."

Alexis Moreira Arenas, 37, and his wife Stephanie Carrasco, 36, are comfortably in the middle class but he pays some 10 percent of his salary to a privately run pension system that generates steady profits for fund managers but an average pension around $300 a month, roughly a third of what a retired person needs to live. She is still paying off $110 a month in college loans, about 10 percent of their income. Another 30 percent goes to private preschool for their 2-year-old son.

"It's a series of problems that all come together; public transport, education, health, because the health system here works really badly," Moreria said. "Above all, it's a question of inequality."

Protesters in O'Higgins Park said President Sebastián Piñera's firing of his Cabinet Saturday would do nothing to calm the streets. Almost uniformly, they said they would continue protesting until they saw fundamental changes in Chile, starting with the replacement of the 1980 constitution, written under military dictator Augusto Pinochet, that creates the legal basis of Chile's market-driven system. Already, there were calls Sunday evening on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp for protests every day of the coming week.

"The whole constitution makes me angry," said Alan Vicencio, a 25-year-old call-center worker. "The constitution allowed the privatization of every aspect of our lives and it's being doing it for more than 30 years."

From afar, Chile has been a regional success story — under democratically elected presidents on the left and right, a free-market consensus has driven growth up, poverty down and won Chile the region's highest score on the United Nations Human Development Index, a blend of life expectancy, education and national income per capita.

In 2010, Chile became the second Latin member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, after Mexico. Next month, Piñera will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, followed by the 25th United Nations Climate Change Conference in December.

Meanwhile, a 2017 UN report found that the richest 1% of the population earns 33 percent of the nation's wealth. That helps make Chile the most unequal country in the OECD, slightly worse than Mexico. Piñera himself is a billionaire, one of the country's richest men.

Roxana Pisarro, a 52-year-old kindergarten teacher, stood in O'Higgins Park holding a hand-letter sign reading, "I'm marching for my 76-year-old mother who works seven days a week because her miserable pension isn't enough."

Pisarro said her mother, a retired clothing-factory worker, bakes at home and sells empanadas and fried bread in their neighborhood on the outskirts of Santiago, often until 11 p.m., in order to support herself, her granddaughter and her great-grandson on a pension of $165 a month.

"Average people see this prosperous country, the star of Latin America, they see skyscrapers and four Maseratis sold every month, a luxury shopping district where they sell purses worth $4,000, and where are they compared to five years ago? They're stuck," said Marta Lagos, director of the Santiago-based polling firm Latinobarometro. "This 30 peso rise in metro fares was the straw that broke the camel's back. They said 'Not a step further. We're tired of waiting.'"

Argentina, Oct 28 (AP/UNB) — Former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is congratulating her running mate, Alberto Fernández, before thousands of jubilant supporters in Buenos Aires.

She presided over Argentina from 2007 to 2015, and is poised to make a dramatic return to high office as Alberto Fernández's vice president.

Authorities say Alberto Fernández has 47.83% of the votes compared to 40.66% for incumbent Mauricio Macri, with 91.21% of the votes counted. He needs 45% support, or 40% support with a 10 percentage point lead, over the nearest rival to avoid a runoff vote on Nov. 24.

The result would mark turn leftward in South America, which has seen conservative governments elected in Brazil, Colombia and Chile in recent years.

The largely peaceful election was dominated by concerns over rising poverty, soaring inflation and a sharp depreciation of the local currency.

Argentine authorities say center-left Peronist candidate Alberto Fernández is leading the presidential election as frustrated voters appear to reject conservative incumbent Mauricio Macri's handling of an economic crisis.

Authorities say Fernández has 47.21 percent of the votes compared to 41.42 percent for Macri, with 65 percent of the votes counted Sunday.

Macri was elected president in 2015 as Argentines rejected a successor chosen by former President Cristina Fernández. She is now seeking a return to high office as vice president on the Peronist ticket with Alberto Fernández.

The result would mark a sharp political turn in South America, which has seen conservative governments elected in Brazil, Colombia and Chile in recent years.

The largely peaceful election was dominated by concerns over rising poverty, soaring inflation and a sharp depreciation of the local currency.

Hundreds of supporters of Argentine presidential candidate Alberto Fernández are cheering outside the gate of his apartment building, some of them chanting "Alberto Presidente!"

Hundreds more are waving sky-blue and white Argentine flags outside his campaign headquarters Sunday after polls closed in a polarized presidential election expected that could move the South American country leftward.

The celebrations come after exit polls by the TN, C5N and América local television channels gave Fernández a lead over Macri. But local media did not release percentages in the polls following a ban on doing so under Argentine law.

Initial official results are not expected in about an hour.

Polls have closed in Argentina where officials say there was a heavy turnout in what has been a largely peaceful election.

Voting could bring a political shift leftward with center-left Peronist candidate Alberto Fernández favored to win a presidential vote dominated by frustration over an economic crisis that has eroded support for conservative incumbent Mauricio Macri.

Initial official results are not expected for several hours. But exit polls by the TN, C5N and América local television channels give Fernández a lead over Macri nationwide. Local media, however, did not release percentages due to a local ban on doing so.

Fernández's vice presidential running mate is former President Cristina Fernández, who governed Argentina from 2005 to 2015.

Argentina faced a potentially sharp political shift on Sunday with center-left Peronist candidate Alberto Fernández favored to win an election dominated by frustration over an economic crisis that has eroded support for conservative incumbent Mauricio Macri.

Macri was elected president in 2015 as Argentines rejected a successor chosen by former President Cristina Fernández, who is now running as vice president on the Peronist ticket with Alberto Fernández. The two are not related.

Polls closed with a heavy turnout in largely peaceful elections. Initial official results are not expected for several hours. Exit polls by the TN, C5N and América local television channels give Fernández a lead over Macri. But local media did not release percentages following a ban on doing so under Argentine law.

A victory by the Fernández ticket would mark another political swing in South America, which has seen conservative governments elected in Brazil, Colombia and Chile in recent years. Cristina Fernández was considered part of the "pink tide" of leftist governments that arose in the region in the 1990s and 2000s.

Now the region is being rocked by unrest in Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador fueled by discontent over corruption, inequality and slowing growth.

Buenos Aires, Oct 27 (AP/UNB) — Argentina could take another sharp political turn in Sunday's presidential elections, with center-left Peronist candidate Alberto Fernández favored to oust conservative incumbent Mauricio Macri amid growing frustration over the country's economic crisis.

Macri was elected president in 2015 as Argentines rejected a successor chosen by former President Cristina Fernández, who is now running as vice president on the Peronist ticket with Alberto Fernández. The two are not related.

A victory by the Fernández ticket would mark another political swing in South America, which has seen conservative governments elected in Brazil, Colombia and Chile in recent years. Cristina Fernández was considered part of the "pink tide" of leftist governments that arose in the region in the 1990s and 2000s.

Now the region is being rocked by unrest in Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador fueled by discontent over corruption, inequality and slowing growth.

Poverty under Macri has soared, the value of the local currency has sharply depreciated and the inflation rate remains among the highest in the world.

Frustration over the economy has eroded support for the pro-business former mayor of Buenos Aires. It has also propelled the candidacy of Alberto Fernández, whose surge has sent jitters in the financial markets over a possible return to interventionist polices of Cristina Fernández's 2007-2015 administration.

Macri's camp has tried to capitalize on that unease, portraying her as a puppet master waiting in the wings. But the presidential candidate has dismissed those fears and voters gave him a decisive victory over Macri in August primaries, which are a barometer of support for candidates ahead of the presidential election.

"I don't see a conflict there," Alberto Fernández said recently in an interview with The Associated Press. "Argentina's problem is not Cristina. It's what Macri has left behind."

Fernández served as chief of staff from 2003 to 2007 for Cristina Fernández's predecessor and late husband, Néstor Kirchner. He remained in the position during a portion of her term as president but left after a conflict with farmers in 2008.

Peronism is a broad and splintered political movement that many Argentines claim some allegiance to.

On the election trail, Fernández has criticized Macri's decision to seek a record $56 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund, a deeply unpopular institution in Argentina that is blamed for creating the conditions that led to the country's worst economic meltdown in 2001.

Macri is credited with returning Argentina to international global markets following a break after the 2001 crisis and with helping strike a free trade deal between South America's Mercosur bloc and the European Union amid global trade tensions and rising protectionism. But he failed to deliver on promises to jumpstart the economy of the recession-hit country.

On the campaign trail, Macri has pleaded for more time to reverse fortunes and reminds voters of the corruption cases facing Cristina Fernández, who has denied any wrongdoing and remains a powerful if divisive figure in Argentina.

To avoid a runoff on Nov. 24, a candidate needs to win 45% of the vote, or 40% support with a 10 percentage point lead over the nearest rival. Nearly all recent surveys give Fernández more than 50% support, which would guarantee his outright victory in a first round.

Nearly 34 million Argentines are eligible to vote in Sunday's election. Argentines will also pick 130 lower house seats and 24 senators in Congress, as well as regional mayors, governors for three provinces and the head of government for the Argentine capital.