After 12 hours of bone-jarring waves and skin-scorching sun and salt, Rolando Linares might pull enough fish from the Pacific to buy two gallons of petrol.

Foreign ministers of the 19-nation Rio Group political bloc closed a round of talks in Argentina yesterday by declaring the “war on poverty” as the chief issue on the hemispheric agenda ahead of a Summit of the Americas in November.

The World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund announced a five-year programme yesterday to reduce the destruction of forests by 10% annually in an attempt to combat the alarming disappearance of the world’s trees.