South America

Mass grave site with 166 bodies found in Mexico

by Ignacio Carvajal Agence France Presse COATZACOALCOS, Mexico (AFP) — Mexican authorities discovered at least 166 bodies at a mass grave site in Veracruz state, prosecutors said Thursday, the latest horrifying find in a region hit by bloody drug cartel turf wars. Home to the city of Veracruz, one of Mexico’s largest ports, the eastern state has a history of corrupt politics and grisly power struggles between rival cartels — a toxic mix that has […]

Tropical Storm Gordon makes landfall on US Gulf Coast

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Tropical Storm Gordon was making landfall Tuesday night on the US Gulf Coast along the border of Alabama and Mississippi as hurricane warnings remained in place. Authorities declared a state of emergency in both states as well as in the city of New Orleans in Louisiana — devastated in 2005 by mega hurricane Katrina. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Gordon, which formed near the upper Florida Keys Monday, […]

Brazil’s National Museum, Latin America’s largest

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s National Museum, ravaged Sunday by a massive fire, is Latin America’s largest natural history and anthropology museum, with more than 20 million artefacts and 530,000 titles. Marking its 200-year anniversary in June, it was founded in 1818 by Portuguese King Joao VI and has been installed since 1892 in a former royal palace. It sits in the Quinta da Boa Vista public park in the north of Rio […]

New cases of sex abuse of minors by Catholic priests in Chile discovered; cases triple to 119

  by Paulina Abramovich Agence France Presse SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Scores of new cases of priestly sexual abuse of minors have come to light in Chile, public prosecutors said Friday, deepening a crisis in the country’s Catholic Church that has embroiled its Pope Francis. The country’s chief prosecutor’s office said the number of cases it was investigating had soared to 119 as more victims came forward. A total of 167 bishops, priests and lay […]

Venezuelans in Peru take up Maduro’s offer to fly home

  by Carlos Mandujano Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Nearly 100 migrants on Monday took up an offer by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to fly them home from Lima, citing xenophobia against Venezuelans and difficulties in getting work. The move is part of the socialist government’s “Return to the Homeland” scheme to counter a mass exodus and woo back young Venezuelans to work in the crisis-torn country. Ninety-seven migrants — including 22 children and four […]

JUST IN: 7.1-magnitude quake hits Peru-Brazil border: USGS

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck along Peru’s border with Brazil on Friday, the US Geological Survey said. It said the quake hit at a depth of 609 kilometers (380 miles), on Peru’s eastern frontier with Brazil. The earthquake hit shortly after 0900 GMT, about 140 kilometers west of the Peruvian town of Iberia, the USGS said. © Agence France-Presse  

Argentine investigators search homes of ex-president Kirchner

  by Liliana Samuel Agence France-Presse BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — Police accompanied by sniffer dogs searched the homes of Argentina’s former president Cristina Kirchner on Thursday as the investigation intensified into the so-called “notebooks” corruption scandal that has rocked the country. The move came one day after judge Claudio Bonadio, who is leading the investigation into the multi-million-dollar bribery case, successfully petitioned the Senate to partially lift Kirchner’s congressional immunity to accommodate the searches. Police […]

Panic but no injuries as Venezuela hit by 7.3 magnitude earthquake

  by Maria Isabel SANCHEZ / Margioni BERMÚDEZ Agence France Presse CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela was rocked by a 7.3-magnitude earthquake near its northeastern coast, the US Geological Survey said on Tuesday, causing panic although there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Edwin Rojas, the governor of the nearest state to the earthquake, told government television “the situation is calm,” adding that “it’s been many years since we’ve felt a quake of […]

At least 13 killed in Rio security operations: officials

by Sebastian Smith Agence France-Presse RIO DE JENEIRO, Brazil (AFP)–Rio de Janeiro’s drug war hit a bloody crescendo Monday when at least 11 suspected criminals and two soldiers were reported killed in a huge military sweep through impoverished favelas and during a rush-hour police car chase. The military command heading security in Brazil’s second biggest city said the two troops killed were the first lost since conservative President Michel Temer sent them into protect Rio. […]

Mexico City starts demolishing quake collapse school

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) – Workers in Mexico City began tearing down an elementary school Monday that collapsed in a devastating earthquake last year, killing 19 children and seven adults. Demolition workers from the capital city’s public works ministry put up protective plywood barriers and began removing rubble from the collapsed Rebsamen elementary school, which was thrust into the world spotlight following the 7.1-magnitude earthquake on September 19, 2017. Attention initially fixated on the private […]

Mexico seizes record 50 tons of meth

    MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexican marines seized a record 50 tons of crystal meth from a drug lab in the state of Sinaloa, authorities said Friday. The military said it detected the lab in the town of Alcoyonqui, near the state capital Culiacan, and raided it on Thursday. “A clandestine narco-lab and two underground store rooms were secured and dismantled, with approximately 50 tons of processed crystal meth in solid and liquid […]

Fears over twin of collapsed Genoa bridge in Venezuela

MARACAIBO, Venezuela (AFP)–Venezuelans are concerned over the safety of a “twin” viaduct of the collapsed Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy, after a fire on the concrete structure caused a major blackout. The 8.6 kilometer (five mile) General Rafael Urdaneta viaduct links second city Maracaibo with the rest of Venezuela. Designed by Italian structural engineer Riccardo Morandi, it predates by five years his 1967 bridge in Genoa that collapsed this week causing the death of 39 […]