South America

Brazil’s Lula closer to prison after Supreme Court votes

by Damian Wroclavsky with Sebastian Smith in Rio de Janeiro © Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s former president and current election frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva looked increasingly likely to face prison Wednesday after a key judge on the divided Supreme Court voted against allowing him to delay a sentence for corruption. After more than five hours of deliberations, the Supreme Court justices had voted 5-1 in favor of denying Lula his request […]

Tensions run high ahead of Brazil court’s ruling on Lula prison

by Damian Wroclavsky with Sebastian Smith in Rio de Janeiro © Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Tensions ran high Tuesday in Brazil ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should start a 12-year prison sentence for corruption, potentially upending this year’s presidential election. The court showdown scheduled for Wednesday has become a focal point for Brazil’s deeply divided electorate ahead of the October polls, in which Lula […]

Venezuela’s opposition urges Paris not to recognize May polls

  PARIS, France (AFP) — Leading opponents of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday called on France and other EU nations not to recognise elections set for May, saying the vote was simply a sham aimed at consolidating his grip on power. The country has been gripped by a political and economic crisis for months as Madura has overhauled institutions while sidelining the main opposition coalition, which has been barred from fielding candidates. “We’ve come to […]

Powerful 6.8 quake strikes Bolivia: USGS

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A strong but deep earthquake measuring 6.8 struck in Bolivia on Monday but there were no reports of damage or injuries, the US Geological Survey said. The quake struck in the southeast of the country at a depth of 562 kilometers (348 miles), about 200 kilometers from Tarija, and near the border with Paraguay, the USGS said. Bolivia’s private San Calixto Observatory gave the quake’s strength at 6.6 magnitudes and […]

At least six police killed in Mexico prison riot: officials

COATZACOALCOS, Mexico (AFP) — Seven people including at least six police were killed Sunday in a prison riot in eastern Mexico, authorities said, the latest outburst of deadly violence in the country’s jails. Police were trying to transport a group of “highly dangerous” prisoners from the La Toma prison in Veracruz state when inmates attacked the six officers, locked them in an enclosed space and set it on fire, the state government said. “The inmates […]

Prosecutor says 68 dead in Venezuela prison fire

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — A fire allegedly set during an attempted jailbreak from Venezuelan police holding cells killed 68 people on Wednesday, the country’s top prosecutor and an inmates’ rights group said. The blaze at the detention facility in Carabobo state is the latest in a series of deadly incidents in Venezuela’s overcrowded jails. “In light of the terrible events that took place in the Carabobo state police headquarters, where 68 people died in a presumed […]

Brazil judge orders Facebook to cut ‘fake news’ on slain activist

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered Facebook to remove fake news posted about slain black rights’ activist Marielle Franco. Judge Jorge Jansen Counago Novelle, in Rio de Janeiro, gave the US-based giant 24 hours to pull “publications of false information with criminal content on the councilwoman Marielle Franco,” the court said in a statement. Facebook responded in a statement that it would comply and “remove the specific URL content […]

Brazil court rejects Lula’s latest appeal

by Sebastian Smith Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – A Brazilian court on Monday rejected former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s latest appeal against a corruption conviction that could see him imprisoned for 12 years, and doom a bid to return to power in October elections. The three judges at the lower appeals court in Porto Alegre unanimously turned down Lula’s appeal, which had been made on technical grounds, of his conviction and […]

Peru’s new president sworn in after impeachment drama

by Francisco Jara © Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Martin Vizcarra was sworn in as Peru’s new president Friday, catapulted to the post when Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned to avoid impeachment. Vizcarra, who had been serving as both vice president and his country’s ambassador to Canada, took the oath of office and donned the red-and-white presidential sash before the Peruvian Congress. The ceremony came shortly after lawmakers voted to accept Kuczynski’s resignation, rather than push […]

Peru’s embattled president Kuczynski announces resignation

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced his resignation Wednesday in an address to the nation, the day before he was to face an impeachment vote in Congress. The 79-year-old former Wall Street banker, under fire over his links to Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, denied allegations of bribe-taking but said his resignation was “the best thing for the country.” Kuczynski is the first president to lose his job over the scandal in […]

Thousands of Brazilians mourn slain Rio councillor, rights activist

by Sebastian  Smith and Carola Sole © Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets Thursday to mourn a Rio de Janeiro councilwoman and outspoken critic of police brutality in majority black neighborhoods who was shot in an assassination-style killing. About 10,000 people marched to the Rio state assembly, with more arriving after work, to protest the slaying of Marielle Franco, 38 a day before. Many wore black and chanted […]

Miles de personas marchan en Chile en el Día Internacional de la Mujer

Krest-Anne Cortes Eagle News Service SANTIAGO, Chile—Miles de personas marcharon por Chile para conmemorar el Día Internacional de la Mujer. En la capital, la marcha empezó por el sector de la plaza de Baquedano cerca de las 19 horas, la que, de acuerdo a las estimaciones, convocó más de 30,000 personas. Participaron distintas agrupaciones sociales como “Ni Una Menos,” la Confederación de Estudiantes de Chile, la Central Unitaria de Trabajadores y “No+AFP (Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones)” […]