South America

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to Argentina on state visit

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Argentina on Thursday (November 17) for an official visit that will include meetings with Argentine President Mauricio Macri. Trudeau was greeted at the Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires, by Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra. The Canadian Prime Minister will meet with the Canadian Council for the Americas. He will then lay a wreath at Plaza San Martin. In the afternoon, Trudeau […]

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North Korea to top US agenda at final Obama-Xi meeting

by Andrew BEATTY LIMA, Peru (AFP) — President Barack Obama will use his final meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping Saturday to press for an increase in the pace and severity of sanctions against North Korea. With Pyongyang launching test after provocative test to develop a miniaturized nuclear warhead and a missile capable of delivering that deadly payload to the United States, Obama’s White House wants to ratchet up the pressure before he leaves office […]

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Brazil anti-austerity protest turns violent

  by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) – Rio de Janeiro riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades Wednesday into an angry crowd protesting proposed austerity measures. More than 2,000 people, ranging from teachers to off duty police officers, faced off against elite Shock Battalion police outside the state legislature in the center of Rio. They blew whistles and chanted calls for the resignation of Rio state Governor […]

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes floral offering as official visit in Cuba begins

CUBA, South America (Reuters) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a floral offering at the monument of Cuban national hero Jose Marti on Tuesday (November 15) as the first act of his official visit in Cuba. Trudeau arrived in Cuba on Tuesday for an official visit that will include meetings with Cuban President Raul Castro. Cuban Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel was at the Jose Marti International Airport when Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire […]

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Venezuela opposition figure denies talks agreed with govt

  CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — A top Venezuelan opposition leader Monday dismissed the government’s claim that it was ready for talks to settle the country’s political crisis after Pope Francis weighed in on the dispute. Henrique Capriles, a top figure in the opposition MUD coalition, said the announcement of talks was a ploy by President Nicolas Maduro to keep resisting the opposition’s efforts to remove him from power. Vatican envoy Emil Paul Tscherrig said earlier in […]

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Venezuelan assembly declares ‘coup’ by Maduro govt

by Maria Isabel SANCHEZ CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s opposition-majority legislature declared Sunday that President Nicolas Maduro’s government had committed a coup d’etat by blocking a referendum on removing him from power, vowing mass protests and international pressure. Furious over the electoral authorities’ decision to suspend the process of organizing a recall vote, opposition lawmakers passed a resolution declaring “the breakdown of constitutional order” and “a coup d’etat committed by the Nicolas Maduro regime.” The […]

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Parts of Colombia on high alert due to heavy flooding

The western Colombian department of Choco has been placed on high alert due to heavy rains, flooding and an overflowing river which has swept away several houses and possessions. Four out of the department’s 16 municipalities have been placed under the alert, where the number of residents affected has not yet been determined by emergency services, due to difficult access and the ongoing conditions. Several schools in the area have suspended classes whilst some families […]

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Inmates beheaded in Brazil prison riots: police

by Claire DE OLIVEIRA NETO RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rioting inmates beheaded rivals and burned others alive in an explosion of violence in two Brazilian jails that left at least 18 people dead on Monday, the authorities said. Prisoners also took women visitors hostage, officials said, blaming the violence on a rift between the country’s two largest gangs. It was the latest eruption of gruesome violence to hit Brazil’s underfunded and overcrowded prisons. […]

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25 inmates killed in Brazil prison clash

  by Natalia Ramos SAO PAULO, Brazil | AFP | — At least 25 inmates died Sunday in clashes between two rival factions in a prison in far northern Brazil, the latest episode of violence shaking the country’s underfunded and overcrowded prison system. Seven of the dead were beheaded and six burned to death in fighting at a prison in Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state, the news site G1 reported, citing local police. […]

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Hospitals among destroyed buildings in hurricane ravaged Haiti

Hospitals are among the buildings destroyed in southwestern Haiti which was devastated by Hurricane Matthew earlier this month, complicating efforts to treat the injured, cholera patients and pregnant women. A team from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) set out for the hurricane ravaged southwest peninsula of Haiti on Saturday (October 15) to assess the damage with one team focusing on maternity clinics in the region. UNFPA is a United Nations organization that focuses on […]

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Medics travel to Haiti to help hurricane victims

Medical personnel travelled to remote areas of Haiti to treat victims of Hurricane Matthew, that hit the Caribbean island last week and left 1,000 dead and a trail of destruction. In the southwestern area of Les Cayes, families brought their injured to be seen by medical personnel. These medics, from the U.S. non-profit organization Samaritan’s Purse, attended to a steady stream of local residents. Earlier this week, the charity flew tons of aid, including tarps, […]

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Colombia’s president extends ceasefire with FARC through year end

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday (October 13) extended his ceasefire with Marxist FARC rebels through the end of the year as he seeks to revive a peace accord to end five decades of war after voters rejected the hard-fought deal in a referendum. The original ceasefire, which was put in place in August, was nullified when the peace accord was rejected in plebiscite earlier this month. He had already extended it to October […]

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