South America

The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, reported in the early hours of Saturday, April 3rd that he tested positive for Covid-19 after showing symptoms of the disease. Fernández had the two doses of the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine.

"For everyone's information, I am physically fine and, although I wanted to end my birthday without this news, I am also in a good mood," posted the president of Argentina, who thanked for the messages of congratulations.

"We believe we are starting the second wave, with a sustained increase in cases, which causes concern," Health Minister Carla Vizzotti told a radio station on Friday.

Facebook has frozen the page of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a company spokesperson said, after the leader was accused of violating the platform's policies about the spread of Covid-19 misinformation.

A spokesperson for the company also told the AFP news agency that a video from Maduro's page had been removed "for violating our policies against misinformation about Covid-19 that is likely to put people at risk for harm".

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it stressed that, since the arrival of Alberto Fernández to the Casa Rosada, "Argentina has never participated in meetings or signed documents" of the Lima Group and emphasised that his administration "the only thing it has done" with respect to this alliance was to "distance itself". "Once again, we reiterate that the best way to help Venezuelans is to facilitate an inclusive dialogue that does not favour any particular sector, but rather to achieve elections accepted by the majority with international control," the letter from the San Martín Palace states.

Argentina also maintains that, in "a context in which the pandemic has wreaked havoc in the region, the sanctions and blockades imposed on Venezuela and its authorities, as well as the destabilisation attempts that occurred in 2020, have only aggravated the situation of its population and, in particular, that of its most vulnerable sectors".

The Argentinean government on Friday formalized the suspension of flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico, due to the increasing cases of Covid-19 in those countries, and the circulation of new strains. The new measure starts on Saturday.

The government's objective is to reduce the number of trips during Easter Week, a time when many citizens tend to travel around the country or abroad, which in this case is the main concern.

Pfizer vaccines arrived in Uruguay on Wednesday. Today, an Air Force helicopter was responsible for transporting 180 doses crashed. The authorities started an investigation suspecting that the cause was a mechanical failure.

The crew managed to operate an emergency landing, resulting in no casualties but several injuries. After landing the vehicle was on fire and the load was completely lost.

Dozens of protesters kick and throw rocks at a mini-bus carrying Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Saturday as he visited an area devastated by forest fires.

The incidents were verified on two occasions. The first was just after landing, on the way to the Lago Puelo operations centre.

The second was on the President's journey from that centre, where he met with authorities and journalists. As a result of the attack, a National Parks van and another from the Federal Police without identification were broken.

Bolivian justice on Friday ordered the arrest of former Bolivian president Jeanine Áñez, accused of sedition (insurrection or incitement to revolt) and terrorism for the events that in November 2019 culminated in Evo Morales' early departure from power.

The orders also cover members of his cabinet of ministers and the Armed Forces summit of the time. The arrests were accelerated by a prosecutor's order, who formally accused all army and police chiefs who publicly asked for Morales' resignation. Authorities suspect that some of those wanted are out of the country.

"Political persecution has started. MAS [Movement for Socialism, party in government] decided to revert to the styles of the dictatorship. A pity because Bolivia does not need dictators, it needs freedom and solutions ", wrote former president Áñez in her Twitter account.

On Wednesday the first batch of 50.000 Pfizer/Biontech vaccines arrived in Uruguay. The jabs will be applied first to health workers.

50.000 more doses are expected to arrive in the next week, plus 60.000/week later until complete the order of 460.000.

For the first time since 2006, China’s two biggest policy banks — the China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export-Import Bank of China — made no new loans to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to analysts, the pandemic and the deterioration of financial conditions in the countries contributed to this, which made China more cautious and less willing to finance governments and risky projects.

Firsts jabs are available only for education, police, and military personnel.

The Health Ministry's goal is to achieve herd immunity with the vaccine (around 70% of the whole population). Vaccination is not mandatory, but health minister Salinas pointed that being vaccinated is a civic duty. People that don't want to be vaccinated will be put at the end of the line.

Colombian military officers executed and falsely represented young civilian men as Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) combatants.

The found figures exceeded the number previously reported by the government by almost threefold.

Gines Gonzalez Garcia, Argentina's health minister, resigned on Friday following reports that people had been able to use connections to access Covid-19 vaccines to which they were not entitled.

Garcia said in a letter posted on Twitter that individuals were able to sidestep proper procedure for vaccinations due to "unintended confusion" in his office while he was away.

Earlier this month, Peru's health and foreign ministers quit and its former president was placed under criminal investigation after reports of hundreds of Peruvian officials and others receiving vaccine doses outside of clinical trials and before the national immunization program began.

Forbidden to cross the border that separates the Brazilian city of Assis Brasil from Iñapari, Peru due to the Covid-19 pandemic, hundreds of Haitian migrants on February 16th, headed to the neighbouring country where the group was suppressed by riot police as soon as they entered Peru.

"Affected by the Brazilian economic crisis, they are seeking to return to their country or go to another country in the region," said journalist Nacho Lemus. He explained that migrants from the Caribbean country warned that there is no chance of survival in Brazilian asylums during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday, the mayor's office of Assis told reporters that the governor of Acre, Gladson Cameli, contacted the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "manage a humanitarian nature request through diplomatic channels" that authorizes the entry of the migrants into Peruvian territory.

After finish negotiating the purchase of 38 million doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm, the Peruvian ex-president Martín Vizcarra and authorities were vaccinated. Pilar Mazzetti, head of the Health Minister, and Foreign Minister Elizabeth Astete left their offices.

On Twitter Astete announced her resignation on Twitter and admitted that it was a "serious mistake". They claim they were part of the clinical trial, but they are not registered as volunteers.

Carlos Menem, 90 years old, has died after battling long-term health problems.

Menem took office in July 1989 and promoted laws to reform the government and the economy after his predecessor, Raúl Alfonsín, resigned in the middle of a deep financial crisis caused by hyperinflation. Menem privatized some companies that had been under state authority until that point and was able to get inflation under control.

Menem left office in 1999 after unsuccessfully trying to modify the constitution to run for a third term. He ran again for the presidency in 2003, obtaining the highest percentage of votes during the first round of elections, but ultimately decided against advancing to the second round.

An illegal party with over a hundred people in the Bolivian city of Quillacollo left dozens of people injured. After the police arrived, the organizers closed and locked the doors, causing a mass panic. According to the mayor, people poured out of the doors like an avalanche.

In perpetuation of Trump administration policy and nearly two centuries of U.S. imperialism in Latin America, Antony Blinken, President Joe Biden's nominee for secretary of state, told senators Tuesday that the United States will continue to recognize the coup leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

Reuters reports Blinken told senators during his confirmation hearing that Venezuela needs "an effective policy that can restore... democracy" to the nation of 28 million people.

Although Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has alienated allies and adversaries alike with his government's numerous and serious human rights violations, he was democratically elected in 2013 and reelected in 2018.

The Argentinean President Alberto Fernández received Thursday the first dose of the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine.

After a controversy over whether studies would come from Moscow to support the use of the vaccine in people over 60, the National Administration of Drugs, Food and Medical Technology (Anmat) on Wednesday authorised its use in the age group most at risk from the coronavirus.

On Monday, the government released an official timetable promising that another 4.7 million Russian Sputnik V vaccine doses will arrive in the country before the end of the month. The schedule for the delivery of the vaccine announced by the government began in December with the arrival of 300,000 doses and continues in January with 5,000,000 more (300,000 were delivered on the last Saturday), while another 14,700,000 are expected in February.

The higher chamber of Argentinean congress approved overnight the bill that introduces legal abortion before the 14th week of pregnancy, or in case of mother's health risk, or if the pregnancy is caused by rape. The final score of the senators' votes was 39 supporters against 29.

The national immunization plan against coronavirus was launched today throughout Argentina, after an operation to distribute 300,000 doses of the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine.

"It is a day of great joy, we must not lose hope because the vaccines will continue to arrive," said Health Minister Ginés Gonzáles García from the Posadas Hospital a few minutes before 9 AM, the hour in which the operation of vaccination against coronavirus throughout the country. In that health centre, 5 members of the Health team were vaccinated.

Mexico became the first country in Latin America to start vaccinating for Covid-19. The first person to receive one of the initial shipment of 3000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was intensive-care nurse María Irene Ramirez.

Shortly after Mexico started vaccinating, Chile and Costa Rico followed suit.

Bolivia's Civic Registration Service (Sereci) has for the first time recognised the "free union" between two people of the same sex in the country, following a long legal battle between the couple, according to a resolution made public on Friday.

Sereci decided to "arrange for the registration of the free union between David Víctor Aruquipa Pérez and Guido Alvaro Montaño Durán", according to this document which cancels another resolution adopted by the same institution in 2018. The deputy of the right-wing party Creemos Samantha Nogales also said that this is an issue that will be evaluated, but that "it is fundamental to understand that human rights move forward and not backward and that in this case, we can show that Bolivians are all equal before the law."

After 20 hours of debate in the lower chamber of Argentinean congress, the bill to legalize abortion under certain conditions got enough votes (131 vs. 117) to continue to the next stage in the upper chamber. The bill was introduced by president Alberto Fernandez and accepted a few changes lately, both were apparently the main factors to have different results compared with the 2018 discussion.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won total control over the country's legislature, the National Assembly (AN) after his party claimed almost 68% of the vote, in an election that was mostly boycotted by the opposition and had only over 31% turnout. The National Assembly was the last institution in the country not yet headed by Maduro.

The opposition, parts of which participated in the election despite the opposition's call for a boycott, received 18% of the vote.

The EU and the Organization of American States (OAS) refused to send observers to Sunday's election and said the conditions for a democratic process in Venezuela do not currently exist.

His family informed that last night the former president died after struggling with pulmonary cancer. Also informed that for coronavirus reasons will no be placed any public large ceremony and ask to the population to follow the ceremony by the media staying at home, in order to avoid crowds.

Argentinean president Alberto Fernandez proposed a new set of regulations to tax the richest people in the country (above 2,35 M dollars).

Now the congress discusses the proposal that would create a one-time tax, starting with 3.5% up to 5.25%. The extraordinary fee is estimated to affect between 9.000 and 12.000 richest Argentineans, then 20% of the money collected will be used to fight the Covid-19 crises, and the rest will be used to reduce the economic crisis that holds the country in recession since 2018, having 40,9% of the total population of 44 million Argentineans under the poverty line.

Without a strict lockdown or any enforced measure, the Uruguayan government relies on citizens' common sense and suggests keeping social distances, reduce meetings as much as possible, permanent use of masks, and so on. Although, there are 792 currently infected cases and 12 ICU patients.

Peruvian lawmaker Francisco Sagasti is set to become the country's next interim president. The 76-year-old engineer, academic and former World Bank official is expected to be Peru's fourth president in less than five years -- and the second one in less than a week.

Activists, opposition parties and civil society groups who saw former President Martin Vizcarra's ouster as a legislative coup refused to recognize the new leader.

The population of the Falkland Islands has been celebrating the removal of an estimated 13,000 mines that were planted by Argentine forces in the 1982 military conflict.

Barry Elsby, a member of the island's legislative assembly, has stated that "This will be another good bit of closure for people who were here when the invasion happened and lived through the horrors of that time" and added that "All the mine signposts were a constant reminder of what happened but now they are all away, it's another return to normality".

After thousands of protestors demanded his removal, Peru's interim President Manuel Merino resigned Sunday.

Protests began peacefully but grew more intense during the later hours of the day. Protestors and police have clashed, and according to witness, reports shots were fired by police.

Merino assumed the presidency on Tuesday after the opposition-dominated Congress voted to remove his predecessor Martin Vizcarra, over bribery allegations, which he denies.