Category Archives: Americas

Diehard Bolsonaro fans greet far-right ex-president on return to Brazil

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Son says Jair Bolsonaro will lead opposition after return from self-imposed exile in US

Three months after he left Brazil to avoid passing the presidential sash to his leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the former president Jair Bolsonaro has flown back to the South American country hoping to prove his political career is far from over.

The far-right radical flew to the US on the eve of Lula’s 1 January inauguration and watched the historic transition of power from a rented villa near Disney World in Florida. It was from Florida, too, that Bolsonaro watched the 8 January assault on Brazil’s democratic institutions perpetrated by hardcore supporters seemingly bent on overthrowing Lula’s new government.

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Brazil may sue VW amid claims firm used ‘slave labour’ under military rule

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Prosecutors seek compensation for workers kept on cattle ranch owned by German carmaker during dictatorship from 1973 to 1987

Brazil is threatening to take the German carmaker Volkswagen to court over allegations that it used slave labour on a vast ranch in the Amazon, after talks on compensating workers ended without agreement.

Public prosecutors in Brazil are seeking compensation for men who they say were forced to work in “humiliating and degrading” conditions, with no clean water or sanitation, on the Fazenda Vale do Rio Cristalino cattle ranch, which was owned by the company in the northern Pará state, between 1973 and 1987.

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Nova Scotia attacks: police heavily criticised for failures in Canada’s deadliest mass shooting

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RCMP response condemned after gunman drove a fake police car around for more than 13 hours, evading capture and killing 22 people

A cascade of failures within Canada’s federal police worsened the country’s deadliest mass shooting, a public inquiry has concluded, in a damning indictment that found the force has shown little interest in reforming in the years since.

The Mass Casualty Commission, a joint provincial and federal inquiry, was investigating the 2020 shootings in Portapique Nova Scotia, in which a gunman driving a fake police car spent more than 13 hours evading capture and killing 22 people.

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Migrant deaths at Mexican detention centre investigated as suspected homicide

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Several arrest warrants requested after video emerges which appears to show guards leaving as fire engulfs a cell with migrants locked inside

The deaths of at least 39 migrants in a fire at a Mexican detention centre are being investigated as suspected homicides, a prosecutor has said, accusing those in charge of doing nothing to evacuate the victims.

Authorities faced mounting scrutiny of their handling of the disaster after video surveillance footage appeared to show guards leaving as flames engulfed a cell with migrants locked inside.

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‘They’re killing us’: anger grows after deadly fire at Mexican migrant center

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Protesters call for justice as blaze at detention facility in Ciudad Juárez highlights tough US immigration policies

A loud voice cut through the thick quiet of the night: “¡Justicia! ¡Justicia! ¡Justicia!” Frark Martín Pérez Pérez, 32, chanted angrily, and hundreds followed.

Justice is what the crowd of about 400 migrants from Latin America gathered to protest about on Tuesday outside the migrant processing centre in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican city on the US border, where at least 40 were killed in a fire on Monday night.

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‘This is very bad for them’: months of leaks rattle Canada’s low-profile spy agency

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Allegations of attempted meddling by China put uncomfortable spotlight on publicity-shy CSIS

Most Canadians have no idea where the country’s spy agency is located, nor do they know much about its daily operations. This is not because the Canadian Security Intelligence Service operates in a particularly clandestine fashion, it’s because most Canadians don’t care.

The CSIS, a civilian-run organisation based in a triangular structure of concrete and glass on the outskirts of Ottawa, lacks the intrigue of Britain’s MI5 and the notoriety of America’s Central Intelligence Agency.

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At least 40 dead in Mexico migrant centre fire as rights groups blame overcrowding

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Mexico’s president says fire was caused by migrants lighting mattresses in protest at planned deportations

Rights groups have blamed poor conditions and overcrowding for a fire that killed at least 40 migrants from Central and South America at a migrant detention centre in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican city on the US border.

The fire, which broke out late on Monday, was caused by migrants setting fire to mattresses in protest after discovering they would be deported, Mexico’s president said. “They didn’t think that would cause this terrible tragedy,” Andrés Manuel López Obrador told a news conference. He did not provide more details about how so many died.

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Ecuador landslide: search for survivors after dozens of homes buried

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President Guillermo Lasso confirms seven people have died, with 62 still missing after disaster on Sunday night

A huge landslide that swept over an Andean community in central Ecuador, burying dozens of homes, has killed at least seven people, authorities said as rescuers continued a frantic search for survivors.

Earlier on Monday, officials had reported 16 deaths, but President Guillermo Lasso put the confirmed toll at seven as he arrived on Monday night at the scene of the disaster in Alausí, about 137 miles south of the capital, Quito. Officials also raised the number of people reported missing to 62.

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At least 39 dead after fire at Mexican migrant facility on US border

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Mexican president says protests to blame for fire in Ciudad Juárez, the latest example of dangers facing those taking route to US

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has blamed protesting migrants for causing a fire at an immigration detention centre that has killed at least 39 people in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican city on the US border.

Images of the aftermath showed dozens of lifeless bodies on the ground, some covered by silver thermal blankets. Television footage showed emergency workers attending to stunned survivors, who sat on white sheets gasping for breath.

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New allegations and a resignation strain already fraught China-Canada relations

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Han Dong’s departure escalates row over allegations that Beijing meddled in Canada’s elections as friction between countries grows

The abrupt resignation of a Canadian lawmaker over allegations he secretly met with a Chinese diplomat has escalated a row over allegations that Beijing meddled in Canadian elections – and highlighted the complex and often fraught relationship between the two countries.

Han Dong, a member of the governing Liberal party, was reported to have met with Han Tao, China’s consul general in February 2021, to suggest that Chinese authorities delay freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians who were detained in China at the time.

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Mexican children’s entertainer Chabelo dies aged 88

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Comic, real name Xavier López, fronted children’s TV show that ran from 1967 to 2015

The Mexican children’s entertainer Xavier López, better known by his stage name Chabelo, has died at 88, Mexico’s president has said.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador tweeted that his eldest son “woke up early to see him [on television] more than 40 years ago”.

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Trudeau to announce US-Canada asylum deal after Biden talks

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Move following meetings in Ottawa with the US president will in effect close a controversial border crossing

Justin Trudeau’s government has announced a major shift in how Canada and the US handle asylum claims, a move that effectively closes a controversial border crossing, after meetings in Ottawa on Friday with Joe Biden.

Under the deal, which Canadian officials hope will temper the increase in irregular border crossings in recent months, Canada will bring in 15,000 more South and Central American migrants to Canada. The prime minister’s office said in a statement the agreement would ensure more “fairness” in migration between the two countries.

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Haiti faces ‘hunger emergency’ amid escalating gang violence and surging inflation

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Acute hunger is affecting 4.9 million Haitians, according to a UN report, which outlines the increased need for humanitarian aid

Haitians are increasingly desperate for humanitarian aid as gang violence engulfing the country has left nearly half the population regularly going hungry, a World Food Programme (WFP) report has found.

“These are the worst conditions on record,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP’s Haiti director. “Food insecurity in Haiti has been going downhill and Haiti is sliding into a hunger emergency.”

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‘Historic moment’ as El Salvador abortion case fuels hopes for expanded access across Latin America

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Human rights court hears seriously ill woman denied procedure as advocates call for change in region with world’s most restrictive abortion laws

Human rights activists in Latin America hope that a historic court hearing over the case of a Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion despite her high-risk pregnancy could open the way for El Salvador to decriminalize abortions – and set an important precedent across the region.

The inter-American court of human rights (IACHR) this week considered the historic case of the woman, known as Beatriz, who was prohibited from having an abortion in 2013, even though she was seriously ill and the foetus she was carrying would not have survived outside the uterus.

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Families of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira decry ‘shameful’ trial delays

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Poor internet and logistical problems frustrate hearing into killing of British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous expert

Activists and lawyers representing the families of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira have voiced frustration and anger after the preliminary court hearings of three of their alleged murderers had to be suspended because of poor internet and logistical problems at the high-security prisons where the defendants are being held.

Three of the suspected killers of the British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous specialist were scheduled to give evidence from behind bars this week during partly online hearings that are expected to pave the way for a jury trial, possibly in the second half of this year.

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Canadian lawmaker resigns following claims he secretly advised Chinese diplomat

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Han Dong reportedly met with Chinese diplomat and suggested officials delay freeing two Canadians held by China

A Canadian lawmaker has resigned from the governing Liberal party following allegations that he secretly met with a Chinese diplomat and advised Beijing not to release two Canadian captives.

Han Dong announced in the House of Commons late on Wednesday that he would sit as an independent. Global News reported that he met with Han Tao, China’s consul-general in Toronto in February 2021 and suggested officials in Beijing delay freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadians being held by China at the time. He is also alleged to have suggested releasing the two men would benefit the rival Conservative party.

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Canada scientists create new method to break down toxic ‘forever chemicals’

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University of British Columbia researchers develop silica-based material with ability to absorb wider range of harmful chemicals

Researchers at a Canadian university have made a breakthrough they hope will dramatically shorten the lifespan of the thousands of toxic “forever chemicals” that persist in clothing, household items and the environment.

Scientists at the University of British Columbia announced on Wednesday that they had developed a new silica-based material with ability to absorb a wider range of the harmful chemicals, and new tools to break them apart them.

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Can you copyright a rhythm? Inside the reggaeton lawsuit that could shake the pop world

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Two dembow progenitors are suing superstars including Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee – in a case that also names Justin Bieber – claiming that they deserve credit for birthing the genre

With the release of their song Fish Market in 1989, the Jamaican duo Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson inadvertently changed the course of pop music. The track featured the first known example of what would come to be known as a “dembow” rhythm – the percussive, slightly syncopated four-to-the-floor beat that travelled from reggae to become the signature beat of reggaeton, today the world-conquering sound of Latin American pop.

Now, more than 30 years after Fish Market was released, Steely & Clevie Productions is suing three of reggaeton’s most celebrated hitmakers – El Chombo, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee – for what they characterise as unlawful interpolation of Fish Market’s rhythm (or “riddim”), and are seeking the credit – and royalties – they say they deserved from the start.

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Taiwan prepared ‘for all moves’ by China while President Tsai is abroad

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Tsai Ing-wen will visit allies Guatemala and Belize next week, and stopover in the US, after Honduras said it would establish ‘official relations’ with China

Taiwan’s defence ministry has contingency plans for any moves by China during Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the US and Central America, deputy defence minister Po Horng-huei has said ahead of Tsai’s departure next week.

China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, carried out large-scale, live-fire war games around the island last August after a visit to Taipei by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

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UN calls for foreign intervention in Haiti as violence surges

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‘Specialized support force’ urged for Caribbean state where 530 have been killed in gang-led violence so far this year

The United Nations has called for the deployment of an international “specialized support force” to impede Haiti’s accelerating tumble into extreme violence after more than 530 people were killed in the opening weeks of this year.

“Clashes between gangs are becoming more violent and more frequent,” the spokesperson for the UN human rights office, Marta Hurtado, warned on Tuesday, voicing “grave concern” that the security situation was spiraling out of control.

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