Alfredo Bosco came to Guerrero on assignment to document southern Mexican villages emptied out by conflict. Over repeated visits he documents the region’s story
Life in Guerrero seems to hover at the edge of violence. The threat is pervasive: in the armed men at roadblocks, the empty nighttime streets, the kindling of street protests. Then it erupts, in a brief convulsion. What endures is the wreckage left behind.
Continue reading...Manuel Merino’s exit follows nationwide fury sparked by shootings at pro-democracy rally
The interim president of Peru, Manuel Merino, has stepped down amid nationwide fury over the killing of two protesters in a brutally heavy-handed police clampdown on massive pro-democracy demonstrations on Saturday.
In a televised address to the nation, Merino announced his resignation and insisted he acted within the law when he was sworn into office as chief of state on Tuesday, following congress’s removal of the elected president in an impeachment vote.
Continue reading...At least 30 protesters were detained during big pro-democracy demonstrations in Peru, with multiple reports of heavy-handed treatment of largely peaceful attendees.
The health ministry reported two protesters were killed and more than 30 people were being treated for injuries on Saturday after nearly a week of unrest over the controversial removal of Martín Vizcarra as president.
Vizcarra's replacement by a de facto government is seen by many Peruvians as a coup and people have demanded the resignation of Manuel Merino, the former speaker of congress who was sworn in as president on Tuesday
Doctors say pair died of gunshot wounds as Peruvians protest against removal of Martín Vizcarra as president
Two protesters have been killed in massive pro-democracy demonstrations in Peru, the first deaths in nearly a week of unrest over the controversial removal of Martín Vizcarra as president and his replacement by a de facto government, seen by many Peruvians as a coup.
Protests have mounted demanding the resignation of Manuel Merino, the former speaker of congress who was sworn in as president on Tuesday, with tens of thousands of people filling the streets of Lima and dozens of towns and cities.
Continue reading...Storm may bring dangerous winds, storm surge and as much as 30in of rain to Nicaragua and Honduras
Tropical Storm Iota was brewing in the Caribbean early on Saturday, threatening a second tropical strike for Nicaragua and Honduras, countries recently ransacked by Eta, a category 4 hurricane.
Related: Devastating 2020 Atlantic hurricane season breaks all records
Continue reading...A major police operation was under way in Montreal on Friday afternoon at offices of French video game company Ubisoft that media reported was a possible hostage-taking, but police later said no threat had yet been found, and CBC News reported that the incident had been caused by a hoax 911 call.
Police confirmed the large deployment on Twitter had started at about 1.30pm, but offered no details while urging people to “avoid the area” near St-Laurent Boulevard and St-Viateur Street in Montreal’s Mile-End neighbourhood, close to downtown. Police later updated in a statement that “no threat has been detected so far. No injuries were reported.”
Continue reading...Fierce clashes in Peru between police and protesters have wounded at least 11 people, doctors and rights groups said on Friday, as thousands of Peruvians took to the streets to protest against the ousting of President Martín Vizcarra.
The clashes, and other more peaceful protests in the capital Lima and other cities, are piling pressure on a fragmented congress and the new government of Manuel Merino. Thursday night’s rallies were among the largest in two decades in Peru.
Continue reading...Israel Vázquez became the third journalist to be murdered in two weeks – and the eighth this year – while reporting on Monday
Early on Monday morning, Israel Vázquez, a crime reporter in the Mexican city of Salamanca, received a tip that a plastic bag full of human remains had been dumped at the side of a street.
He reached the scene before the police, but as he prepared to broadcast on Facebook live, gunmen opened fire from a passing car, and shot him eight times. He died of his injuries later in the day.
Continue reading...Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala worst affected with scores dead and more than 200,000 people evacuated from their homes
Central America is braced for further storms this weekend as the region reels from the devastation caused by Hurricane Eta, the Red Cross has warned.
Forecasters believe a weather front forming in the Caribbean has a 90% chance of becoming a cyclone, making it the 30th named Atlantic storm of 2020 in a record-breaking hurricane season, shattering the previous worst year of 28 storms in 2005.
Continue reading...Britain may lack ‘bandwidth to move forward’ as Brexit transition nears end, say PM
Canada could easily negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK, Justin Trudeau has said, but he warned that talks could be delayed because British negotiators are so out of practice.
Speaking at an online event hosted by the Financial Times, the Canadian prime minister said he remained upbeat about the prospect of a trade deal between the two countries before the end of the year.
Continue reading...Tens of thousands of supporters greet Bolivian ex-president during his triumphant return to Chimoré
Tens of thousands of jubilant followers have welcomed Evo Morales back to the coca-growing region from which he fled into exile exactly one year ago after what they branded a racist rightwing coup.
“Evo, Evo, Evo,” chanted the people who had travelled from all over Bolivia to witness their leader’s triumphant return home in the jungle-flanked town of Chimoré.
Continue reading...Bolivia’s former leader Evo Morales made a dramatic homecoming on Monday, greeted by crowds of cheering supporters as he crossed the border from Argentina, where he had been living in exile since late last year
Continue reading...Flooding left thousands trapped for days without food or water and death toll may never be known
Across a sea of putrid mud a metre or so deep, Marvin Argueta pointed to the remnants of what a week ago was his home on the banks of the Chamelecón River. He had lost everything – but he still considers himself lucky.
“If we hadn’t got out in time, we all would have died,” said Argueta, 22, who along with his wife and four children abandoned their house when the flood waters reached waist height in the middle of the night. “A friend of mine lost his entire family.”
Continue reading...Human rights activists in Mexico have expressed indignation after police opened fire on protesters who tried to force their way into Cancún city hall during a demonstration against the country’s femicide crisis.
Four journalists were injured in the incident late on Monday, including two who suffered bullet wounds. Eight protesters were reportedly detained after the shooting.
Continue reading...Judge-only trial will focus on mental state of Alek Minassian, 28, and his association with misogynistic ‘incel’ ideology
The trial of Canadian man who killed 10 people when he drove a van on to a crowded Toronto sidewalk will begin on Tuesday, and is expected to focus on questions of criminal responsibility, misogyny and mental illness.
Alek Minassian, 28, faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder over the April 2018 attack, the worst mass murder in the city’s history.
Continue reading...Alek Minassian’s lawyer said he will argue he is not criminally responsible because of his state of mind at the time
A Canadian man who killed 10 people when he drove a van on to a crowded Toronto sidewalk has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer said he will argue he is not criminally responsible because of his state of mind at the time.
Alek Minassian, 28, faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder over the April 2018 attack, the worst mass murder in the city’s history.
Continue reading...Ex-president greeted with thousands of flag-waving supporters a day after new leftwing president, Luis Arce, sworn in
Thousands of flag-waving supporters have greeted Evo Morales at Bolivia’s southern border, as the country’s exiled former president began a triumphant homecoming that suggests his four-decade political career may be far from over.
“As long as capitalism and imperialism exist, the fight goes on,” Morales, 61, declared as he prepared to cross the international bridge between the Argentinian border town of La Quiaca and Villazón in Bolivia at about 10am local time.
Continue reading...For families in province of Cauca, time is running out as drug gangs and guerrilla groups exploit Covid chaos
Luis Troches was walking home from the shop in late July when armed men stopped him along a dirt road in south-west Colombia. They gave the 14-year-old an ultimatum: he could join their group – dissidents from the demobilised Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) – or they could take him and his 11-year-old sister by force.
“He came home scared and distant,” said his mother, Luzmery. Both knew that the men, who control their hamlet in the north of Cauca province, would be back for an answer. “He told me, ‘I don’t want to go. What should I do?’”
Continue reading...US close to 10m cases, with India second on 8.5m cases, followed by Brazil and Russia
The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has passed 50 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which showed that the US, India and Brazil have the highest figures.
A total of 50,052,204 infections had been reported around the world by Sunday evening.
Continue reading...Luis Arce to take power after landslide win for Movement for Socialism, but experts predict bumpy road ahead
Bolivia’s new president, Luis Arce, has vowed to rebuild his country’s battered economy, revive ties with leftwing neighbours and serve one term only, as he prepared to take office after October’s landslide election.
Speaking to the Guardian before his inauguration on Sunday, the UK-educated economist was cautious about characterising his victory as proof that Latin America’s leftwing “pink tide” of the early 2000s was bouncing back after a period of rightwing dominance. Since 2018 the left has returned to power in Mexico and Argentina, while a leftwing economist is well placed to win Ecuador’s presidential election in February.
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