Category Archives: Americas

US embassy warns Colombian politicians not to get involved in US elections

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At least three senior Colombian lawmakers have been accused of acting as surrogates for Donald Trump in Florida

The American embassy in Bogotá has warned Colombian politicians to “avoid getting involved” in the US election, amid a growing row over allegations that far-right lawmakers from the South American country are campaigning in support of Donald Trump.

At least three senior Colombian politicians have been accused of acting as Trump surrogates in Florida, a pivotal battleground state which has been flooded with political advertising and fake news aimed at Latino voters.

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Storm Zeta strengthens into hurricane as it approaches Mexico and US

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Zeta, the earliest ever 27th named storm of the Atlantic season, is expected to head to Gulf of Mexico and then the US by Wednesday

Storm Zeta has strengthened into a hurricane as it churned towards beach resorts on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, which it is expected to rake with strong winds and heavy rain before making possible landfall in the US later this week.

Zeta – the earliest ever 27th named storm of the Atlantic season – was centered about 90 miles (145km) south-east of Cozumel island Monday afternoon, the US National Hurricane Center said. It had maximum sustained winds of 80mph (130kph).

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Mexico admits Covid death toll much higher than official number

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Disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people compared with official toll of 88,924

Mexico’s government has admitted its Covid-19 death toll is dramatically higher than official figures have suggested, with the disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people.

The official coronavirus death toll of Latin America’s second largest economy stands at 88,924 – the fourth highest number in the world after the US, Brazil and India. But on Sunday night officials conceded the true number of Covid-19 deaths was likely to be at least 50,000 higher.

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Celebrations as Chile votes by huge majority to scrap Pinochet-era constitution

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A plebiscite called in response to street protests in 2019 sees 78% of people back a new charter to replace one imposed by military dictator

Chile has voted overwhelmingly in favor of rewriting the the country’s constitution to replace guiding principles imposed four decades ago under the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

Jubilant pro-reform supporters took to the streets of the capital Santiago and other cities to celebrate on Sunday night after exit polls showed that 78.24% of people had voted to approve a rewrite, while 21.76% rejected the change.

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Colombian rebel leader Uriel killed by security forces, president says

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Commander of the ELN guerrillas known for media appearances and online videos is described as criminal by president Iván Duque

Colombian security forces have killed a rebel commander known best by his nom de guerre Uriel, during an operation in the coastal Pacific province of Choco, president Iván Duque has said.

Uriel, whose real name was Andres Felipe Vanegas Londono, was a leader in the National Liberation Army (ELN) and was known for his media appearances, online videos and a Twitter account.

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Chile: millions head to polls in referendum on constitutional reform

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Abolishing Pinochet-era constitution was key demand of last year’s protests

Chilean streets filled on Sunday for the first time since the start of the coronavirus outbreak as millions of people turned out to vote on whether to get rid of the country’s Pinochet-era constitution in favour of a fresh charter drafted by citizens.

A new constitution was a key demand of fierce anti-government protests that erupted last year over inequality and elitism in one of Latin America’s most advanced economies, and have simmered ever since.

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Paraguay authorities find at least seven bodies in fertilizer shipment

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Bodies, which public prosecutor said appeared to be stowaways, discovered when container opened on Friday

Authorities in Paraguay have found at least seven badly decomposed bodies inside a shipment of fertilizer that left Serbia three months ago.

The container, which came via Argentina, was unloaded earlier this week at a port on the outskirts of the Paraguayan capital, Asunción, and was collected by an agricultural company.

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How Bolivia’s left returned to power months after Morales was forced out

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On Friday authorities confirmed Mas’ candidate, Luis Arce, won the presidential election – overcoming the ‘worst’ moment of their 25-year history

Two agonising weeks had passed since Evo Morales was driven from Bolivia and in his vice-president’s recently vacated chambers one of their party’s rising stars sat, crestfallen and drained.

“It hurts,” confessed Eva Copa, the 32-year-old senate president from Morales’ Movement Towards Socialism (Mas), her voice breaking and tears filling her eyes as she pondered what some thought might prove a fatal blow to their pro-indigenous project. “What has happened will leave scars.”

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China warns Canada to halt ‘blatant interference’ as feud continues

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Canada concluded China’s actions against ethnic Uighurs in the Xinjiang province constituted a genocide and called for sanctions

China has warned Canadian lawmakers to halt their “blatant interference” in its internal affairs, in the latest episode of a rumbling diplomatic feud between the two nations.

Earlier this week, a Canadian parliamentary committee concluded China’s actions against ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang province constituted a genocide and called for sanctions against officials complicit in the government’s policy.

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‘Lack of shame’: Robinho affair highlights Brazil’s rape crisis

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Top club Santos signed a contract – now suspended – with the former Brazil striker who was convicted of rape in Italy in 2017

A public debate over sexual violence and rape culture has erupted in Brazil after one of its leading football clubs tried to recruit a convicted rapist to lead its attack.

Santos Futebol Clube – which has produced sporting legends including Pelé and Neymar – announced the highly controversial signing of the former Manchester City striker Robinho on 10 October.

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The Bolivian left’s election win is a positive sign, but it inherits a dire situation | Kevin Young

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The landslide vote for Luis Arce is reason for optimism, but Bolivia still requires major resources to contain Covid-19

On 18 October, the progressive candidate, Luis Arce, decisively won Bolivia’s presidential election, beating his nearest rival by about 20 points according to exit polls. His party, Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas), also apparently retained its majorities in both houses of congress.

It’s a remarkable turn of events. In November 2019 the Mas president, Evo Morales, was overthrown in a police-military coup that installed the rightwing evangelical Jeanine Áñez as president.

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Cat and mouse on the high seas: on the trail of China’s vast squid fleet

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Huge foreign fleets gather 400 miles off South America’s Pacific coast attracted by giant squid. Peru’s coastguard must defend its territorial waters amid rising tension

The ocean is as black as chipped obsidian, yet whichever way you look dozens of bright lights illuminate the water and the night sky. Nearly 400 nautical miles from the South American mainland, the crew of a Peruvian coastguard ship count more than 30 Chinese squid boats lighting up the sea like a city at night.

Some of the boats shine luminous green, others glow blinding white like an alien spacecraft in a movie. Rigged along each side of the ships, incandescent lamps attract giant squid near the surface, where they can be hauled from the ocean by long metal arms jutting over the water.

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Canadian police officer found not guilty over death of mentally ill Black man

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  • Daniel Montsion acquitted over death of Abdirahman Abdi
  • Abdi, 37, was beaten during arrest and died later in hospital

A Canadian police officer has been found not guilty over the death of a mentally ill Black man who was beaten during his arrest, in a case that became a flashpoint in the country’s fight against police brutality.

Daniel Montsion was acquitted on Tuesday of manslaughter over the 2016 death of Abdirahman Abdi. The verdict was immediately denounced as an indictment of Canada’s ability to deliver justice to marginalized groups.

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EU seeks Amazon protections pledge from Bolsonaro in push to ratify trade deal

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Brazilian president’s stance on deforestation remains stumbling block for South America agreement

Brussels is in talks with Brazil’s far-right nationalist president, Jair Bolsonaro, over commitments on the future of the Amazon as it seeks to persuade Emmanuel Macron and other EU leaders and parliaments to ratify the trade deal the bloc has negotiated with South America.

The ratification of the draft trade agreement between the EU and the “Mercosur” or Southern Common Market free-trade zone – which spans Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina – has been in doubt almost since it was announced last June.

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Bolivia election: Evo Morales’s leftwing party celebrates stunning comeback

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Exit polls for presidential election project win for Luis Arce as rival concedes defeat

Evo Morales’s leftwing party is celebrating a stunning political comeback after its candidate appeared to trounce rivals in Bolivia’s presidential election.

The official results of Sunday’s twice-postponed election had yet to be announced on Monday afternoon, but exit polls projected that Luis Arce, the candidate for Morales’s Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas), had secured more than 50% of the vote while his closest rival, the centrist former president Carlos Mesa, received about 30%.

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Churches burned amid tense anniversary protests in Chile – video

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There were tense scenes in the streets of Santiago as demonstrators clashed with police on the first anniversary of mass protests over inequality that left more than 30 dead and thousands injured. The rallies were largely peaceful early on, but were later marred by the incidents of violence and confrontations with police. Protesters threw fireballs and rocks in the direction of police, with officers responding with teargas and water cannon. Two churches were set alight including San Francisco de Borja, used regularly by the Carabineros police force for institutional ceremonies. Demonstrators are also calling for Chileans to vote in favour of a new constitution in a referendum next weekend

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Huge cat found etched into desert among Nazca Lines in Peru

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Feline geoglyph from 200-100BC emerges during work at Unesco world heritage site

The dun sands of southern Peru, etched centuries ago with geoglyphs of a hummingbird, a monkey, an orca – and a figure some would dearly love to believe is an astronaut – have now revealed the form of an enormous cat lounging across a desert hillside.

The feline Nazca line, dated to between 200BC and 100BC, emerged during work to improve access to one of the hills that provides a natural vantage point from which many of the designs can be seen.

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Samba makes tentative return in Rio de Janeiro laid low by Covid

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Legendary sambista Moacyr Luz spent much of the pandemic confined to his beachside home but is resuming his weekly jam sessions as lockdown curbs ease

It has been seven months since Moacyr Luz, one of Brazil’s most celebrated sambistas, sat down before a live audience in the city his songs serenade.

As Covid-19 shook Luz’s homeland, killing more than 150,000 and infecting millions, it also wreaked havoc on Rio’s signature sound, with all shows scrapped, carnival postponed until a vaccine is found and several cherished samba proponents among the dead.

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Is Bolivia poised to swing back towards socialism?

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A year after the country’s first indigenous president was controversially ousted, his party is well placed to win a rerun presidential election

David Ticona Mamani felt despair and foreboding when Evo Morales was forced from his Andean homeland last November amid civil unrest, electoral meltdown and what supporters of Bolivia’s first indigenous president called a racist, rightwing coup.

“I wept,” remembered the 56-year-old lawyer, a fervent supporter of Morales and his Movimiento al Socialismo (Mas).

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Justin Trudeau hits back at China after threat to Canadians in Hong Kong

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Prime minister says Canada will ‘stand up loudly’ for human rights after China’s ambassador against welcoming Hong Kong pro-democracy activists

Canada will continue to defend human rights in China, prime minister Justin Trudeau has pledged, after a top Chinese diplomat warned Ottawa against welcoming Hong Kong pro-democracy activists.

China’s ambassador to Ottawa, Cong Peiwu, warned Canada on Thursday against granting asylum to Hong Kong activists, which he said could have consequences for the “health and security” for the 300,000 Canadians living in the theoretically autonomous Chinese territory.

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