Category Archives: Americas

Mexico suspends diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police raid embassy

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Ecuadorian police forcibly enter the embassy in Quito to detain former vice-president Jorge Glas

Mexico has suspended diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police forcibly broke into the country’s embassy in Quito to detain former Ecuadorian vice-president Jorge Glas, deepening a diplomatic rift between the two countries.

Glas, convicted twice for corruption, had been holed up in the embassy in Quito since seeking political asylum in December, arguing he was being persecuted by the attorney general’s office.

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Peru’s embattled president dismisses ‘Rolexgate’ investigation as a ‘smoke-screen’

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Dina Boluarte has denied wrongdoing after being accused of illicit enrichment in relation to her use of at least three Rolex watches and designer jewellery

Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte, has dismissed an investigation into her use of luxury watches as a “smoke-screen”, denying wrongdoing and saying that the items had been loaned to her, though she admitted to journalists that it was a “mistake” to have accepted them.

Earlier on Friday she faced closed-door questioning by prosecutors which lasted nearly five hours, amid allegations of illicit enrichment linked to her use of at least three Rolex watches and designer jewellery that appeared inconsistent with her modest monthly presidential salary of about £3,320 ($4,200).

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India and Pakistan tried to meddle in Canada elections, spy agency says

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CSIS intelligence report suggests growing number of countries targeting country’s large diaspora populations

Canada’s spy agency has declared that the governments of India and Pakistan probably attempted to meddle in its elections.

As a closely watched public inquiry investigates the scope of foreign interference, on Thursday night the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) released a report suggesting a growing number of countries see Canada – and particularly its large diaspora populations – as a target for subterfuge.

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‘I get emotional thinking about it’: US and Canada ready for total solar eclipse

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Cities expect huge crowds with millions gathering in 115-mile wide ‘path of totality’ for Monday’s exceptionally large and long eclipse

Should the weather gods grant their blessing, a celestial show for the ages will darken the heavens over a large swathe of the US from Texas to Maine on Monday, giving tens of millions of people a grandstand view of a rare phenomenon being billed as “the Great American Eclipse”.

It will be another 20 years until the next total solar eclipse can be viewed anywhere in the contiguous US, lending extra incentive for many who live outside the 115-mile wide “path of totality” to travel in and experience the moments of twilight, stillness and a sudden temperature drop the event will bring.

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Top UN expert warns of deteriorating situation in Haiti: ‘It’s apocalyptic’

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Human rights expert voices alarm, saying country is fast moving towards becoming ‘like Somalia in the worst of its times’

The UN’s top expert on human rights in Haiti has warned the Caribbean country is rapidly moving towards becoming “like Somalia in the worst of its times” after a criminal uprising which has displaced tens of thousands of people and largely cut its capital city off from the world.

Just over a month after the gang rebellion began, William O’Neill – an American human rights lawyer who has been travelling to Haiti for more than 30 years – voiced alarm over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Port-au-Prince.

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Global rainforest loss continues at rate of 10 football pitches a minute

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Despite major progress in Brazil and Colombia, deforestation led by farming still cleared an area nearly equal to Switzerland

The destruction of the world’s most pristine rainforests continued at a relentless rate in 2023, despite dramatic falls in forest loss in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, new figures show.

An area nearly the size of Switzerland was cleared from previously undisturbed rainforests last year, totalling 37,000 sq km (14,200 sq miles), according to figures compiled by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the University of Maryland. This is a rate of 10 football pitches a minute, often driven by more land being brought under agricultural cultivation around the world.

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Canada: Indigenous fishermen left to walk shoeless after officers seized boots

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Justin Trudeau says allegations ‘extremely troubling’ after officers arrested First Nations men and confiscated their boots and phones

Two First Nations fishermen have said they were forced to walk shoeless for hours in the dark and cold after Canadian federal officers seized their boots and phones.

The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said the allegations were “extremely troubling” amid mounting anger over the treatment of the Mi’kmaw fishermen, whose ordeal has prompted comparisons with the notorious “starlight tours” in which the police routinely abandoned Indigenous people in the bitter cold.

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Two local staff at Hungary embassy fired after Bolsonaro video leak – report

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Footage showing former president spent two nights apparently hiding from potential arrest at mission was leaked to media

The Hungarian embassy in Brasília has reportedly fired two Brazilian employees after the leaking of security footage that revealed how Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro had spent two nights “hiding” inside the mission.

According to the network CNN Brasil, the sackings were punishment for the embarrassing leak to the New York Times which prompted a political outcry in Brazil and calls for Bolsonaro’s arrest.

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Brazil apologizes to Indigenous people for persecution during dictatorship

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President of amnesty commission investigating crimes of 1964-85 regime makes first-ever apology to Indigenous leader

Brazil has issued its first-ever apology for the torture and persecution of Indigenous people during the military dictatorship, including the incarceration of victims in an infamous detention centre known as an “Indigenous concentration camp”.

The apology was made on Tuesday by an amnesty commission attached to the human rights ministry that is tasked with investigating the crimes of the 1964-85 regime.

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Candidate for mayor of Mexican city of Celaya killed on first day of campaign

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Bertha Gisela Gaytán is one of at least 22 mayoral candidates murdered in Mexico since September 2023

A candidate running to be mayor in one of Mexico’s most violent cities has been killed on the first day of her campaign, adding to the death toll in what experts say could be the country’s bloodiest elections in history.

Bertha Gisela Gaytán was shot in a town just outside of the city of Celaya, where she was running for Morena, Mexico’s governing party. A video on social media shows a group of activists and supporters of Morena walking through the streets before shots ring out.

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Peru president Dina Boluarte under pressure amid ‘Rolexgate’ scandal

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President under investigation over allegedly owning jewellery worth $500,000 despite earning a monthly salary of $3,320

Peru’s first female president, Dina Boluarte, is embroiled in a scandal over her alleged possession of a collection of Rolex watches and luxury jewellery that has put her at the centre of a corruption investigation.

The unpopular leader shook up her cabinet on Monday, swearing in six new ministers, after a rash of resignations following reports that she owned jewellery worth £400,000 ($502,700) despite earning a monthly presidential salary of around $3,320.

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Let the music play: Mexico beach bands victorious after noise complaints

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Hotel owner in Mazatlán had suggested limiting the time or places where the bands could play after complaints from foreign tourists

Bands who play the thumping tuba-and-drums songs of northern Mexico on beaches in the resort city of Mazatlán appear to have emerged victorious this week after noise complaints had threatened to silence them.

But anybody who planned to witness the 8 April eclipse in a moment of awed silence will likely be disappointed. Mazatlán, on the Pacific coast, will be first place in North America where the path of totality will be visible.

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Venezuela arrests YouTuber for ‘terrorism’ amid pre-election crackdown

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Detention of influencer Oscar Alejandro Pérez at Caracas airport en route to southern national park raises free speech concerns

A popular Venezuelan YouTuber has been arrested in Caracas on terrorism charges as President Nicolás Maduro’s government steps up its crackdown on free speech ahead of upcoming elections.

Oscar Alejandro Pérez was detained in the capital’s main airport on Sunday by police on accusations of terrorism, his family said.

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Two men in Haiti suspected of buying weapons for gangs lynched by mob

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Killings underscore how outnumbered police are in Haiti after months of attacks and kidnappings by gangs

Two men in Haiti were hacked to death by a mob who thought they were buying weapons for gangs, police said Saturday.

Police confirmed the crowd snatched the men from police custody after they were found with about $20,000 (£16,000) and the equivalent of about $43,000 in Haitian cash in their car, along with two pistols and a box of ammunition.

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Home of Peru’s president raided in search of luxury watches

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The government criticised the move, with the country’s prime minister calling it ‘disproportionate and unconstitutional’

Peru’s government on Saturday criticised the raid on the home of its president, Dina Boluarte, as part of inquiries into possible illicit enrichment and failure to declare ownership of luxury watches as “disproportionate and unconstitutional”.

Police broke down the door of Boluarte’s residence early on Saturday morning, television images showed, apparently after calls by officials to allow them access to search for evidence went unanswered.

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Niagara region declares emergency to prepare for eclipse viewers

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Total solar eclipse on 8 April will be first to touch province since 1979, and Niagara Falls is declared one of the best places to view

The region of Canada surrounding the city that contains a side of – and shares a name with – Niagara Falls has declared a state of emergency as it prepares to welcome up to a million visitors for the solar eclipse in early April.

The total solar eclipse on 8 April will be the first to touch the province since 1979, and Niagara Falls was declared by National Geographic to be one of the best places to see it.

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Lula dismays relatives of dictatorship’s victims by ignoring coup anniversary

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Brazil’s president has nixed commemorations of the 1964 coup, possibly to avoid irking the military as senior officers facing jail for allegedly conspiring to stop Lula taking power after 2022 election

Relatives of the victims of Brazil’s brutal two-decade dictatorship have voiced anger and dismay over President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s reported decision to block official remembrance events marking the 60th anniversary of the 1964 military coup d’état.

Activists had hoped the leftist’s government would mark the 31 March 2024 anniversary of that power-grab with a series of memorials honouring the thousands who were killed, disappeared or tortured by the 1964-85 regime.

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Bolivian Indigenous groups assert claim to treasure of ‘holy grail of shipwrecks’

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Descendants of miners who dug up gold, silver and emeralds worth billions call on Colombia to halt plan to lift cargo

Indigenous communities in Bolivia have objected to Colombia’s plans to recover the remains of an 18th-century galleon believed to be carrying gold, silver and emeralds worth billions, calling on Spain and Unesco to step in and halt the project.

Colombia hopes to begin recovering artefacts from the wreck of the San José in the coming months but the Caranga, Chicha and Killaka peoples in Bolivia propose that the galleon and its contents should be considered “common and shared patrimony”.

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Macron rekindles France-Brazil relationship in widely memed Lula visit

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Photos of French president’s three-day trip to Brazil to reaffirm countries’ partnership delight internet observers

If the official photos are anything to go by, Emmanuel Macron’s three-day trip to Brazil has been more romantic getaway than international diplomacy.

The French president, who ended his tour of the South American country on Thursday with a state visit to the capital, Brasília, prompted online hilarity after the publication of photos showing him being particularly chummy with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

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‘Potentially serious impropriety’: Labour questions Johnson’s Venezuela meeting

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Former PM’s meeting with President Maduro, in capacity as hedge fund consultant, is under further scrutiny

Labour is demanding answers over what the party said was “potentially serious impropriety” by Boris Johnson after it emerged that the former prime minister met the Venezuelan president in his role as a consultant for a hedge fund.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, said in a letter to Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister and Cabinet Office minister, that there were concerns that Johnson may have breached the ministerial code.

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