South America

MONTEVIDEO, Aug 31 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Authorities from Uruguay and Brazil defense authorities have held bilateral meetings towards coordinating joint efforts along the border between the two countries to carry out operations against drug trafficking and organized crime in the area.

 Uruguay’s Minister of the Interior, Luis Alberto Heber, explained that the encounters with officials from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul aimed at “sharing the problems both sides” have regarding these issues.

BRASILIA, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has maintained his lead in the polls ahead of the October general elections.

Lula, who represents the Workers' Party, holds 42.3 percent of voter support, while current President Jair Bolsonaro of the conservative Liberal Party has 34.1 percent, according to the latest poll released Tuesday by the MDA Survey Institute and commissioned by the National Transport Confederation.

29 August 2022; AA: Colombia will formerly reestablish diplomatic relations with Venezuela as of Monday after years of tensions.

Colombian Ambassador Armando Benedetti, appointed by new President Gustavo Petro, arrived in Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Sunday to present his credentials to President Nicolas Maduro.

The new ambassador will have as a priority the reestablishment of diplomatic and commercial ties between the two countries after three years of deteriorating relations.

SANTIAGO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Chilean authorities warned that the area around a copper mine where a sinkhole suddenly appeared is at high risk of further collapse and has set up a security perimeter.

Government agencies and the mine's owners are studying what caused the appearance in late July of the mysterious hole that spans 36.5 meters (120 feet) in diameter.

LA PAZ, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Bolivia accumulated 55 monkeypox cases in less than a month after the first infection was recorded, with an average of two cases per day, the Ministry of Health and Sports announced Friday.

Three new cases were registered in the department of Santa Cruz, bringing the overall figure in that region to 47, with one recovery.

The department with the second most cases was Cochabamba with five, followed by La Paz with three, and Potosi with one.

BRASILIA, Aug 27 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) cleared the Health Ministry to import and use the Jynneos / Imvanex vaccine and the drug Tecovirimat, both against monkeypox.

The vaccine known as Jynneos in the United States or Imvanex in countries under the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is a smallpox vaccine and monkeypox, modified vaccinia virus, Ankara strain, it was explained. It is manufactured by the Bavarian Nordic laboratory in Denmark and Germany.

SANTIAGO, Aug 27 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Chile’s President Gabriel Boric Font accepted the resignation of Minister of Social Development, Jeannette Vega, after she was found to have tried to contact a Mapuche leader arrested earlier this week for acts of violence.

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Argentine authorities seized 1.6 tons of cocaine hidden in animal feed destined for Dubai and detained 12 people, police said on Friday.

The seizure, which took place overnight from Thursday to Friday in the central city of Rosario, highlights the role played by Argentine ports in trafficking South American drugs internationally.

The cocaine “is worth approximately $60 million,” said Mariano Giuffra, head of the dangerous drugs department in the federal police.

The arrests took place at various sites around the country.

BARRETOS, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro traveled to Latin America’s biggest rodeo — a bubble of staunch support — to connect with voters from the countryside ahead of October’s vote.

BRASILIA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday he has authorized Minister of Mines and Energy Adolfo Sachsida to consider the privatization of oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) next year, if the president is re-elected in October.

"Sachsida has this idea. I gave him the green light to discuss privatization of Petrobras next year," Bolsonaro said in an interview on Jovem Pan, a television and radio station.