South America

CARACAS, July 9 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Venezuela’s flag carrier Conviasa has announced it will halt its Caracas-Buenos Aires route at least until September in light of the refueling problems all its aircraft face for belonging to a company blacklisted by the US Treasury.

 The decision came in the aftermath of the seizing of the Emtrasur Boeing 747-300 at Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza airport. Emtrasur is a Conviasa cargo subsidiary and the airplane was previously registered under Iran’s Mahan Air, also linked to terrorist activities.

BUENOS AIRES, July 8 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Argentina’s Defense Minister Jorge Taiana and a team of top-ranking Navy officers are on a trip to Europe to hold talks with several shipyards for the purchase of a new submarine to replace the ARA San Juan, it was reported.

 Five years after the sinking of the ARA San Juan in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean due to faulty maintenance, Taiana left for France and Germany this week to hold meetings with shipyard managers and also to discuss joint military cooperation in the face of the Ukrainian War context.

SAO PAULO, July 5 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced that the total investments of Arab funds in Brazil are approaching US$20 billion, half of that money stemming from the country’s recent participation at the Expo Dubai event.

BRASILIA, July 4 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE) reached an agreement with the Montevideo-based Parliament of Mercosur (Parlasur) to act as an external observer of the Oct 2 presidential elections.

The deal provides for representatives of Parlasur to observe compliance with electoral rules, the stages of the electoral process, and impartiality in the organization of the election.

CARACAS, July 4 (NNN-TELESUR) — The Venezuelan Government denounced a new sabotage to the National Electric System (SEN), which affected several sectors of the capital, Caracas, and informed that investigations are being carried out to bring those responsible to justice.

In a message published through the social network Twitter, the sectorial vice-president of Public Works and Services and Minister of Electric Energy, Néstor Reverol, said that there was a failure in the Pan-American Substation due to the explosion of a power transformer.

BOGOTA, July 4 (NNN-EFE) — Colombian authorities extradited the sister of the alleged leader of the Clan del Golfo crime gang to the United States, where she is wanted for laundering proceeds from drug trafficking, the National Police said in a statement.

The 39-year-old Nini Johana Usuga David, alias “La Negra,” is accused of belonging to a transnational drug-trafficking organization and also of “bolstering the illicit revenues” that the Clan del Golfo – Colombia’s most powerful criminal outfit – received from the drug trade, that law enforcement agency added.

SAO PAULO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- A new case of monkeypox has been confirmed in Brazil, bringing the total number in the country to 76, the Ministry of Health reported on Sunday.

The case, discovered in the Federal District of Brasilia, involves a man in his 30s who had recently traveled abroad.

The patient is in isolation and monitored by medical professionals.

The ministry added that it had requested the Center for Strategic Information in Health Surveillance to collect all data on monkeypox cases in the country.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — If Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is to have any hope of securing a second term, he needs more female support – and fast. Yet a man famed for macho bravado hasn’t shown any concerted strategy to do so.

BOGOTA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Two new cases of monkeypox were detected in Colombia, bringing the total number of cases in the country to five, local health authorities reported on Saturday.

The new cases were two related adults, one of whom had recently arrived from Europe and infected the other, said Bogota's Secretary of Health Alejandro Gomez, adding the two patients are currently in isolation, with their care managed on an outpatient basis.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s economy minister resigned unexpectedly Saturday, dealing a fresh blow to the government of President Alberto Ferández as the country struggles with economic problems.

Martín Guzmán stepped down after a week in which Argentina’s currency hit an all-time low against the dollar amid sizzling inflation and truck drivers staged protests over shortages of diesel fuel.

No successor was immediatlely announced.