South America

LIMA, May 8 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Peru’s Health Ministry officials reported this week the finding of a new lineage of the SARS.CoV-2 Omicron variant called BA.1.22.

“The new BA.1.22 lineage is a product of the natural evolution of the virus in the Peruvian population and has been identified mainly in the Tacna region, but cases have already been detected in Loreto, Arequipa, Moquegua, Puno, and Lima,” the ministry said in a statement.

GEORGETOWN, May 8 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his Guyana counterpart Mohamed Irfaan Ali signed a series of cooperation agreements on mutual legal assistance in civil and criminal matters in Georgetown.

The two leaders also discussed trade, investment, infrastructure, energy, defense, security, and regional and global issues as well.

MONTEVIDEO, May 6 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Uruguayan lawmakers have begun this week the debate to legalize euthanasia, despite opposition from the National Party of President Luis Lacalle Pou and the Catholic Church.

The Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide bill was first introduced in 2020, but no further action was taken due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BOGOTA, May 6 (NNN-EFE) — Colombia’s main criminal organization, the Clan del Golfo (Gulf Clan), on Thursday began a four-day “armed strike” in several provinces in protest over the extradition to the United States of its top leader, Dairo Antonio Usuga David, alias Otoniel, while police and the military are implementing a special security plan.

RIO DE JANEIRO/WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director last year told senior Brazilian officials that President Jair Bolsonaro should stop casting doubt on his country's voting system ahead of the October election, sources told Reuters.

BRASILIA, May 4 (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Russia never should have invaded Ukraine, but he believes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is as much to blame for the war as Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with Time magazine published on Wednesday, the leftist leader also said U.S. President Joe Biden could have done more to prevent the conflict instead of inciting it.

SANTIAGO, May 4 NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Chilean companies projected the country’s inflation will be “well above normal” in the next 12 months, according to a Business Perceptions Report, released by the Central Bank of Chile yesterday.

The report, which summarises opinions from companies across the country, said, although the effect of inflation on the companies’ performance has so far been insignificant, there is a general concern about its impact on household consumption decisions, and the possible effect on the companies’ future performance.

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 30 (Reuters) - Washington should make it clear to the "messianic" Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that any effort to undermine his country's elections would trigger multilateral sanctions, a newly retired U.S. State Department official wrote on Saturday.

CARACAS, April 30 (NNN-TELESUR) — Venezuela and Turkey signed on Friday eight new agreements in the framework of the third Joint Cooperation Commission between the two nations, which was held in Caracas, said the Vice President of Economy and Minister of Petroleum of this South American nation, Tareck El Aissami

QUITO, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso declared a state of emergency for 60 days starting from Friday in the coastal provinces of Guayas, Esmeraldas and Manabi, which have been plagued by delinquency and criminality related to drug trafficking.

Lasso announced the measure on Friday in a message broadcast live by the General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency through its official internet channels.