South America

BRASILIA, July 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's prosecutor general has requested an investigation of President Jair Bolsonaro over his conduct in negotiations to acquire an Indian COVID-19 vaccine, which has been steeped in scandal, according to a copy of the request seen by Reuters.

The request from the prosecutor will have to be approved by Supreme Court Justice Rosa Weber and comes in response to a request from senators. The senators asked for an investigation over alleged corruption in the acquisition of vaccines.

WASHINGTON, June 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday met with advisers and experts on voting rights after he vowed to further address the issue in wake of Democratic defeat in the Senate on a major bid for related reforms, according to a White House readout released Tuesday.

The group "discussed anti-voter legislation that has been proposed or recently passed by state legislatures, legislation pending before Congress, and recent actions taken by the Department of Justice to protect the right to vote," the White House said in the statement.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s president is sending troops back to the Amazon to bolster policing against logging and other illegal land clearance, acting amid international criticism of a surge in deforestation and just two months after withdrawing a similar military mission.

BUENOS AIRES, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The Argentine government on Sunday called for national unity to overcome the pandemic, as it mourned more than 92,000 people who died from COVID-19 in the country.

"We are here to remember each of the people who were fatal victims of the pandemic. Each of them had a name, a life," said Argentine President Alberto Fernandez during a ceremony held at the Kirchner Cultural Center of Buenos Aires.

BOGOTA, June 25 (Reuters) - A helicopter carrying Colombia's President Ivan Duque and others was struck by multiple bullets in an attack on Friday, he said in a video message.

The incident took place while the president's helicopter was flying through Colombia's Catatumbo region toward the city of Cucuta, capital of the country's Norte de Santander province, Duque said.

"What's clear is that this is a cowardly attack where bullet holes can be seen in the presidential aircraft," Duque said.

BRASÍLIA, June 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A magistrate on Brazil’s Supreme Court annulled two more cases against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that had been brought by former judge Sergio Moro, who had previously been deemed by the same court to have been “biased” in convicting and jailing the iconic leftist leader.

The latest ruling invalidates all the evidence collected by Moro, meaning the trial process will have to start again from scratch.

CARACAS, June 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela received its first shipment of doses of Cuba’s Abdala coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, the South American country’s vice president said, while slamming wealthy countries for “sabotaging” the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme.

Authorities did not specify how many doses had arrived from Cuba, but did say that Venezuela had signed a contract to purchase 12 million doses of the shot. Cuba said earlier this week that the three-shot Abdala vaccine had proved 92.28 per cent effective in last-stage clinical trials.

BRASILIA, June 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s controversial environment minister, Ricardo Salles, announced his resignation on Wednesday, just over a month after the Supreme Court ordered an investigation into allegations he was involved in a timber trafficking scheme.

“I have presented my resignation to the president, which he accepted,” Salles, 46, told a news conference at the presidential palace in Brasilia.

BUENOS AIRES, June 23 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Governments of Mexico and Argentina recalled their respective ambassadors in Managua, where Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is undertaking a dubious campaign towards his reelection by having his political challengers arrested.

Last week, the Organization of American States (OAS) passed a resolution condemning such practices in Nicaragua but such a decision has not endorsed Mexico and Buenos Aires, who abstained.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia reached 100,000 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 this week, becoming just the tenth country in the world to hit the grim milestone.

The South American nation of 50 million has been registering a growing number of daily cases since April and over the past seven days it had the world’s third-highest per capita death rate from COVID-19, according to data published by Oxford University.