South America

BOGOTA, June 7 (NNN-TELESUR) — Colombia’s Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) reported the assassination of Jose Alonso, a social leader from Tulua in the Valle del Cauca Department.

The 56-year-old Alonso was a signatory of the 2016 Peace Accord between the Colombian state and the then Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The social leader was killed in La Moralia by a group of armed men while he was on his way to the Naranjal area.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — The daughter of an imprisoned former president was leading the race for Peru’s presidency late Sunday, hours after polls closed in a runoff election held as the coronavirus pandemic continues to batter the Andean country.

With 42% of votes tallied, conservative Keiko Fujimori had 52.9% of the vote, while rural teacher-turned-political novice Pedro Castillo had 47%, according to official results. This is Fujimori’s third run for president, a role her father held in the 1990s.

CONSTITUCION, Chile, Jun 6 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – An earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.4, jolted 159 km west-northwest of Constitucion, Chile, at 03:05 GMT yesterday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicentre, with a depth of 9.57 km, was initially determined to be at 34.8649 degrees south latitude, and 74.0704 degrees west longitude.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian voters will choose between two polarizing populist candidates Sunday in a presidential runoff held as the coronavirus pandemic continues to batter the Andean country and festering anger has led to fears of more political stability.

SAO PAULO, Jun 3 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil reported 2,408 more deaths from COVID-19, taking the nationwide tally to 465,199, the Ministry of Health said.

A total of 78,926 new infections were detected, raising the caseload to 16,624,480, the ministry said.

Brazil has the world’s second highest COVID-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third largest caseload, behind the United States and India.

The South American country is experiencing a new wave of infections, with hospitals overwhelmed by patients.

SANTIAGO, Jun 1 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Chile’s unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent over the Feb to Apr three-month period, marking an annual increase of 1.2 percentage points, as a result of pandemic lockdown measures, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) said yesterday.

According to the INE’s latest National Employment Survey, unemployment during the period was due to a 0.2 percent decrease in the workforce.

BOGOTA, May 31 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Five policemen died, after the helicopter in which they were travelling crashed, in a rural area of the Colombian department of Bolivar, yesterday, Colombian President, Ivan Duque, said.

“We deeply regret the death of five heroes of our Colombian Police, attached to the Anti-Narcotics Police, in the helicopter accident that occurred in the municipality of Cantagallo, south of Bolivar, in events that are under investigation,” the president wrote on Twitter.

SAO PAULO, May 31 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil reported 2,012 more deaths from COVID-19, raising the national count to 461,057, the Ministry of Health said.

A total of 79,670 more infections were detected, raising the nationwide tally to 16,471,600, the ministry said.

Brazil has the world’s second highest COVID-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third largest caseload, following the United States and India.

BOGOTA, May 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Colombian army tightened its control over Cali, the country’s third largest city, after the latest anti-government protests left at least 13 people dead.

The city’s streets were largely deserted after clashes late Friday pitted police against armed civilians. The country is in the second month of protests against the government of President Ivan Duque.

MONTEVIDEO, May 30 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Uruguayan scientists have reported the appearance of a case of mucormycosis, or “black fungus”, a rare infection that began to be reported in India as a disease associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

Professor Henry Albornoz indicated that he was treating a man under 50 years of age and with diabetes, who about ten days after the infection with covid-19 began to present necrosis (tissue death) in the mucosa area and that, by means of a laboratory test, it was confirmed that he had also been infected with the “black fungus.”