South America

ASUNCION, March 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Paraguay’s President Mario Abdo Benitez announced a cabinet reshuffle after violent street protests over the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He announced new people would be appointed to the ministries of health, education, women’s issues, and civil affairs.

“I am sure that the men and women named will do their utmost to confront this moment of crisis that the country is enduring,” the president said on Saturday.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday said that emergency payments to aid the poor in the pandemic could vary from 150 reais to more than 300 reais ($26.36-$52.72), while a plan being considered in Congress provides for cash transfers of 250 reais.

“We made an agreement, if I’m not mistaken, of 42 billion reais for four months of installments of 250 (reais), on average,” he told supporters outside his official residence.

“Why on average? There’s a story of a single mother or I don’t know what, so it will vary from 150 to 300 reais and a bit.”

CARACAS, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Chief of Staff of the Strategic Operational Command of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) Admiral Remigio Ceballos on Friday launched military exercises to bolster Venezuela's defenses.

The drills were intended to pay tribute to former President Hugo Chavez on the eighth anniversary of his death on March 5, 2013.

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 5. /TASS/: Brazilian authorities are expecting to receive the first shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine no earlier than in April, a document published on the Health Ministry’s website Thursday notes.

It is noted that the contract is yet to be signed.

BRASILIA, March 3 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said he would suspend a tax on diesel fuel, to try and placate truckers, but the government would instead hike taxes on banks to offset lost revenue.

In a video posted to social media, Bolsonaro said the decree would suspend both the so-called PIS/Cofins tax on diesel and taxes on cooking gas for two months.

“The decrees should be published early Tuesday to zero cooking gas federal taxes and PIS/COFINS for diesel for 2 months,” he said.

CARACAS, March 2 (NNN-TELESUR) — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro announced that in-person classes will begin in April in compliance with biosecurity measures to prevent COVID-19 contagions.

The decision comes after a proposal submitted by Education Minister Aristobulo Isturiz. Classes will be held during the days when the COVID-19 quarantine is relaxed.

This month teachers will be included in the vaccination campaign which started immunizing medical personnel on Feb 18 following the arrival of Russian Sputnik V vaccines. 

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Tuesday he will stay in his post as long as he has the confidence of President Jair Bolsonaro.

Guedes’ relationship with Bolsonaro has come under scrutiny since the right-wing president pushed out the chief executive of state-run oil company Petrobras in February and threatened to interfere in other sectors of the economy.

Speaking to Primocast, a podcast focused on financial matters, Guedes said he would not be swayed by external pressures.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Argentina received the first batch of vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm on Thursday night.

Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers Santiago Cafiero was on hand to receive the shipment at the Ezeiza International Airport on the southern outskirts of the capital Buenos Aires.

Accompanying Cafiero were Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Sola and Health Minister Carla Vizzotti, as well as Chinese Ambassador to Argentina Zou Xiaoli.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll, which surpassed 250,000 on Thursday, is the world’s second-highest for the same reason its second wave has yet to fade: Prevention was never made a priority, experts say.

Since the pandemic’s start, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro scoffed at the “little flu” and lambasted local leaders for imposing restrictions on activity; he said the economy must keep humming along to prevent worse hardship.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Sixty-two inmates have died in riots at prisons in three cities in Ecuador as a result of fights between rival gangs and an escape attempt, authorities said Tuesday.

Prisons Director Edmundo Moncayo said in a news conference that 800 police offices have been helping to regain control of the facilities. Hundreds of officers from tactical units had been deployed since the clashes broke out late Monday.