South America

CARACAS, June 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is at the French Embassy in Caracas, the South American country’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said, three days after President Nicolas Maduro hinted that his rival was “in hiding” at a diplomatic location.

“We cannot enter the premises of any country’s embassy whatsoever, in this case Spain or France,” Arreaza said, adding that that meant an arrest by force “is not possible.”

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s death toll from the novel coronavirus has surged past 34,000 to become the third-highest in the world, surpassing Italy’s, according to official figures released Thursday.

The South American country reported a new record of 1,473 deaths in 24 hours, bringing its overall toll to 34,021, behind only the United States and Britain.

Brazil has now confirmed 614,941 infections, the health ministry said — the second-largest caseload in the world, behind the US.

02 June 2020; MEMO: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced yesterday his intention to make an official visit to Iran soon to sign a number of cooperation agreements, including those related to energy and defence.

“I am obliged to go to personally thank the people,” Maduro said in a state television address, reported Reuters.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro joined a rally on Sunday on horseback as supporters urged the closing of the Supreme Court for investigating the right-wing leader, as one of its justices compared the risks to Brazil’s democracy with Hitler’s Germany.

Deepening a political crisis during one of the world’s worst novel coronavirus outbreaks, Bolsonaro has slammed the top court for investigating his interference in police affairs and opening an inquiry into his supporters’ alleged libel and intimidation campaigns on social media.

CARACAS/MARACAY, Venezuela (Reuters) - Fuel shipped from Iran began arriving at Venezuela’s gasoline stations on Saturday, just hours before President Nicolas Maduro announced higher prices at the pump that are set to end more than two decades of almost-free gasoline.

As authorities in the country with the world’s cheapest gasoline got ready to expand retail sales under a system combining subsidies and international prices, the fifth cargo of an Iranian flotilla approached the Caribbean Sea and is expected to reach Venezuelan waters on Sunday, according to Refinitiv Eikon.

BRASILIA, May 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s northeast, a harsh place of arid land, cyclical drought and crushing poverty, is emerging as the next crisis zone in the coronavirus pandemic.

As the virus surges in Brazil – which now has the second-most cases in the world after the United States – the country’s poorest region has been hit hard, both by the disease and the painful measures taken to contain it.

The nine states of the northeast have the second-highest number of cases and deaths in Brazil, after the wealthy southeast, where the outbreak began.

BRASILIA, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP) will show a greater decline in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Brazilian Economy Ministry stated on Friday.

"The harmful effects on the health of the Brazilian population and our economy still persist. Therefore, the economic result of the activity will, in the second quarter, be even worse," the ministry said in a statement, predicting an increase in unemployment, bankruptcy, and poverty in the country.

BRASILIA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed a bill that provides financial aid to pandemic-hit states and cities, but vetoed part of it, according to Thursday's Government Gazette.

The financial aid takes various forms, including 60 billion reals (about 11 billion U.S. dollars) for states and cities in direct transfer and the suspension of debt payments to the central government.

BRASILIA, May 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil registered a new record in COVID-19 cases and more than 1,000 dead in a 24 hour period, according to official figures.

The South American country has the world’s second highest number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases — 438,238 — after the United States.

According to Health Ministry data, 26,417 new cases were confirmed in a 24 hour-period ending late Thursday.

28 May 2020; MEMO: The third Iranian oil tanker carrying gasoline and oil products arrived on Tuesday safely in Venezuela despite the United States’ threats to prevent the delivery.

Venezuela announced that Petunia entered its exclusive economic zone following the same route as the Fortune, which arrived earlier in the day, and the Forest, which was the first to arrive at the oil terminal.