South America

26 April 2020; AFP: Seventeen police officers in Peru have died after contracting novel coronavirus while enforcing the nation's pandemic lockdown, officials and state media said.

Authorities admitted earlier this week that at least 1,300 officers had been infected by COVID-19.

On Saturday new interior minister Gaston Rodriguez, who was sworn in a day earlier after the sudden resignation of his predecessor when the infections tally emerged, said: "We have 17 deceased police officers nationwide, 11 of them in Lima."

LIMA, April 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Seventeen police officers in Peru have died after contracting novel coronavirus while enforcing the nation’s pandemic lockdown, officials and state media said.

Authorities admitted earlier this week that at least 1,300 officers had been infected by COVID-19.

On Saturday new interior minister Gaston Rodriguez, who was sworn in a day earlier after the sudden resignation of his predecessor when the infections tally emerged, said: “We have 17 deceased police officers nationwide, 11 of them in Lima.”

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Minister of Justice and Public Security Sergio Moro resigned from office on Friday, accusing President Jair Bolsonaro of trying to interfere in Federal Police investigations.

On Thursday, local media G1 reported that President Bolsonaro had called for the dismissal of the head of the Federal Police, Mauricio Valeixo. Moro reportedly said he would not fire Valeixo without good reason and threatened to quit. The government on Friday morning announced Valeixo's dismissal, and Moro subsequently announced his resignation.

25 April 2020; AFP: The price of Venezuelan oil has fallen to below $10 a barrel -- its lowest level in more than two decades, the government said on Friday.

The oil ministry said the price between Monday and Friday was 70.62 Chinese yuan -- $9.90 a barrel -- a level that has not been seen since 1998 when it was $9.28.

Since 2017, the government of President Nicolas Maduro has announced its oil prices in yuan rather than dollars in protest over US sanctions.

BUENOS AIRES, Apr 25 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Prisoners in a federal prison in the Villa Devoto district of Argentina, set fire to mattresses and threw stones, chairs, and metal parts, from the roof of the detention centre, onto the police on the ground, images on TN television showed.

A banner read: “We refuse to die in prison.”

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Cases of the new coronavirus are overwhelming hospitals, morgues and cemeteries across Brazil as Latin America’s largest nation veers closer to becoming one of the world’s pandemic hot spots.

Medical officials in Rio de Janeiro and at least four other major cities have warned that their hospital systems are on the verge of collapse, or already too overwhelmed to take any more patients.

LIMA, April 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peru will release under amnesty about 3,000 prisoners including those who are particularly at risk from the coronavirus pandemic, the justice minister has said.

The disease has killed at least seven inmates, and infected more than 40 in Peru’s overcrowded prisons along with 26 wardens.

“We are going to amnesty approximately 3,000 detainees who fall into the groups vulnerable to the coronavirus,” Minister Fernando Castaneda said on the ATV channel.

He said the government would issue a decree on Thursday formalizing the measure.

MONTEVIDEO, April 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of coronavirus infections across Latin America surpassed 100,000 on Sunday with nearly 5,000 deaths, according to official figures reported by individual countries.

Brazil, with a population of 210 million, has the most cases — 38,654 infections and 2,462 deaths — although experts believe the number of infections to be far greater, given relatively little testing.

Based on official figures, Latin America as a whole had 100,952 cases on Sunday, with 4,924 deaths.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Seated in a wheelchair at one of Peru’s oldest hospitals, 84-year-old Emma Salvador struggled for each breath, aided by an oxygen mask pinching her face. Her son fanned her with folded sheets of paper, wishing he could do more.

“Seeing her in such pain is what overwhelms me,” said José Gonzalez, 57, who confessed fearing that the worst outcome awaited his mother, while encouraging her to drink some water.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday called for the reopening of the country’s borders, as he pushes to restart South America’s largest economy, but conceded he may be blamed if the new coronavirus outbreak worsens as a result.

Bolsonaro fired his health minister on Thursday after clashing with him over lockdown measures, which the president argues are overly damaging to the economy and should be rolled back.