South America

4 April 2020; AFP: The European Union on Friday welcomed a US plan for a transitional government in Venezuela and subsequent lifting of economic sanctions.

Washington last month suggested that both hard left President Nicolas Maduro and his rival Juan Guaido -- previously backed by the US -- step aside in favour of a transitional administration made up of members of both their parties.

4 April 2020; AFP: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's disapproval rating has surged as the far-right leader has taken a vocal stance against coronavirus containment measures, two polls out Friday found.

Bolsonaro, who has compared COVID-19 to a "bit of sniffles" and criticized the "hysteria" around it, has found himself increasingly isolated on the issue as the pandemic advances.

Thirty-nine percent of Brazilians disapprove of his handling of the crisis, up six points from two weeks ago, polling firm Datafolha found.

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 1 (NNN-Xinhua) — The number of deaths caused by the novel coronavirus in Brazil has hit 201 with a rise of 42 in 24 hours, the country’s health ministry announced on Tuesday.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased 1,138 on Monday to 5,717.

The figures released on Tuesday mark a record rise in both deaths and new cases, the health ministry said.

The novel coronavirus spread quickly in Brazil: from the first case to the 5,000-case mark, only 35 days passed.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Like every Sunday, Brazilian Pastor Silas Malafaia took the stage of his Pentecostal temple in a middle-class Rio de Janeiro neighborhood. But this week, he wore a T-shirt instead of a blazer and, behind the three cameras broadcasting to his legion of YouTube followers, were thousands of empty seats.

BRASILIA, March 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two tweets by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in which he questioned quarantine measures aimed at containing the coronavirus were removed, on the grounds that they violated the social network’s rules.

The far-right leader had posted several videos in which he flouted his government’s social distancing guidelines by mixing with supporters on the streets of Brasilia and urging them to keep the economy going.

Two of the posts were removed Sunday and replaced with a notice explaining why they had been taken down.

BUENOS-AIRES, March 29. /TASS/: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday that another Russian plane is to arrive to the republic in the coming days, carrying humanitarian assistance needed to tackle the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"A Russian military plane with equipment, sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin, will arrive in the coming days," Maduro told Venezolana de Television.

According to Maduro, his country has received various medical equipment and goods from China and was expecting more aid to come.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Even as coronavirus cases mount in Latin America’s largest nation, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has staked out the most deliberately dismissive position of any major world leader, calling the pandemic a momentary, minor problem and saying strong measures to contain it are unnecessary.

Bolsonaro says his response to the disease matches that of President Donald Trump in the U.S., but the Brazilian leader has gone further, labeling the virus as “a little flu” and saying state governors’ aggressive measures to halt the disease were crimes.

RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday cast doubt on Sao Paulo’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak and accused the state governor of manipulating the numbers for political ends, without giving evidence for his claims.

Bolsonaro’s accusations were the latest broadside in an ugly battle with Brazil’s governors, who have chafed at the president’s view that protecting the economy takes priority over social distancing measures to combat the spread of the highly contagious virus.

CARACAS, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela’s armed forces reaffirmed their support for President Nicolas Maduro after the US Justice Department charged him with “narco-terrorism” and offered a $15 million reward for his capture.

In a statement read out on state television, armed forces chief Admiral Remigio Ceballos said the army categorically rejected “the extravagant and extremist accusations” against Maduro.

CARACAS, March 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Venezuela’s first communications satellite, launched in 2008, is out of service due to a systems failure, the country’s government said.

“Due to a failure, the Simon Bolivar satellite is no longer working for communication,” said the science and technology minister in a statement, without giving further details.

On Monday, the US-based news site Space News reported that VeneSat1 — the satellite’s other name — “has been stuck for 10 days in an elliptical orbit,” after a “series of maneuvers left it tumbling in an unusable orbit.”