South America

CARACAS, February 7. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, the last leg of his tour of Latin American countries, a TASS correspondent reported. Lavrov has already made visits to Cuba and Mexico.

Venezuelan top diplomat Jorge Arreaza welcomed Lavrov and other members of the Russian delegation at the airport. The Russian foreign minister is expected to meet with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and hold talks with Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

Lavrov last visited Venezuela in August 2011.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Thursday Rogerio Marinho will replace Gustavo Canuto as regional development minister.

Marinho previously served as secretary of labor and social security at the Ministry of Economy.

"I am sure he will do a brilliant job and will continue Canuto's work," said Bolsonaro in his weekly live stream video on social media.

Canuto will preside over Dataprev, a state-owned company which manages data processing for the social security system.

6 February 2020; AFP: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday introduced a controversial bill that opens up indigenous lands, many of them in the Amazon, to mining, agricultural activities and hydraulic energy production.

The far-right president described the measure, which still needs approval in Congress, as a "dream" while indigenous leaders have labeled it a "genocide bill."

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó wraps up an international tour with a rally in Miami on Super Bowl weekend with the looming question whether the opposition leader can score an important meeting with President Donald Trump.

Guaidó’s ability to win face time with Trump in a symbolically important meeting will test the young political leader’s standing with his most important international ally.

BELO HORIZONTE (Brazil), Jan 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Another torrential downpour left the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte paralyzed, with ruined cars abandoned on streets cake with mud, as the death toll from days of violent weather reached 54.

Another 47,000 people across Minas Gerais, the southeastern state where the city is located, have been forced from their homes since the rains began on Friday, civil defense officials said.

Tuesday evening’s downpour was nothing short of spectacular: 117 millimeters of water in three hours.

BELO HORIZONTE (Brazil), Jan 29 (NNN-XINHUA) — Severe flooding has left a total of 52 people dead in southeast Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, the state civil defense agency said.

One person remains missing, 65 have been injured, 28,893 displaced and 4,397 left homeless, the agency said in a statement.

Since torrential rains began lashing the region on Friday, authorities have declared a state of emergency in 101 towns, several of which have been totally devastated by floods.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in heavy rainfall in southeast Brazil continued to mount, reaching 37 fatal victims, civil defense authorities said Sunday.

Minas Gerais state Civil Defense officials said torrential rains Friday, mainly in the capital Belo Horizonte and the metropolitan area have also left 21 people missing.

Another 12 people have been injured, while 13,687 have had to evacuate and 3,354 have been left homeless.

Gov. Romeu Zema overflew flooded areas and pledged to send humanitarian aid.

LIMA, Jan 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Peru’s Keiko Fujimori-led opposition suffered a crushing blow at legislative elections on Sunday, losing dozens of seats in the Congress it had dominated since 2016, according to early results.

According to a rapid count by the Ipsos research firm, Fujimori’s Popular Force party’s share of the vote has dropped from 36.3 percent in 2016 to just 6.9 percent.

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia’s interim President Jeanine Anez said on Friday that she will be a candidate in upcoming elections that will serve as a re-run of October’s disputed vote that sparked protests and prompted former leader Evo Morales to resign.

The former Senator announced her candidacy at an event in La Paz, despite previously having suggested she would not run, saying she wanted to help unite a fragmented electorate and a country left sharply divided by the recent political upheaval.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The warden in charge when Jeffrey Epstein ended his life in his jail cell is being moved to a leadership position at another federal correctional facility, putting him back in the field with inmates despite an ongoing investigation into the financier’s death, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.