South America

BRASILIA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday hailed the upcoming launch of Sino-Brazilian satellite CBERS-4A from a base in Taiyuan, capital city of northern China's Shanxi province.

"This coming 20th (of December), the CBERS-4A satellite, as well as the Floripasat nanosatellite, will be launched from China for diverse surveillance purposes," Bolsonaro said via Twitter.

The CBERS-4A, built in part with Brazilian technology, "is part of a cooperation agreement with China dating from 1988," the president added.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile’s air force lost radio contact with a transport plane carrying 38 people on a flight Monday evening to the country’s base in Antarctica, and authorities indicated several hours later that they were not optimistic about the aircraft’s fate.

The military said earlier that it had declared an alert and activated search and rescue teams.

The C-130 Hercules carried 17 crew members and 21 passengers, including three civilians. The personnel were to check on a floating fuel supply line and other equipment at the Chilean base.

LIMA, Dec 9 (NNN-XINHUA) — Peruvian authorities have arrested 27 members of the military, including high-ranking officials, on suspicion of stealing fuel between 2013 and 2018, local media reported Sunday.

An investigation led to the preliminary 10-day arrests of generals Augusto Villarroel, Carlos Mayca and Moises Chavez, and 24 other officers and army men, state news agency Andina said.

7 December 2019; AFP: Protesters clashed with police as thousands took to the streets of Chile's capital Friday for a demonstration that marked 50 days since the outbreak of the country's worst civil unrest in decades.

Furious Chileans have for weeks been protesting social and economic inequality, and against an entrenched political elite that comes from a small number of the wealthiest families in the country, among other issues.

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez unveiled his cabinet and new central bank chief on Friday evening, laying out his core team days before the centre-left leader takes office facing a stalled economy, rising debt fears and painful inflation.

Fernandez named Martin Guzman, 37, as economy minister, who will need to help steer debt restructuring negotiations with international creditors and the International Monetary Fund over around $100 billion (£78billion) in sovereign debt.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday denied his administration has purposely devalued the currency to boost exports, as his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump has alleged.

"We are not artificially raising the price of the dollar," Bolsonaro told reporters.

On Monday, Trump said via Twitter he wanted to reimpose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Argentina and Brazil to compensate for their devaluing their currencies, presumably to better compete in the international market.

CARACAS, Dec 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — Venezuela denounced a handful of countries for using the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for “political” ends.

Writing on Twitter, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza said that the country “rejects the political use of the mechanisms of the UNHRC,” given the creation of a fact-finding mission by the UNHRC to investigate alleged human rights abuses in the South American country.

SANTIAGO, Dec 3 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — Many Chileans are wondering just how much further Chilean President Sebastian Piñera’s popularity can fall, after polls revealed the lowest approval ratings for a president since the country’s return to democracy.

BOGOTA, Dec 3 (NNN-Prensa Latina) — Colombia is currently facing another week of anti-government protests as a reflection of social unrest and rejection of policies implemented by the Executive.

Since the massive national strike of Nov 21, mobilizations, rallies, pot-banging protests and other actions take place in the main cities of the country, in which social organizations and the people in general demand deep reforms in areas such as education, health, environment and security.

PARAMARIBO, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse has been sentenced to 20 years in prison over the execution of 15 political opponents in 1982.

Bouterse, 74, is currently on an official visit in China and will have two weeks to appeal against the conviction.

He was found guilty of planning and ordering the extrajudicial execution of 15 political prisoners.

The president has previously denied the allegations.