South America

20 May 2019; DW: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has found himself to be persona non grata in New York. And Brazil may encounter similar hostility elsewhere in the world as well while he remains leader.

What was meant to have been a glitzy New York ceremony that saw Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro awarded a "Person of the Year" prize ended up provoking a heated and prolonged bout of political mudslinging.

20 May 2019; DW: Gunmen have shot dead at least 11 people in a bar in Brazil. The incident occurred in the city of Belem, in the northern state of Para.

At least 11 people were killed in a "massacre" in Brazil's northern state of Para on Sunday, according to authorities.

Police told local media that seven gunmen arrived at a bar in three cars and on one motorcycle and opened fire. The perpetrators fled the scene. The incident took place in the region's largest city, Belem.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A gang of gunmen reportedly attacked a bar in the capital of Brazil’s northern Pará state Sunday afternoon, and authorities said 11 people were killed.

The state security agency confirmed late Sunday only that six women and five men died in the incident in the Guamá neighborhood of the Pará state capital, Belem.

The G1 news website said police reported that seven gunmen were involved in the attack, which also wounded one person. The news outlet said the attackers arrived at the bar on one motorcycle and in three cars.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving Venezuela’s crisis accelerated on Thursday as the government and opposition sent envoys to talks in Norway, though the two sides’ mutual mistrust and differences on key issues could prevent any quick solution.

The Norwegian attempt to mediate comes amid tensions that exploded in street violence when the opposition called in vain for a military uprising on April 30.

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 14 (Xinhua): The Sixth Panel of Brazil's Superior Court of Justice granted ex-President Michel Temer temporary release to await trial for corruption.

The former president was jailed on Thursday under an order of preventive arrest, which is an instrument of Brazilian law to ensure the arrest of an accused before trial in order to preserve evidence, avoid the threat to witnesses, and prevent the continuation of a crime.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several activists ignored a trespassing warning and remained holed up in Venezuela’s embassy in the United States on Tuesday, highlighting a dispute over who is the legitimate leader of the South American nation.

The activists, who consider socialist Nicolás Maduro to be the legitimate president, have protested inside the embassy in Washington for more than a month, sometimes chanting slogans from the windows of the red-brick building as opposition supporters heckle them from the street.

CARACAS, May 12 (Xinhua): U.S. sanctions against the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) have caused the suspension of health programs and affected patients in vulnerable situations, according to executive secretary of Venezuela's National Council of Human Rights.

In an interview with Xinhua, Larry Devoe, who is also the state agent for the International Human Rights System, said that the health programs, supported by PDVSA in conjunction with institutions in Italy and Argentina, have been blocked by the sanction measures taken by the U.S. government.

Caracas, May 10 (Prensa Latina) President Nicolas Maduro on Friday thanked the U.S. citizens who protect the see of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington and face aggressions from authorities of this country.

Through Twitter, the head of state assured that he admired the solidarity of the U.S. social movements that reject the interventionist actions of the United States against the Bolivarian territory.

SANTIAGO, May 11 (Xinhua): At least six people were killed and 30 others injured after a bus overturned in the La Araucania region of south-central Chile, according to the Pullman bus company that owns the vehicle on Saturday.

The accident occurred Saturday morning, claiming the lives of four women and two men, one of whom was a Paraguayan citizen, said Jose Silva, manager of corporate affairs.

Causes of the accident have yet to be determined, given the bus was currently on technical revisions, Silva told the electronic news site EMOL.

CARACAS, May 9 (Xinhua): With a prescription in his hand, Francisco Gonzalez, a night watchman whose wife was suffering from cancer, walked out of a private pharmacy in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

With the composure of someone who has become accustomed to the difficulties of finding medications, Gonzalez told Xinhua the medicines he needs "haven't been found for now."