South America

PUNTO FIJO, May 4 (Reuters) - More than half of the 22 oil tankers in Venezuela's fleet are so run down that they should be immediately repaired or taken out of service, according to an internal report from state-run oil company PDVSA that was shared exclusively with Reuters.

The report by PDVSA's maritime branch, entitled "Critical deficiencies and risks of PDV Marina's tanker fleet," said years of deferred maintenance had left the entire fleet with "low levels of reliability," at risk of spills, sinking, fires, collisions or flooding.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Jonathan Schmidt arrived at Federal Police headquarters in the center of Rio de Janeiro with a travel bag carrying a golden pistol and seven rifles, one peeking out of the zipper.

“I’m in love with guns,” said Schmidt. “I’d have over 2,000 if the government allowed.”

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s Federal Police searched former President Jair Bolsonaro’s home and seized his phone Wednesday in what they said was an investigation into alleged falsification of COVID-19 vaccine cards. Several other locations also were searched and a half-dozen people faced arrest, police said.

The president confirmed the search on his residence while speaking with reporters, as did his wife Michelle on her Instagram account. She said her phone wasn’t seized, contrary to media reports.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s federal police said Sunday they are investigating a shooting that killed one and wounded two Yanomami Indigenous people, saying the main suspects were illegal gold miners working in that area of Roraima state.

A police statement said in a statement that the incident took place Saturday and added that the government sent members of the Air force and the Indigenous issues agency FUNAI to help with the probe.

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — The long-governing Colorado Party remained the dominant force of Paraguayan politics as the vote count from Sunday’s election gave an overwhelming lead to its presidential candidate, Santiago Peña, with nearly all votes counted.

With almost 99% of voting places reporting, Peña had 43% of the vote, compared to 27% for the closest challenger, Efraín Alegre, the candidate of the Pact for a New Paraguay, a broad-based opposition coalition that had hoped to end Colorado’s reign.

ASUNCION, April 30 (Reuters) - Paraguayans began voting on Sunday in what could be the biggest electoral challenge to the ruling conservative Colorado Party in over a decade and with the country's long ties with Taiwan potentially at stake.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (1100 GMT) in what is expected to be a close contest between Colorado Party presidential candidate Santiago Pena, a 44-year-old economist, and 60-year-old political veteran Efrain Alegre, who is leading a broad center-left coalition and who promises a foreign policy shake-up.

LIMA, April 29 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Peru’s Foreign Ministry summoned Chilean ambassador Óscar Fuentes as thousands of Venezuelan migrants are trying to cross into the country from the southern border to “protest for the lack of collaboration shown by the Chilean police authorities” when a group tried to force their way into the country and circumvent the police checkpoints.

BRASILIA, April 29 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazilian authorities have sacked 28 military personnel and one civilian for their conduct during the Jan 8 uprising in Brasilia, Acting Institutional Security Cabinet (GSI) Minister Ricardo Cappelli announced in a statement.

Cappelli explained that the measure is part of the GSI renewal process determined by President Lula and said he was working to conclude in the shortest possible time an investigation to know the participation of public officials in the Jan 8 events. The deadline for closing this investigation is May 30.

BRASÍLIA (AP) — Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday granted official recognition of nearly 800 square miles of Indigenous lands, following through on a campaign promise in a move that also protects critical Amazon rainforest from commercial exploitation.

Lula recognized six ancestral lands. The two largest are in the Amazon, the world’s largest tropical forest and an important carbon sink that helps moderate climate change. The total area of recognized lands in the biome is 161,500 hectares (620 square miles).

BRASILIA, April 27 (NNN-XINHUA) — At least seven people were killed Wednesday in a shootout between police officers and suspected criminals planning to rob highway toll booths in Brazil’s Goias state, the state Military Police confirmed.

The incident took place in the early morning at a house in the town of Nova Gama, after the Military Police was alerted by intelligence services about the planned heist, according to the police.

Officers went to the address and found at least 12 people purportedly gathered to carry out the robbery.