South America

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A police officer on patrol was attacked and burned to death by protesters in the Peruvian region of Puno as the death toll from demonstrations in the wake of the ouster of former President Pedro Castillo rose to 47, authorities said Tuesday.

José Luis Soncco Quispe, 29, was on patrol with a fellow officer in Juliaca, a city near the border with Bolivia and Lake Titicaca, on Monday night when they were attacked by a mob that later set fire to their vehicle, according to police reports.

LIMA/JULIACA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed in clashes with police in southern Peru, the country's human rights office said on Monday, the deadliest day so far of protests demanding early elections and the release of jailed former president Pedro Castillo.

The clashes occurred in Juliaca, a city near the banks of Lake Titicaca in southern Peru's Puno region, and left 68 people injured, Henry Rebaza, a Puno health ministry official, told the state-run television channel TV Peru. The dead included at least two teenagers, according to the ministry.

BRASILIA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian authorities have arrested at least 1,200 supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro by Monday, and regained control of main government buildings here.

Protesters' makeshift camps outside the army's headquarters were dismantled, and some 300 people were arrested on Sunday night after they stormed the presidential palace, the Congress and the Supreme Court in the capital city on Sunday.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — “No amnesty! No amnesty! No amnesty!”

The chant reverberated off the walls of the jam-packed hall at the University of Sao Paulo’s law college on Monday afternoon. Hours later, it was the rallying cry for thousands of Brazilians who streamed into the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, penned on protest posters and banners.

The words are a demand for retribution against supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro who stormed Brazil’s capital Sunday, and those who enabled the rampage.

BRASILIA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Brazilian soldiers backed by police dismantled a camp of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on state institutions since the country's return to democracy in the 1980s.

After thousands of Bolsonaro's backers stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday, police in riot gear amassed at the pro-Bolsonaro camp outside Brasilia's army headquarters, while troops took down tents, Reuters witnesses said. The protesters were dispersed.

BRASILIA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- After supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the presidential palace, the Congress and the Supreme Court here the capital city on Sunday, leaders of several countries and international organizations condemned their action and expressed support for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The attackers were protesting Bolsonaro's loss of power after being defeated by Lula da Silva in the presidential election in October.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian authorities were picking up pieces and investigating Monday after thousands of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace then trashed the nation’s highest seats of power.

The protesters were seeking military intervention to either restore the far-right Bolsonaro to power or oust the newly inaugurated leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in scenes of chaos and destruction reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

CARACAS, Jan 8 (NNN-ABN) – Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, appointed Yvan Gil, as the new foreign affairs minister, and Pedro Tellechea, as the new president of state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.

“It’s a great responsibility. I’m sure he will perform with great professionalism,” Maduro said of Gil, on his Twitter account.

The new foreign minister replaces Carlos Faria, whom Maduro thanked for “outstanding work,” adding that, Carlos will be assigned new tasks soon.

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Argentina and China have formalized the expansion of a currency swap deal, allowing the South American country to increase its depleted foreign currency reserves, the Argentine central bank said on Sunday.

Argentina's government needs to rebuild reserves to cover trade costs and future debt repayments, and more reserves are a key objective of a major debt deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

President Alberto Fernandez announced the deal in November last year and said at the time it was worth $5 billion.

BRASILIA, Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rose 150 percent in December from the previous year, according to government figures released Friday, a final bleak report for ex-president Jair Bolsonaro in his last month in office.

Satellite monitoring detected 218.4 square kilometers of forest cover destroyed in Brazil’s share of the world’s biggest rainforest last month, according to the national space agency’s DETER surveillance program.