South America

LIMA, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Dozens of protesters attempted to take over an airport near Peru's border with Bolivia Friday as part of anti-government protests, prompting police to use tear gas to disperse them.

Protesters set fire to a police tank outside the Inca Manco Capac airport in Juliaca, in Peru's Puno region, according to images on social media and local television.

Protests against President Dina Boluarte resumed this week after a two-week pause, following violent clashes in December that left 22 dead after the removal and arrest of former President Pedro Castillo.

CARACAS, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday 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.

BRASILIA, Jan 6 (NNN-Xinhua) — Brazil informed member countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) of its “full and immediate” reincorporation into the regional bloc.

The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who took office on Sunday, decided to rejoin the pro-integration forum that his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro had abandoned.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s opposition has selected an all-female team of mostly unknown exiled former lawmakers to replace the beleaguered Juan Guaidó as the face of its faltering efforts to remove socialist President Nicolas Maduro.

Last week, politicians who were elected to the National Assembly in 2015 voted to oust Guaidó from his role as “interim president,” a title he claimed as head of what was widely considered the South American nation’s last democratically-elected institution.

QUITO, Jan 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — China and Ecuador will sign a free trade agreement after almost a year of negotiations, Ecuador’s president said, with the deal expected to boost growth in the South American country.

“Good news to start 2023. The FTA negotiation between China and Ecuador has been successfully concluded,” President Guillermo Lasso said on Twitter.

“Our exports will have preferential access to the largest market in the world, our industries will be able to acquire machinery and inputs at lower costs.”

SANTOS, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian sports legend Pelé is being buried Tuesday, with his nation of more than 200 million people and the world watching.

Newly inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva paid his respects at Vila Belmiro, the stadium where Pelé played for most of his career.

Pelé is being buried in the city where he grew up, became famous, and helped make into a global capital of his sport. Mass is being celebrated at the Vila Belmiro stadium before the casket is ushered through the streets of Santos to a nearby cemetery.

BRASILIA, January 1. /TASS/: A series of bilateral meetings and talks with representatives of different countries was held during the visit to Brazil and all of them have the realistic assessment of developments around the Ukrainian crisis, Speaker of the Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Valentina Matviyenko told reporters.

BRASILIA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's new finance minister, Fernando Haddad, said on Monday he would propose a new fiscal anchor in the first half of this year as leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's team works to "restore" public accounts.

"We are not here for adventures," he said, seeking to calm market jitters over the return of Lula.

A former mayor of Sao Paulo, Haddad took office with the challenge of presenting a credible fiscal framework after Congress passed a package increasing Brazil's spending cap to ramp up social expenditures.

BRASILIA, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT) was sworn in as president of Brazil for a four-year term on Sunday.

The inauguration of Lula da Silva and his Vice President Geraldo Alckmin took place at 3:00 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) during a plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia.

This is Lula da Silva's third presidential term and his return to power comes after having spent more than a year in prison between 2018 and 2019, due to a controversial sentence that was later annulled by the Supreme Court.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in as president on Sunday, and in his first address expressed optimism about plans to rebuild while pledging that members of outgoing Jair Bolsonaro’s administration will be held to account.

Lula is assuming office for the third time after thwarting far-right incumbent Bolsonaro’s reelection bid. His return to power marks the culmination of a political comeback that is thrilling supporters and enraging opponents in a fiercely polarized nation.