South America

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — If Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is to have any hope of securing a second term, he needs more female support – and fast. Yet a man famed for macho bravado hasn’t shown any concerted strategy to do so.

BOGOTA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Two new cases of monkeypox were detected in Colombia, bringing the total number of cases in the country to five, local health authorities reported on Saturday.

The new cases were two related adults, one of whom had recently arrived from Europe and infected the other, said Bogota's Secretary of Health Alejandro Gomez, adding the two patients are currently in isolation, with their care managed on an outpatient basis.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s economy minister resigned unexpectedly Saturday, dealing a fresh blow to the government of President Alberto Ferández as the country struggles with economic problems.

Martín Guzmán stepped down after a week in which Argentina’s currency hit an all-time low against the dollar amid sizzling inflation and truck drivers staged protests over shortages of diesel fuel.

No successor was immediatlely announced.

BOGOTA, July 1 (Reuters) - Colombia on Friday extradited to the United States a sister of accused major drug cartel leader Dairo Antonio Usaga, known as Otoniel, to face drug trafficking charges, the national police said.

Colombian police accuse Nini Johana Usaga, 39, of being responsible for laundering drug money for the Clan del Golfo and handling international relations with cartels in other countries like Mexico, helping to coordinate shipments of narcotics.

CARACAS, June 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A US delegation arrived in Venezuela Monday to discuss a “bilateral agenda,” extending discussions between Caracas and Washington initiated in March, said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

National Assembly speaker, Jorge Rodriguez, “is receiving a delegation from the government of the United States, an important delegation that arrived two hours ago in Venezuela,” Maduro announced on national public television VTV
at around 8 pm.

QUITO, June 28 (Reuters) - A soldier was killed in an attack on a convoy carrying fuel to Ecuador's largest oil field, the government confirmed on Tuesday, the latest incident of violence during more than two weeks of protests that have left at least eight dead.

Twelve others were wounded in the attack, the government said. The convoy was accompanying 17 diesel tankers from the Shushufindi refinery to the ITT oil bloc in the Amazon region when they were attacked by a group of people carrying guns, the defense ministry said in a statement.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso announced a cut in gasoline prices Sunday that appeared to fall short of the reduction demanded by Indigenous leaders to end a strike that has paralyzed parts of the country for two weeks.

The reduction cuts the price of gasoline by 10 cents per gallon. The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador has demanded compliance with a 10-point agenda, including the reduction of the price of extra gasoline from 2.55 to 2.10 dollars a gallon and diesel from 1.90 to 1.50.

BOGOTA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Colombian President-elect Gustavo Petro on Saturday named Alvaro Leyva Duran as the foreign minister in his cabinet, ahead of Petro's inauguration in August.

"Alvaro Leyva Duran will be our minister of foreign affairs. It will be a chancellery of peace," Petro tweeted, adding that Colombia will focus its efforts on overcoming the climate crisis and ending endemic violence.

Leyva Duran, 79, has served as a mines and energy minister, a congressman from the Conservative Party, and a mediator in the country's peace process, among other positions.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Saturday lifted a state of emergency he’d imposed in six provinces amid an Indigenous-led strike, a surprise move that came as lawmakers in the National Assembly heard an opposition petition to remove him from office.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s president charged Friday that the Indigenous leader heading a nationwide strike is seeking to stage a coup and warned he will use all legal tools to contain the violence unleashed by the demonstrations.

In televised remarks, President Guillermo Lasso said Leonidas Iza, leader of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities, intends to “overthrow the government.” But Lasso added that he was willing to engage in talks on ending protests that were in their 13th day.