South America

LIMA, April 18 (Reuters) - MMG Ltd's (1208.HK) Las Bambas copper mine in Peru has suspended operations after residents of a nearby community entered company property as part of a protest, Raul Jacob, the president of local mining chamber SNMPE, told reporters on Monday.

Las Bambas accounts for 2% of global copper supply and is the subject of recurring disruptions from impoverished nearby communities that are demanding higher financial contributions from the mine. The mine was forced to slow down operations earlier this year due to a road blockade.

ASUNCION, April 17 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — After more than two years during which they were stopped amid the numerous sanitary restrictions to fight the spread of COVID-19, boat crossings between Paraguay and Argentina are scheduled to resume Monday at various points.

BRASILIA, April 16 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said his country faced a food security threat as a consequence of the shortage of wheat, which could become scarce due to the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Bolsonaro also pointed out that local production of wheat was not enough and imports were needed. Argentina is Brazil’s main supplier, but there are concerns over Argentina’s capabilities to keep on delivering because of a local problem with the price of diesel fuel, which affects output.

BRASILIA, April 12 (Reuters) - Former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday promised Brazil's indigenous people that he would stop illegal mining on their reservations and recognize their land claims if he wins the presidential election in October.

Lula visited a protest camp in Brasilia where several thousands members of 200 tribes have gathered to oppose plans by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to allow commercial agriculture, mining and oil exploration on their lands.

SANTIAGO, April 11 (Reuters) - As a punishing, record-breaking drought enters its 13th year, Chile on Monday announced an unprecedented plan to ration water for the capital of Santiago, a city of nearly 6 million.

"A city can't live without water," Claudio Orrego, the governor of the Santiago metropolitan region, said in a press conference. "And we're in an unprecedented situation in Santiago's 491-year history where we have to prepare for there to not be enough water for everyone who lives here."

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s President Pedro Castillo imposed a tight curfew on the capital and the country’s main port in response to sometimes violent protects over rising prices of fuel and food.

Shortly before midnight, the president announced that people must largely stay in their homes all Tuesday, starting at 2 a.m., because of acts of violence, which had included four deaths over the past week, the burning of toll stations and small-scale looting.

BUENOS AIRES, April 4 (Reuters) - Chilean President Gabriel Boric, making his first trip abroad since taking power last month, and Argentina President Alberto Fernandez vowed on Monday to cooperate on economic, energy and cultural issues.

"We have challenges that are deeply shared," Boric said at a joint news conference with the center-left Argentina president in Buenos Aires.

Boric, a leftist, traveled to Argentina on Sunday along with a business and cultural delegation.

Chile is Argentina's fifth-largest trading partner and one of its main investors.

BUENOS AIRES, April 3 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Argentine government on Saturday reaffirmed its “unwavering objective of recovering full sovereignty” over the Malvinas Islands, 40 years after the conflict with Britain over control of the South Atlantic territory ended.

“The Malvinas were, they are, and will be Argentinean, and we will always keep the commitment we assumed with the memory of those who died,” President of Argentina Alberto Fernandez said during a ceremony commemorating the conflict in Buenos Aires.

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and another 13 went missing in heavy rains that hit the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, local authorities said on Saturday.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Twitter that the federal government was deploying military aircraft to help with the rescue efforts in the state.

Local authorities said on Friday that the region had received 655 milliliters of rain, the highest amount ever recorded in the municipality.

BRASILIA, Apr 2 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil’s trade balance registered a surplus of 7.4 billion U.S. dollars in Mar, a record for the month, since the beginning of kept records in 1989, the Foreign Trade Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy said yesterday.

The figure represents an increase of 19.3 percent over the surplus balance of 6.5 billion U.S. dollars in Mar of last year.

As a result, Brazil accumulated a trade surplus of 11.3 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of the year.