South America

BOGOTA, July 22 (Reuters) - Colombia arrested 10 people accused of involvement in attacks on a helicopter carrying President Ivan Duque and a military base last month that officials said on Thursday were planned by former FARC rebel leaders based in Venezuela.

The car bombing at the base in the northeastern city of Cucuta, home to the army's 30th brigade, wounded 44 people, including two U.S. military advisers. Later in June, a helicopter approaching city with Duque and other officials aboard was strafed by bullets. 

BRASILIA, July 21 (Reuters) - Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said in a radio interview on Wednesday that the government is planning a minor ministerial shake-up, likely to be announced on Monday.

Bolsonaro did not provide details on potential changes.

Two sources familiar with the matter said that moves are likely to occur in the role of secretary general of government and chief of staff.

CARACAS, July 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — President Nicolas Maduro’s government repatriated more than 700 Venezuelans who fled to nearby Trinidad and Tobago amid their homeland’s crippling economic crisis, the Foreign Ministry announced Sunday.

“More than 700 Venezuelans have arrived in Venezuela from Trinidad and Tobago in the first ‘Vuelta a la Patria’ (Return to the Homeland) plan carried out by sea,” the ministry said in a statement on Twitter.

LIMA, July 19 (NNN-TELESUR) — The National Jury of Elections (JNE) is set to confirm leftist Pedro Castillo as Peru’s new President after rejecting all the electoral complaints filed by right-wing Popular Force (FP) candidate Keiko Fujimori. 

JNE advisor Alexandra Marallano explained that the official announcement might take place on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The decision comes after the JNE reported the conclusion of an electoral review in 60 Special Electoral Juries, where Castillo received 8,835,579 votes, a difference of 44,058 votes over Fujimori. 

BUENOS AIRES, July 18 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Argentine prosecutors have agreed to file charges against former President Mauricio Macri and several senior officials for allegedly supporting the overthrowing of Evo Morales in November 2019.

Former Ministers Patricia Bullrich (Security) and Óscar Aguar (defence) as well as then Argentine Ambassador to Bolivia, Normando Álvarez García are among the accused, together with top-ranking Gendarmería Nacional (Border Guard) chiefs.

SAO PAULO, July 18 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — João Doria, Governor of the Brazilian State of São Paulo, has tested yet again positive for Sars-CoV-2, despite having received both doses of the Coronavac immunizer, it was announced.

The 62-year-old Doria has been a strong promoter of vaccination in the country and is reportedly going to run for the presidency in the October 2022 elections.

CARACAS, July 18 (Reuters) - "Leave the area! Get the kids out!" screamed gang members walking through western Caracas' El Cementerio barrio with megaphones the morning of Thursday, July 8. The warning told residents in Venezuela's capital shooting would not soon stop.

BOGOTA, July 16 (Reuters) - Former Haitian justice ministry official Joseph Felix Badio may have ordered the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise, a Colombian police chief said on Friday, citing a preliminary investigation into the murder.

Moise was shot dead when assassins armed with assault rifles stormed his private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince on July 7.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — After 10 straight days of hiccups, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was admitted to a hospital Wednesday with an intestinal obstruction, but doctors said they would not operate immediately.

Bolsonaro, 66, was admitted to the Armed Forces Hospital in the capital of Brasilia in the morning and was “feeling well,” according to an initial statement that said physicians were examining his persistent hiccups.

BRASILIA, Jul 14 (NNN-CMA) – Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, signed into law yesterday, a bill approved by Congress, that paves the way for the privatisation of state-owned electric utility company Eletrobras, according to the country’s Official Gazette.

Among other measures, the regulatory framework will include the issuance of new Eletrobras shares, to be sold on the private market, with the government waiving its subscription right, which will lead to the diluting of its current 61 percent stake in the company.