South America

SANTIAGO, May 17 (Xinhua) -- An updated study showed that the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac is 65.3 percent efficacious in preventing COVID-19, Chile's Health Ministry said on Monday.

"With at least four months of follow-up, we have super reliable and positive numbers," said Dr. Rafael Araos, an advisor to the Undersecretariat of Public Health, adding that data obtained over the period are "consistent."

Despite the COVID-19 variants in circulation, "the vaccine is performing adequately," he told reporters at a press conference.

BUENOS AIRES, May 16. / TASS /: A batch of 400,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 jab has been delivered to Bolivia, the Telesur TV channel announced.

Bolivian President Luis Arce and Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ledenev took part in the ceremony of receiving the cargo at the Cochabamba international airport.

(Reuters) --- Members of Colombia’s national police force who are responsible for abuses or acts of violence amid ongoing protests will be punished to the full extent of the law, the head of the force said.

Demonstrators and human rights groups have repeatedly accused police officers of killing civilians, excessive use of force, sexual abuse and the use of firearms, both during current protests and previous ones.

Accusations of possible abuse of a minor in the city of Popayan have sparked violent protests there this week.

(Reuters) --- An indigenous community in Ecuador's Amazon region is blocking access to one of state oil company Petroecuador's main fields in a protest over compensation, prompting the company to request help from the armed forces to deliver supplies.

SANTIAGO, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Chile on Saturday began historic elections, in which, for the first time, a Constitution Convention comprised of 155 members will be elected to draft the country's new constitution.

The process "is totally unique in Chile," Lucia Dammert, a political scientist and sociologist at the University of Santiago, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"One of the most important decisions in political terms will be made, which is the formation of the constituent convention within the context of the pandemic," she said.

LIMA, May 15 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — An overwhelming majority of Peru’s Parliament voted in plenum against a motion seeking to oust President Francisco Sagasti.

The motion had been submitted by Congressman César Gonzales. It was supported by 12 votes and rejected by 86 legislators, while another 19 abstained.

The nays considered it highly inopportune as the country is heading for a presidential runoff in less than a month between Pedro Castillo and Keiko Fujimori and Sagasti is to hand over the presidency to whoever wins on June 6.

BOGOTA, May 15 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The Colombian government of President Iván Duque insisted that the National Unemployment Committee needs to withdraw from the conflicts affecting the country if there is to be any dialogue.

“We are ready to sit down to negotiate,” said the government’s High Commissioner for Peace, Miguel Ceballos as Colombia plunges into a series of strong mobilizations and brutal repression.

15 May 2021; MEMO: Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza on Friday called on the international community to take action to stop the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Arreaza posted a video on Twitter showing Israel's bombing of a 9-storey building in Gaza that entirely collapsed.

He stressed the need for the United Nations (UN) to ensure an urgent response to these attacks, urging: "An immediate response should be established without bias against any ideology or religion."

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The face of a new Chile begins taking shape this weekend as the South American country elects 155 people to draft a constitution to replace one that has governed it since being imposed during a military dictatorship.

Nearly 80% of voters in a plebiscite last year chose to draft a new charter for the nation following a year of protests, though there is much less consistent agreement over what it should contain.

(Reuters) --- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, addressing the nation last month in a social media video, touted the latest in a string of unconventional drugs he says can ease the country's COVID-19 crisis.

Bolsonaro - a vaccine skeptic and promoter of discredited treatments such as hydroxychloroquine - said this new drug, Proxalutamide, would "soon be available to all Brazil." He invited a little-known Health Ministry official, Helio Angotti, to expand on its promise.