South America

BRASILIA, Feb 13 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — The leaders of Brazilian congress two chambers announced priority will be given to reviving pandemic emergency payments to the vulnerable population, which are expected to be granted in four months, from March to June.

Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco speaking next to Economy minister Paulo Guedes and Lower House leader Arthur Vila emphasized that emergency aid and the Covid-19 vaccines are the “absolute priority” of the Legislative and the president Bolsonaro administration.

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador’s election authority said on Friday it will conduct a recount in most of the country to ensure the transparency of Sunday’s presidential elections, after one of the candidates made accusations of electoral fraud.

Left-wing economist Andres Arauz won Sunday’s vote and moved on to the April 11 runoff vote. With less than 1% of votes left to count, Guillermo Lasso holds a narrow lead over indigenous activist Yaku Perez in the race for runner-up.

SANTIAGO, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chile's President Sebastian Pinera on Friday received the first dose of the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac against the novel coronavirus disease, along with those aged 71 and over.

While visiting a community healthcare center in the southern region of Los Rios, where the president spends his austral summer vacations, Pinera joined more than 1.5 million Chileans in receiving at least the first dose of the vaccine.

CARACAS, Feb 11 (NNN-TELESUR) — United Nations representative Alena Douhan visits Venezuela to assess the impact of US economic sanctions imposed on the Bolivarian nation since 2015. 

The visit announcement came shortly after the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) acknowledged that its country’s sanctions on Venezuela have killed tens of thousands of people.

The results of the analysis of the US unilateral coercive measures imposed on this South American country will be released in September, according to the UN.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 11 (NNN-Xinhua) — Argentina registered 7,739 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the national tally to 2,001,034, the health ministry said.

The ministry also reported 109 more deaths from the disease, bringing the nationwide death toll to 49,674.

A total of 1,798,120 patients have recovered so far, while 153,240 cases remain active.

Having registered a total of 835,204 cases since the pandemic broke out in March last year, the province of Buenos Aires remains the hardest-hit region in the South American country.

BRASILIA, Feb 9 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Brazil is preparing a fresh round of emergency cash transfers to millions of poor, President Jair Bolsonaro said. “I think there will be an extension,” Bolsonaro said in an interview with the TV program Brasil Urgente.

The previous program expired Dec 31, which helped Bolsonaro rocket in opinion polls, but have since being declining as the pandemic worsens and the number of deaths and contagions climb to the world’s second highest behind the US.

QUITO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Progressive candidate Andres Arauz and indigenous leader Yaku Perez are leading in Ecuador's presidential election, the official quick count released by the National Electoral Council (CNE) showed late Sunday.

The results were announced by the president of the CNE, Diana Atamaint, four hours after the voting ended in the country.

The CNE quick count showed Arauz of the Union for Hope Alliance had won 31.5 percent of the votes, and Perez representing the Pachakutik Plurinational Unity Movement had won 20.04 percent of the votes.

CARACAS, Feb 7 (NNN-TELESUR) — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said that his country is ready to send a second shipment of oxygen to Brazil to ease the health emergency caused by COVID-19 in the Roraima and the Amazon states.

Workers at Venezuela’s Orinoco Steel Mill (Sidor), which has a powerful oxygen plant, suggested the government prepare an oxygen shipment similar to the one sent to the Brazilian city of Manaus last month.

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 7 (NNN-TELESUR) — Argentina’s authorities warned that a wildfire that started in a forest of the Patagonia region two weeks ago is approaching a residential area despite firefighters’ efforts to quell it.

“Over 180 rescuers are working tirelessly to contain the flames, but the high temperatures, winds, and drought are not allowing it,” the National Fire Management Service’s General Director Alberto Seufferheld said.

QUITO, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ecuador is ready to go to the polls on Sunday to elect a successor to President Lenin Moreno and legislative members of the National Assembly (Congress) amid the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s National Electoral Council (CNE) announced.