Chile

SANTIAGO, Dec 30 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Chile’s Government announced it was extending the agricultural emergency stemming from a water deficit due to poor rains, it was reported in Santiago. With this measure, authorities may keep up the aid to producers from Atacama to Magallanes until Sept. 30, 2024.

 The contingency plan reaches 100% of the communes in the Coquimbo region and in the provinces of Petorca, San Antonio, San Felipe de Aconcagua, Los Andes, Marga Marga, and Valparaíso, except for Juan Fernández.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Soon after she learned what happened, Helmut Kramer’s mother grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the priest out of photographs from her son’s baptism.

“She kept the photos after that,” said Kramer, who was sexually abused at age 12 in a Jesuit school in Antofagasta, a city in northern Chile.

“My mom is still Catholic, but she never attended Mass again. She says that she will never set foot in a church, and she does not trust the pope or any priest,” the 53-year-old Chilean said.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile on Monday was commemorating the 50th anniversary of the coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet, which ushered in a brutal military dictatorship that lasted almost 17 years.

The commemoration began with a ceremony at the La Moneda presidential palace, which was bombed by warplanes at the start of the coup.

SANTIAGO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The presidents of Chile and Mexico called for the strengthening of democracy in Latin America during a joint address on Sunday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a 1973 coup in Chile, hours after a peaceful march culminated in violent clashes with police.

Monday will mark half a century since the overthrow of President Salvador Allende by the regime of General Augusto Pinochet, which ushered in 17 years of brutal military rule that saw some 40,000 people imprisoned, disappeared, tortured or killed.

SANTIAGO, Sept 9 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font and his four living predecessors signed a so-called “commitment for democracy” document as the 50th anniversary of the coup d’état that brought General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte to power between 1973 and 1990 looms over.

The present and past heads of state Eduardo Frei (1994-2000), Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006), Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010/2014-2018), and Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014/2018-2022) sought to “defend democracy from authoritarian threats,” it was explained at La Moneda.

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday called comments by President Joe Biden describing Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator “extremely absurd and irresponsible.”

The new clash of words comes just over a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded a visit to Beijing that sought to break the ice in a relationship that has hit a historical low.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Biden’s comments at a fundraiser in California “go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on China’s political dignity.”

SANTA JUANA, Chile, May 14 (Reuters) - In the southern Chilean city of Santa Juana, hit hard by wildfires earlier this year, locals have a special taskforce helping fight blazes: a herd of goats.

The goats have already saved the native forest of the Bosques de Chacay once, preventing the park from being consumed by February forest fires - fueled by heatwaves and a punishing drought - that left dozens dead, thousands injured and almost 440,000 hectares destroyed in south-central Chile.

SANTIAGO, May 7 (Reuters) - Chile's government said that 115 Venezuelan migrants who had been stranded on the border with Peru were repatriated to Venezuela on a humanitarian flight Sunday.

Hundreds of migrants, mostly Venezuelans seeking to return home, had been stranded in the country's northern border after being denied entry into Peru. The incident sparked diplomatic tensions as Peru sent police and soldiers to the border to block migrants.

SANTIAGO, April 20 (Reuters) - Chile's President Gabriel Boric said on Thursday he would nationalize the country's lithium industry, the world's second largest producer of the metal essential in electric vehicle batteries, to boost its economy and protect its environment.

The shock move in the country with the world's largest lithium reserves would in time transfer control of Chile's vast lithium operations from industry giants SQM (SQMA.SN) and Albemarle (ALB.N) to a separate state-owned company.

SANTIAGO, March 29 (Reuters) - Chile detected the first case of bird flu in a human, the country's health ministry reported on Wednesday.

The case was detected in a 53-year-old man who presented severe influenza symptoms, according to a statement issued by the ministry, but they noted the patient was in stable condition.

The government is also investigating the source of contagion as well as others who were in contact with the patient.

Chile has reported cases of the H5N1 bird flu since late last year in wild animals.