South America

CARACAS, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- The secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Haitham Al-Ghais, on Wednesday said the bloc and its allies remain "alert" to any possible changes in the global oil and gas market during his visit to Venezuela.

The OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting is "ready to convene as soon as needed to agree on any changes in market conditions, if necessary," Al-Ghais said.

LA PAZ, Sept 11 (NNN-TELOESUR) — The Bolivian Government announced the creation of the General Directorate for the Protection of Indigenous Nations and Peoples (DIGEPIO) following the enactment of Supreme Decree 4793.

Bolivian Minister of Justice and Institutional Transparency, Iván Lima, said the objective of the DIGEPIO will be to address the needs of populations in vulnerable situations, noting that it will be part of the judicial structure.

CARACAS, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday announced the joint reopening on Sept. 26 of the border between his country and neighboring Colombia.

"I am very happy to announce that as of #26Sep we will jointly open the borders between Venezuela and Colombia," the Venezuelan president shared on Twitter.

Flights from the capital Caracas and the northern city of Valencia to Colombia's capital Bogota will also resume, he added.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela on Friday announced that the years-long closure of their countries’ shared border to cargo transport will end Sept. 26. Air service between their capitals will also resume.

The announcement comes a month after Gustavo Petro was sworn in as Colombia’s first leftist president, beginning a thaw in relations between his country and the government of Nicolás Maduro. The presidents tweeted the announcement.

“We confirm the government’s commitment to restore brotherly relations,” Petro said.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro transformed the nation’s bicentennial Wednesday into a multi-city campaign event, but didn’t use his appearances to undermine the upcoming election as his opponents had feared.

Bolsonaro, who trails former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in polls before the Oct. 2 vote, drew tens of thousands of supporters to rallies in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. The armed forces put on military displays in the cities, with the president attending.

SAO PAULO, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian presidential candidate and ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva led the latest pre-election poll with 45 percent of the vote, trailed by incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro with 32 percent, a Datafolha poll shows.

Lula da Silva, a candidate of the Workers' Party, slipped 2 percentage points from 47 percent in the last survey on Aug. 18, while Bolsonaro remained steady at 32 percent.

SANTIAGO, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Chile will go back to the drawing board to redraft its Augusto Pinochet-era constitution after a new text got overwhelmingly rejected in a historic referendum vote on Sunday, a blow to the country's progressives, including young President Gabriel Boric.

Boric on Monday held meetings with political and social leaders over how to salvage plans for a new constitution, bruised by the vote that saw some 7.9 million Chileans reject the proposal against 4.9 million in favor, a larger-than-expected landslide loss.

REGINA, Saskatchewan (AP) — Canadian police searched on Monday for two men suspected of stabbing 10 people to death in an Indigenous community and a nearby town, as the massive manhunt following one of the nation’s deadliest mass killings entered its second day.

BUENOS AIRES, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Argentine business and economic leaders on Friday condemned the attempted assassination of the country's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Late Thursday, a man pointed a gun at Fernandez's face as she was outside her home, surrounded by a crowd of supporters. The weapon reportedly got jammed, foiling the shooting.

The suspect, who is in custody, has been identified as 35-year-old Brazilian national Fernando Andres Sabag Montiel.

SAO PAULO, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian presidential candidate and ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva led the latest pre-election poll with 45 percent of the vote, trailed by incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro with 32 percent, a Datafolha poll shows.

Lula da Silva, a candidate of the Workers' Party, slipped 2 percentage points from 47 percent in the last survey on Aug. 18, while Bolsonaro remained steady at 32 percent.