South America

LIMA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian President Pedro Castillo on Thursday called on the country's political parties to help his government form a new "broad-based" cabinet, following the resignation of Anibal Torres as prime minister.

"I am opening up this space to other political parties so we can once and for all form a broad-based cabinet to work for Peru," Castillo said.

SAN JUAN DE COLON, Venezuela (AP) — The freight company owned by Alfredo Rosales and his brothers was hustling, its 50 or so trucks constantly on the go hauling about 1 million tons of coal, cement, flour and other goods every year in commerce between Venezuela and Colombia.

Their work came to an abrupt halt in 2015, when the socialist government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shut down border crossings with its neighbor after years of deterioriating relations with conservative Colombian administrations.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — In a move that shocked environmentalists, the government of Brazil’s third-largest state has given up a legal fight over protecting a state park in one of the Amazon’s most biodiverse areas. The upshot of that decision is that a man responsible for the deforestation of huge swaths of protected land wins with finality a lawsuit against the government. The park will cease to exist.

NEW YORK, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- No one is immune from COVID-19, but not everyone's experience of the pandemic is the same in the United States, where the poor face higher risk, NBC reported on Wednesday.

Privileged Americans have free, high-quality testing and can quickly get access to anti-COVID medication, while those without insurance now have to pay for testing, and quick access to medication has proven elusive for some, said the report.

MONTEVIDEO, Aug 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Four South American countries on Tuesday launch an unprecedented joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup with the hope of bringing the global showpiece back to its first home.

Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile’s intention to bid has long been in the making.

More than three years ago they committed to create a local organizing committee to co-ordinate with South American football’s governing body CONMEBOL to plan their bid.

But it has taken until now for the “Juntos 2030” (Together 2030) bid to be made official.

SANTIAGO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Chilean authorities started investigating on Monday a mysterious sinkhole about 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter that appeared over the weekend in a mining area in the north of the country.

Chilean media showed aerial images of the sinkhole on land operated by a Canadian Lundin Mining (LUN.TO) copper mine, about 665 kilometers (413 miles) north of capital Santiago.

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 29 (Reuters) - As President Jair Bolsonaro has aggressively sought to boost gun ownership in Brazil, documents obtained by Reuters reveal one key source of resistance to his agenda: his own federal police.

BOGOTA, July 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A dozen police officers have been killed, and dozens more injured in recent weeks by Colombia’s most powerful drug gang, the Gulf Clan.

The group has been sowing terror in the country since May, when its boss Dario Antonio Usuga, known as “Otoniel,” was extradited to the United States to face trafficking charges.

MONTEVIDEO, July 27 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou Tuesday announced his administration would seek to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and that he will seek endorsement from all political parties.

“Uruguay is going to ask for accession. It is a decision that the member countries have to analyze and we will see how we negotiate it,” said Lacalle Pou during his Exporters’ Day celebration speech.

BUENOS AIRES, July 23 (Reuters) - Argentina's newly appointed economy minister Silvina Batakis will meet on Monday with the head of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, the government said, as Argentina's economy struggles with spiraling inflation.

Argentina is the IMF's largest debtor with a $44 billion program that was approved by the board in late March. Argentina's peso currency also fell to record lows this week, weighed down by a stronger dollar worldwide and a domestic political crisis.