INTL Latin America and the Islands - Politics, Economics, and Military March 2020

[Plain Jane]

February 2020's thread is here.

INTL - Latin America and the Islands:Politics, Economics, Military- February 2020

January's thread is here: http://xf.timebomb2000.com/xf/index.php?threads/latin-america-and-the-islands-january-2020.566037/ https://apnews.com/20679222af0b4484ec0ea00a497cd605 AP exclusive: Law firm dumps Maduro official amid outcry By JOSHUA GOODMAN BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A U.S. law firm...

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Uruguay presidential inauguration sees Latin 'pink tide' recede further

Uruguay will shift to the right on Sunday with the inauguration of conservative Luis Lacalle Pou as president after 15 years of left-wing rule.

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NEWS
MARCH 1, 2020 / 6:08 AM / UPDATED 7 MINUTES AGO
Uruguay presidential inauguration sees Latin 'pink tide' recede further

Fabian Werner
3 MIN READ

MONTEVIDEO(Reuters) - Uruguay will shift to the right on Sunday with the inauguration of conservative Luis Lacalle Pou as president after 15 years of left-wing rule.

Uruguay's President elect Luis Lacalle Pou shakes hands with Spain's King Felipe VI, after a meeting in Lacalle's residence, a day before he swears in as the President of Uruguay, in Canelones, Uruguay February 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mariana Greif
Lacalle Pou has vowed to tame the small South American nation’s high fiscal deficit and sign fresh trade deals to dig the beef and soy exporter out of an economic rut.
He faces a delicate balancing act between his two powerful and ideologically-opposed neighbors, Brazil, run by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, and Argentina, where left-leaning Peronist Alberto Fernandez recently took office.
Bolsonaro is due to attend the inauguration at Montevideo’s Legislative Palace, at 1300, along with fellow rightist presidents Sebastian Pinera of Chile and Ivan Duque of Colombia. Argentina’s Fernandez said he could not attend because of scheduling problems.

Lacalle Pou has already broken with Uruguay’s previous foreign policy norms, declaring the presidents of Venezuela and Cuba to be “dictators.”
Lacalle Pou, 46, the son of a former president, won election in November by a slim margin, defeating the candidate of the Broad Front, which has been in power for 15 years.
Uruguay, a nation of around 3.5 million people known for its cattle ranches and liberal policies on legalized marijuana and abortion rights, has enjoyed an extended period of stability and growth, but has seen its economy stall amid global trade tensions and bad crop weather that dented agriculture.
Uruguay´s fiscal deficit is equivalent to 4.7% of its gross domestic product, according to data from the central bank at the end of 2019, while last year GDP growth was just 0.5% compared with 7.8% in 2010.


Lacalle Pou will lead a government made up of a coalition of five political parties. He has been in discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to sign a free-trade agreement, which would mark a new direction in relations with the global superpower.
Despite economic concerns, all risk rating companies that audit the Uruguayan economy have maintained it at investment grade in their latest reports, giving the new government some breathing space.
Reporting by Fabian Werner; Writing by Nicolas Misculin and Aislinn Laing; Editing by Leslie Adler
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[Plain Jane]

Study casting doubt on Bolivian election fraud triggers controversy

A study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology experts that called into question the alleged election fraud that drove Bolivian President Evo Morales to resign has triggered sniping between left and right-leaning governments in Latin America.

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NEWS
MARCH 1, 2020 / 5:15 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Study casting doubt on Bolivian election fraud triggers controversy

Aislinn Laing
3 MIN READ

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology experts that called into question the alleged election fraud that drove Bolivian President Evo Morales to resign has triggered sniping between left and right-leaning governments in Latin America.

FILE PHOTO: Former Bolivian President Evo Morales holds a paper depicting the image of Bolivia’s interim President Jeanine Anez, during a news conference as a reaction to electoral body decision of banning his intention to run as a senator candidate in May election, in Buenos Aires Argentina February 21, 2020. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo
The analysis by two researchers in MIT’s Election Data and Science Lab, made public last week, stated that an Organization of American States (OAS) finding that fraud helped Morales win was flawed and concluded that it was “very likely” the socialist president won the October vote by the 10 percentage points needed to avoid a runoff.

The OAS in a statement on Friday dismissed the MIT study as “unscientific.”

Bolivia will run a fresh election in May. The MIT study prompted Morales, who fled Bolivia first to Mexico and then to Argentina, to call on Sunday for the “democratic” international community to steward the upcoming election carefully.

“The coup-mongerers intend to disqualify our candidates,” Morales wrote on Twitter.

The OAS report cited several violations in the October election including a hidden computer server designed to tilt the vote toward Morales, who served as Bolivia’s president for 14 years. Morales resigned amid violence in Bolivia in the aftermath of the election fraud allegations, declaring he was the victim of a “coup.”

declaring he was the victim of a “coup.”


Morales has said he will return to Bolivia, but has been charged by the caretaker government with sedition and blocked from running as a candidate for senator.

Leaders of a number of left-leaning Latin American countries supportive of Morales have weighed in since the release of the MIT report, with Mexico asking the OAS to clarify its findings.

Venezuela’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro reiterated his claim that the OAS is a tool of the United States, posting on Twitter on Sunday that the MIT study was “more proof that the Ministry of the Colonies (OAS) threatens the will of the free peoples of the continent.”

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said the report’s findings justified his continued support for Morales.

“We demand the prompt democratization of Bolivia, with the full participation of the Bolivian people and without prescriptions of any kind,” Fernandez wrote on Twitter.

Conservative leaders in Latin America backed the OAS.

Ernesto Araujo, Brazil’s foreign minister, said fraud in Bolivia’s election had been “crystal clear”.
Tuto Quiroga, a former Bolivian president who is running in the upcoming election, called the MIT study a “rehash of old lies.” Quiroga pointed out that Morales had himself asked the OAS to review the October election, called a fresh vote after the OAS report on the matter and dismissed members of the country’s electoral board.
MIT did not respond to a request for comment.
Reporting by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Will Dunham
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[Plain Jane]

Ecuador confirms five new cases of coronavirus, all close to initial patient

Ecuador has confirmed five cases of the new coronavirus in patients who all had direct contact with an elderly woman who brought the virus to the Andean country from Spain, health minister Catalina Andramuño said on Sunday.

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WORLD NEWS
MARCH 1, 2020 / 6:10 PM / UPDATED 12 HOURS AGO
Ecuador confirms five new cases of coronavirus, all close to initial patient


2 MIN READ

GUAYAQUIL (Reuters) - Ecuador has confirmed five cases of the new coronavirus in patients who all had direct contact with an elderly woman who brought the virus to the Andean country from Spain, health minister Catalina Andramuño said on Sunday.
The woman, an Ecuadorean citizen who resides in Spain, arrived in Ecuador on a direct flight from Madrid on Feb. 14 without presenting symptoms, but soon began to feel ill and was admitted to one of the public hospitals the government equipped to deal with the new virus.
The announcement brought the total number of confirmed cases in the country to six. The five new cases are all relatives of the woman who had direct contact with her since she arrived, Andramuño said, adding that they were all quarantined at their homes.

“They are presenting mild symptoms,” Andramuño told reporters in the southern city of Guayaquil. “We are monitoring them, we are controlling them.”
Authorities are also monitoring some 177 people who could have come into contact with the initial patient, including passengers on her flight, other relatives, and health care workers.

The new coronavirus, which originated in China, is spreading rapidly across the globe. Other countries in Latin America reporting cases include Brazil, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.
Ecuador’s health ministry earlier on Sunday said it had increased medical checks at ports of entry for travelers from China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain and Mexico. Authorities have also suspended public evens in the Guayas and Los Ríos provinces, where the cases have been reported.
Reporting by Yury Garcia; Writing by Alexandra Valencia; Editing by Luc Cohen and Daniel Wallis
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[Plain Jane]

Senior Mexican official quits, in latest blow to president

A senior Mexican official in charge of one of the government's signature social programs resigned on Monday in a sharply-worded letter that marked the latest bust-up within President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's administration.

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NEWS
MARCH 3, 2020 / 12:55 AM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
Senior Mexican official quits, in latest blow to president

Obrador gestures as he speaks during a news conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico February 18, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Romero
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A senior Mexican official in charge of one of the government’s signature social programs resigned on Monday in a sharply-worded letter that marked the latest bust-up within President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration.

Javier May was the deputy welfare minister in charge of “Sembrando Vida”, an ambitious forestation program focused on Mexico’s poorer south intended to provide jobs and support agriculture. The scheme has also been exported to Central America in a bid to help contain migration from the region.


“Once the Welfare Minister had unilaterally revoked the faculties required to run the said program, the conditions to remain in charge of it no longer existed,” May said in a resignation letter seen by Reuters.

A government source confirmed that the letter is official.

May did not reply to a request for comment, nor did the welfare ministry.

Differences over Lopez Obrador’s policy decisions and governing style have prompted other prominent officials to quit.

Among them, the most high-level was Finance Minister Carlos Urzua, who resigned in July 2019 with a letter that shocked markets by citing “extremism” in economic policy.

Reporting by Adriana Barrera and Dave Grahama; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Kim Coghill
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[Plain Jane]

Brazil posts $3.1 billion trade surplus in Feb, no coronavirus impact yet

Brazil posted a trade surplus of $3.1 billion in February, official data showed on Monday, far stronger than forecast and confounding any expectations that the coronavirus outbreak might have dampened exports.

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NEWS
MARCH 2, 2020 / 3:27 PM / UPDATED 14 HOURS AGO
Brazil posts $3.1 billion trade surplus in Feb, no coronavirus impact yet

Marcela Ayres
2 MIN READ



Brazil Cultural Center (CCBB) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares/File Photo
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil posted a trade surplus of $3.1 billion in February, official data showed on Monday, far stronger than forecast and confounding any expectations that the coronavirus outbreak might have dampened exports.

February’s figure was double the median consensus forecast in a Reuters poll of economists of a $1.5 billion surplus, a result of exports totaling $16.4 billion and imports reaching $13.3 billion.

Speaking to reporters in Brasilia, Herlon Brandão, undersecretary for foreign trade statistics, said any hit to Brazilian exports to No. 1 trading partner China resulting from the coronavirus outbreak has yet to be felt.

The effect (of coronavirus) is probably gradual and is heterogeneous across sectors. It may yet have some effect in March, but it was not noticeable in February’s data,” Brandao said.

“On the contrary, we saw an increase in exports, an increase in trade,” he said, adding that soy exporters, for example, have not reported any changes.

Overall exports rose 15.5% in February from a year ago, and imports rose 16.7%, the figures showed. Exports to China, Hong Kong and Macau jumped 20.9%.

Despite the surprisingly high surplus in February, trade is still expected to be a net drag on Brazil’s economy this year. Exports are likely to suffer from a sharp slowdown in global growth, continued weakness in neighboring Argentina and now an anticipated steep fall in demand from China.
China accounts for almost 30% of Brazil’s exports, and its economy is likely to take a huge hit from the coronavirus outbreak, with growth forecast to fall to its lowest level in three decades.
So far, there has been little evidence that the real’s slide to a record low of 4.50 per dollar is boosting overseas demand for Brazilian goods, while imports are still expected to rise this year.
Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Writing by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Chizu Nomiyama
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[Plain Jane]

Haiti's president picks new prime minister to tackle socio-political crisis

Haiti's president Jovenel Moise on Monday named a new prime minister to tackle the country's worsening socio-political and security crisis.

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Haiti's president picks new prime minister to tackle socio-political crisis
Issued on: 03/03/2020 - 01:08

Haiti's President Jovenel Moise speaks during a news conference to provide information about the measures concerning coronavirus, at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti March 2, 2020. © REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares
Text by:NEWS WIRES
Haiti's president Jovenel Moise on Monday named a new prime minister to tackle the country's worsening socio-political and security crisis.

The decree naming Joseph Jouthe to the position was published in the official government gazette, after Moise made the announcement on Twitter -- albeit with a different spelling of Jouthe's name.

"Following consultations with different sectors, I have decided on Joute Joseph as new prime minister," Moise said on his official Twitter account.
"He is tasked with forming, as soon as possible, a government of transparency and consensus, capable of rising to the challenges of the moment," he said.

Jouthe has been environment minister since September 2018 and was also appointed interim finance minister in September 2019. He replaced Jean-Michel Lapin, who had been acting prime minister.

Haiti has been in deep crisis since the resignation in March 2019 of prime minister Jean-Henry Ceant. Jouthe is the third person Moise has appointed to the post since then.
Lawmakers have never approved any of his nominees, hampering the government's ability to function: elections could not be held last autumn and parliament has not been in session since January.

That means Jouthe's appointment cannot be ratified, according to constitutional rules.
Political talks that began last summer to find a way to form a new government came to nothing and the opposition is demanding that Moise step down before any further discussion can even begin.

Popular anger has been focused on Moise since the High Court of Accounts announced in May 2019 that he was suspected of involvement in a huge corruption scandal that stretches back a decade.

The ever-deepening crisis has slammed the brakes on domestic and international investment, leading to massive unemployment levels and an inflation rate topping 20 percent, which has made the impoverished nation even poorer.

A third of the population now faces severe food insecurity, the last stage before famine, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

The country has also faced a sudden surge in the number of kidnappings for ransom, together with a rise in the usual gang-related violence in its poorer urban neighbourhoods.
A French employee of the WFP was freed last Thursday, two days after she was abducted in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.
(AFP)

 

[Plain Jane]

At least 17 dead in Brazil's southeast due to rains

At least 17 people have died in southeastern Brazil's since Sunday due to heavy rains in the states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, authorities said.

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ENVIRONMENT
MARCH 3, 2020 / 1:52 PM / UPDATED 10 HOURS AGO
At least 17 dead in Brazil's southeast due to rains

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - At least 17 people have died in southeastern Brazil’s since Sunday due to heavy rains in the states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, authorities said.

Twelve people died in Sao Paulo early on Tuesday and at least five people died between Sunday and Monday in Rio de Janeiro. The state of Sao Paulo said an additional 46 people remained missing.

Brazil has seen very heavy rainfall so far in 2020, especially in the country’s southeast. Over the weekend, Rio de Janeiro authorities said the region received as much rain as was expected for more than half of the month of March.

The rains have also highlighted the country’s weak infrastructure.

In nearby Minas Gerais state, almost 50 died in late January due to rain, with 25,000 people being displaced.

One of the people who died early on Tuesday in Sao Paulo was a firefighter who was on duty helping victims.

Reporting by Debora Moreira; Editing by Alistair Bell
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[Plain Jane]

Stalled supply chains, surging demand: coronavirus slams Brazil mask factory

The last time Miguel Luiz Gricheno had such sky-high demand for his Brazilian company's masks was in 2001, during the global scare over anthrax attacks, he recalled.

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NEWS
MARCH 4, 2020 / 12:00 PM / UPDATED 20 HOURS AGO
Stalled supply chains, surging demand: coronavirus slams Brazil mask factory

Amanda Perobelli
3 MIN READ

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The last time Miguel Luiz Gricheno had such sky-high demand for his Brazilian company’s masks was in 2001, during the global scare over anthrax attacks, he recalled.

But the coronavirus outbreak, which has spread across the world, spooking investors and citizens from Beijing to Brasilia, has created demand unlike anything the chief executive of Destra Brasil had ever seen.

“People are going after masks as if they were gold,” he said Gricheno in an interview at his factory in Sao Paulo.

Gricheno said Destra had doubled production to around 65,000 masks a month, but was struggling to meet local demand - and a spate of requests from China and Italy - due to global supply chain problems.

“The demand is immense,” he said.

More than 93,000 cases of the coronavirus have been reported globally, prompting governments to slash economic forecasts and step up preparations for major disruption. So far, Brazil has just two confirmed cases, but nearly 500 suspected cases.


The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday warned of a global shortage and price gouging for protective equipment and asked companies and governments to increase production by 40%.

The last major rush for masks occurred shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 airliner attacks on New York and Washington, when letters laced with anthrax bacteria spores were mailed to several U.S. news media offices, triggering a global scare.

Gricheno said his nonsurgical masks, usually worn to keep out dust and allergens, typically sold for about 1-1.5 reais (22-56 cents) wholesale, but they now fetch 3-5 reais on the secondary market.

“People always try to make the most of an opportunity,” he said.

Hardware stores may be the better place to find the masks since most people tend to look for them in drugstores, Gricheno said.

Nonetheless, he said mask demand would go through the roof if the virus took hold in Brazil, which has more than 210 million people. Sao Paulo, where he is based, has a population of more than 20 million.

The numbers are astronomical,” he said.

Already, he added, Destra was struggling to secure components to make masks, with suppliers asking for four to five months to meet orders due to supply chain disruption. Destra has already sold out of masks for the next 30-40 days, he said.

Eventually, a vaccine or treatment will be developed and the panic would subside, Gricheno said, but for now, demand will continue to grow.

Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Richard Chang
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[Plain Jane]

Chile changing: transgender student leader lends voice to renewed protests

As the long southern hemisphere summer holiday draws to an end this month, students in Chile are returning to college - but not always to classes. Many are getting ready to head out into the streets and breathe new life into the protests that rocked the country last year.

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NEWS
MARCH 5, 2020 / 1:58 PM / UPDATED 14 HOURS AGO
Chile changing: transgender student leader lends voice to renewed protests

Natalia A. Ramos Miranda
4 MIN READ

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - As the long southern hemisphere summer holiday draws to an end this month, students in Chile are returning to college - but not always to classes. Many are getting ready to head out into the streets and breathe new life into the protests that rocked the country last year.

Organizers of marches to mark International Women’s Day on Sunday are hoping to attract large crowds. Last year, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 attended the one in Santiago.

One of the loudest and most influential voices pressing for change is Emilia Schneider, a transgender, feminist and militant leftist who is the leader of the Student Federation of the University of Chile (Fech), the country’s oldest student union.

The Fech is known for its role in demonstrations for free education between 2011 and 2013 that brought Chile and its student leaders global attention. But it was caught on the backfoot in October last year when civil disobedience over public transport fare hikes spiraled into weeks of widespread violence and demonstrations over inequality and elitism.


The protests were Chile’s most profound unrest since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1990. They cost the economy millions of dollars, at least 31 people died, more than 3,000 were injured, and 30,000 were arrested.

Now, the Fech is joining in, and has endorsed the protesters’ demands for deep societal changes.

“We are the sons and daughters of neo-liberal Chile and the shortcomings that came with it,” Schneider, a 23-year-old law student, told Reuters this week in an interview at the headquarters of the Fech.

“We had seen years of protests in this country but the demands had not been heeded,” she said, citing the highly privatized provision of services such as health, education and pensions that had sparked a “sense of discomfort that built up over years.”

Schneider said she has benefited from a Gender Identity Law that allows people to legally change their name and sex and took effect in December last year. The passing of the law caused shockwaves in the historically conservative and predominantly Catholic country, where divorce was legalized just 16 years ago and abortion is allowed only in extreme situations.

She argues that her gender change was only made possible by her privileged position as a student leader and the support of her liberal family. Many like her still face job insecurity, discrimination, and patchy access to health services, she said.

Schneider has a potent link to the country’s dark past: her great-grandfather was General Rene Schneider, a well-known figure in Chile who opposed plans for a military coup in 1970 and was killed by a far-right group.

Older Chileans lived through the chilling effect of the 1973-1990 dictatorship but younger people protesting had less “fear of participating in politics,” she said.

President Sebastian Pinera has sought to address protesters’ grievances by sacking his most unpopular ministers and introducing new laws to improve salaries, pensions and healthcare. He also backed a growing clamor for a new constitution to replace the incumbent drafted during the Pinochet regime.



Slideshow (5 Images)
But many remain dubious about his ability to push the laws through a divided Congress and, if he does, how much change they will really bring.

Schneider has turned her organization’s focus to lobbying for influence over the new constitution and specifically the participation of more women in the drafting of the new text if it is approved in a referendum on April 26.

“We want a feminist constitution,” she said, “one that guarantees sexual and reproductive rights, gender equality and greater participation by women and those who do not conform to traditional genders.”

Chile may be changing, she said - but not fast enough. “We have to keep seeking new policies to generate fresh changes,” she said. “Protests alone will not get us there.”

Reporting by Natalia Ramos, Writing by Aislinn Laing, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien
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[Plain Jane]

Latin American women prepare for record feminist marches

Millions of women are expected to hit the streets across Latin America on Sunday to mark International Women's Day, against a backdrop of wider social unrest in the region.

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NEWS
MARCH 7, 2020 / 6:10 AM / UPDATED 5 MINUTES AGO
Latin American women prepare for record feminist marches

Aislinn Laing
3 MIN READ

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Millions of women are expected to hit the streets across Latin America on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day, against a backdrop of wider social unrest in the region.

This year’s event coincides with attempts to pass laws to penalize femicide, legalize abortion, and give women an equal voice in drafting a new constitution.

On Monday, women around the region are planning to stay home from work, school, and university to illustrate what public life would look like without them.

In Chile, some have called for men to be blocked from the planned marches. The demonstrations are expected to be bolstered nonetheless by participants in broader protests against social inequality that began in October and at their peak included more than one million people.

A particular focus this year will be justice for women hurt during those protests. According to Chile’s Institute for Human Rights, 439 women were injured. It has laid six complaints against police for sexual assault.


This week, Chilean senators approved a bill aimed at giving women equal representation in drawing up a potential new constitution and Chile’s center-right President Sebastian Pinera signed a law strengthening punishment for femicide.

Javiera Arce, a political scientist at the University of Valparaiso, estimated there could be double the number of participants from last year’s march in Santiago, which she put at 500,000. “I don’t know a single woman not going,” she said.

Colombian women are expected to mark the day with events hosted around Bogota by the office of new - and first female - mayor Claudia Lopez.

Protests are likely to focus on a Constitutional Court ruling earlier this week, which upheld limits on abortion to cases of sexual assault, fetal deformity or maternal health risks.

In Mexico, there are plans for multiple marches and strikes in protest over what many perceive to be the authorities’ inadequate response to a doubling of femicide cases compared to five years ago.

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In recent weeks, these include the kidnapping and murder of a seven-year-old girl and the gruesome murder of a 25-year-old woman.

Argentine women will hold a general strike on Monday. The new leftist government of President Alberto Fernandez has announced plans to create a minister for women and support a fresh effort to legalize abortion after previous attempts were defeated in Congress.

Feminism had to be established as “an indisputable thread” running through all public policy, said Ofelia Fernandez, a 19-year-old woman newly elected as a lawmaker, in her maiden speech to Argentina’s Congress on Thursday.

Reporting by Aislinn Laing, Natalia Ramos, Julia Symes Cobb, Marina Lammertyn and Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien
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[Plain Jane]

Paraguay confirms its first case of coronavirus

Paraguay has registered its first confirmed case of coronavirus, the Health Ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.

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NEWS
MARCH 7, 2020 / 1:21 PM / UPDATED 40 MINUTES AGO
Paraguay confirms its first case of coronavirus


1 MIN READ

ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguay has registered its first confirmed case of coronavirus, the Health Ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.
No other details about the case were included in the tweet, which said ministry officials were scheduled to hold a news conference on the matter later in the day.
Reporting by Daniela Desantis; Writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Daniel Wallis
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[Plain Jane]

El Salvador bans visitors from Germany, France over coronavirus

El Salvador has banned visitors from Germany and France due to coronavirus, after previously barring visitors from Italy, South Korea and Iran, the countries with the largest outbreaks outside China.

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NEWS
MARCH 8, 2020 / 10:04 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
El Salvador bans visitors from Germany, France over coronavirus

Nelson Renteria
2 MIN READ

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - El Salvador has banned visitors from Germany and France due to coronavirus, after previously barring visitors from Italy, South Korea and Iran, the countries with the largest outbreaks outside China.
Salvadorans and diplomats arriving from the two countries may enter but must spend 30 days in quarantine, President Nayib Bukele said on Twitter late on Saturday.

Bukele also called for stepping up checks on travelers arriving from any country that has coronavirus and for stricter sanitation measures.
“From here on out, a total cleaning of the airport and customs must be done every day,” he said.

There are now more than 106,000 coronavirus cases and more than 3,600 deaths across the world, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements. France has the fifth-highest number of coronavirus cases outside China, while Germany ranks sixth.

El Salvador has no reported cases of coronavirus, even as other nearby countries begin grappling with the disease.

On Saturday, Mexico reported seven instances of coronavirus, up from six. Costa Rica said its number of cases rose to five from one, including an American couple.

Elsewhere in the region, a patient diagnosed with coronavirus in Argentina died on Saturday, the first death related to the virus in Latin America.

Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Sonya Hepinstall
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[Plain Jane]

Argentina confirms first death in Latin America of patient with coronavirus

A patient diagnosed with coronavirus died in Argentina on Saturday, the Health Ministry said in a statement, marking the first death related to the virus in Latin America.

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NEWS
MARCH 7, 2020 / 8:08 PM / UPDATED 15 HOURS AGO
Argentina confirms first death in Latin America of patient with coronavirus


1 MIN READ

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A patient diagnosed with coronavirus died in Argentina on Saturday, the Health Ministry said in a statement, marking the first death related to the virus in Latin America.
Fellow South American countries Paraguay, Colombia, Chile and Peru announced their first confirmed cases of coronavirus in recent days, and a number of cases have been confirmed in neighboring Brazil.
Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Leslie Adler
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[Plain Jane]

Hmmmm...

Fire destroys most voting machines in Venezuela's main elections warehouse

Venezuela's elections council said on Sunday that a fire over the weekend destroyed most of the voting machines stored in its main warehouse in the capital, Caracas, potentially complicating parliamentary elections scheduled for this year.

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NEWS
MARCH 8, 2020 / 7:31 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Fire destroys most voting machines in Venezuela's main elections warehouse

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s elections council said on Sunday that a fire over the weekend destroyed most of the voting machines stored in its main warehouse in the capital, Caracas, potentially complicating parliamentary elections scheduled for this year.

Nearly 50,000 voting machines and almost 600 computers went up in flames as a result of the fire that broke out on Saturday, said elections council chief Tibisay Lucena.

“There was little that could be rescued,” Lucena said in a statement broadcast on state television.


“If there are small groups (of people) who think that this will end our constitutionally established electoral processes, they are very wrong.”

She did not elaborate on how many voting machines were still available for use, or how the incident would affect future elections.

Lucena said she had asked state prosecutors to look into the cause of the blaze, which did not cause any injuries.

The South American country’s elections have come under heavy criticism since President Nicolas Maduro’s 2018 re-election was widely dismissed as rigged in his favor, leading dozens of governments around the world to disavow his government in 2019.

Smartmatic, the company that manufactures the equipment, halted its Venezuelan operations in 2017 after a disputed referendum to create a parliamentary superbody known as the Constituent Assembly. The firm said the results of that vote had been inflated by at least 1 million votes in favor of the government.

Venezuela holds elections this year for parliament, which is currently controlled by the opposition. Maduro’s adversaries are demanding that the country instead hold a new presidential election, and have not yet said whether they will participate in the legislative election. A date for that vote has not been set.

Reporting by Vivian Sequera; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Peter Cooney
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

A day without women: Strikes in Mexico follow huge rallies

Millions of Mexican women stayed away from offices, schools and government agencies on Monday to join a second day of marches to protest against violence and macho culture, as an eerie quiet fell on normally bustling streets and factories.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 9, 2020 / 2:13 AM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
A day without women: strikes in Mexico and Argentina follow huge rallies

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Millions of women in Mexico and Argentina will stay away from offices, school and government offices on Monday, stepping up historic protests against gender violence that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets over the weekend.

The one-day action dubbed “a day without us” is intended to show what life would be like if women vanished from society. In Mexico, the strike stems from a surge in disappearances of women and femicides, or gender-motivated killings of women.

Femicides in Mexico jumped 137% in the past five years, government statistics show, as gang violence pushed the national murder tally to record heights. Most violent crimes go unsolved.


On Sunday, women took to the streets in unprecedented numbers across Latin America as part of International Women’s Day, demanding abortion rights and action from leaders to stem the violence.

The mostly peaceful protests saw anger boiling over into some outbreaks of violence, such as Molotov cocktails thrown at Mexico’s national palace, after the killing of a 7-year-old and the murder and skinning of a young woman shocked the nation.

The impact of Monday’s strike, in contrast, will stem from the absence of women in businesses, universities and government ministries. Not all women, however, will take part.

We are tired of being victims, of being abused and mistreated. Enough is enough,” said Alma Delia Díaz, 45, a beautician in the Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec.

Diaz said she supported women making their voice heard, but personally could not miss a day’s work.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said government employees are free to join the walkout. But he has also accused political opponents of seeking to exploit Mexico’s security problems to undermine his administration.

Editing by Clarence Fernandez
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles

 

[Plain Jane]

Master, president, god? On the trail of Peru's mysterious new political power broker

In Peru's capital, a group dressed in biblical-style robes, veils, and sandals gathered one recent Sunday night to celebrate an unlikely victory: their congregation had overnight become a major force in the country's new Congress.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 9, 2020 / 6:11 AM / UPDATED 27 MINUTES AGO
Master, president, god? On the trail of Peru's mysterious new political power broker

Marcelo Rochabrun
6 MIN READ

LIMA (Reuters) - In Peru’s capital, a group dressed in biblical-style robes, veils, and sandals gathered one recent Sunday night to celebrate an unlikely victory: their congregation had overnight become a major force in the country’s new Congress.

One by one, a dozen of those who had ran for office paraded on stage, thanking their “master” and party president Ezequiel Jonas Ataucusi Molina, who is sometimes revered as a god.

“In 2021, our master will be president!” proclaimed Esther Yovera, alluding to presidential elections next year.

Ataucusi himself was not there, however. He has ruled the secretive Christian group behind the party for 20 years but has been seen in public just once. Most followers have never met him and so little is known about his day-to-day whereabouts and activities that his sister and some followers have previously gone to the police to report him missing.

The rise of this fringe party, the Agricultural People’s Front of Peru (Frepap), is one of the effects of a political upheaval in the copper-rich country that has toppled much of the ruling class - leaving an enigmatic religious leader in charge of the country’s no. 3 legislative force.

“As president of our party, he can propose laws, and that’s what we are here for, to make them happen,” said Maria Teresa Cespedes, one of 15 Frepap lawmakers who will be sworn in later this month.

Ataucusi could not be reached for comment.

He’s very busy, as you all know,” Cespedes added.

While Frepap ran in January’s election on a secular platform focused on stronger labor laws and more congressional accountability, over a dozen followers told Reuters that the party’s mission is religious at heart.

“Strategically, it is to show the world that we are the chosen people,” said Isai Huanaco, who has been part of the church since birth and ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

The church, called the Israelite Mission of the New Universal Pact, has for 50 years preached strict Bible adherence, while proclaiming that Peru’s most powerful pre-Columbian indigenous people, the Incas, were blessed by the Judeo-Christian God. Its followers have been encouraged to wear robes and colonize remote lands in Peru’s rainforest.

Now, their mysterious leader wields potentially significant political power, but his agenda remains unknown. Frepap’s elected lawmakers have been noncommittal on potential alliances with other parties while Ataucusi, who has made no known political statements, remains silent.

“I think nobody before the election could have predicted this,” said Eduardo Dargent, a professor at Peru’s Catholic University. “We’ll have to explore it and study it.”

POLITICS AND RELIGION
In a turquoise room awash with burning incense, Felipe Pumacayo, dressed in a gray robe, spoke to a group of believers. He mixed religion and politics, diagnosing Peru as filled with corruption and injustice that needed fixing.

“That’s why we have been called on, our people, to know God’s commandments and spread them in society,” he said of Frepap.

The church’s services last a full day, from Friday evening running overnight into Saturday. Women sit on the left, men to the right. They sing biblical psalms to the rhythms of “chicha” music, created by Andean migrants who moved to Lima.

Juan Caceres, an elder preacher, explained that entering politics was a way to expand the congregation’s influence.

“Politics is just another mass media to spread our faith,” he told Reuters.

Frepap’s shock political victory has given the group’s oft-repeated concept that they are the chosen people a major boost.

“Our master said the world would come to find us one day,” said a congregation member who works at a robe store. “And what finally made us known to the world? It was politics.”

HE IS GOD”
The church was founded by Ataucusi’s father, Ezequiel Ataucusi Gamonal, an indigenous Peruvian who worked as a carpenter and said God spoke to him in a series of revelations.

The elder Ataucusi was a natural orator with a catchy cadence, who founded Frepap in 1989 and ran unsuccessfully for president thrice. After he died in 2000, his followers venerated his corpse for three days, awaiting his resurrection.

That’s when the younger Ataucusi took the helm, aged 28. He spoke for four minutes at his inaugural ceremony. Then he was not seen again.

The mystery around him has helped imbue him with a godly aura that is different from his father’s.

“To me, in spirit, he is God,” said Fredy Cabrera, a taxi driver and congregation member. “In his body resides the holy spirit.”

The congregation celebrates Ataucusi’s birthday every Jan. 22, but he has yet to make an appearance. At the end of the night, a church leader diligently gives a reason for his absence.

Those who have met him told Reuters he is shy and dislikes the spotlight. His followers see this as a sign of humility.

Raquel Ataucusi, his younger sister, said he enjoys driving trailer trucks. She has been estranged from her brother and reported him as missing in February, forcing Ataucusi to show up at a police station.


Public records say he lives in a poor settlement in Lima next to a dirt road. On a recent sweltering afternoon, a woman answered the doorbell after about a dozen tries. Ataucusi was away.

“I don’t know when he will be back,” she said.

Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Additional reporting by Marco Aquino; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Rosalba O'Brien
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Exclusive: Brazil's Caixa Seguridade postpones IPO amid coronavirus concerns - sources

Brazilian insurer Caixa Seguridade SA decided on Monday to cancel its initial public offering, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, amid concerns about the new coronavirus and plunging oil prices.

www.reuters.com

DEALS
MARCH 9, 2020 / 3:56 PM / UPDATED 12 HOURS AGO
Exclusive: Brazil's Caixa Seguridade postpones IPO amid coronavirus concerns - sources

Carolina Mandl, Aluisio Alves
3 MIN READ

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian insurer Caixa Seguridade SA decided on Monday to cancel its initial public offering, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, amid concerns about the new coronavirus and plunging oil prices.
Controlling shareholder state bank Caixa Economica Federal had been planning to list the insurer in April, but has decided to push it back in three to six months, both sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are not public yet.

The Caixa Seguridade IPO had been expected to raise more than 10 billion reais ($2.12 billion), making it the biggest expected Brazilian initial share offering for 2020.
Caixa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The setback may dampen bankers’ hopes for a record year for IPOs and follow-ons. The expectation that more domestic investors could invest in stocks amid Brazil’s lowest interest rates on record and a more robust economic growth outlook had led a series of companies to test the markets.

Bankers were expecting nearly 200 billion reais in share offerings this year. Homebuilders, banks, parking lot operators and retailers are among the 25 companies that have filed for IPOs with Brazil’s securities regulator this year.

A potential delay to the Caixa Seguridade IPO could also represent a blow to the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, which had hoped to raise billions of dollars this year through a series of state asset sales which may now fetch a lower price due to the recent market rout.

Most companies have not yet taken a final decision about going ahead with their IPO plans or pushing the deals back, said three sources, including one of the people with knowledge of the Caixa Seguridade IPO. As companies have already made their preliminary filings with the securities regulators, they can still wait for roughly two weeks before a final decision.

Still, some companies are already nearing moves to pull the plug on planned IPOs, including Banco Daycoval, which had hoped to raise $1 billion in a stock flotation in the coming weeks, a source close to the bank said.

Banco Daycoval did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reporting by Carolina Mandl and Aluisio Alves in Sao Paulo; Editing by Christian Plumb and Matthew Lewis
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Gunfire, burning vehicles in Mexican city; officials deny gang leader held

Gunmen blocked roads with burning vehicles and exchanged fire with security forces in a central Mexican city on Tuesday, while security officials denied that a wanted gang leader had been captured.

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NEWS
MARCH 11, 2020 / 12:28 AM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
Gunfire, burning vehicles in Mexican city; officials deny gang leader held


3 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Gunmen blocked roads with burning vehicles and exchanged fire with security forces in a central Mexican city on Tuesday, while security officials denied that a wanted gang leader had been captured.

The brazen skirmishes in the city of Celaya in Guanajuato state sparked rumors on social media that security forces had closed in on Jose “El Marro” Yepez, the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima criminal cartel, and possibly arrested him.

The cartel is believed to be behind the massive theft of gasoline from illegal taps on pipelines belonging to national oil company Pemex, a criminal racket that had grown significantly in recent years.

“El Marro” is also suspected of organizing the theft of fuel directly from a nearby Pemex refinery in the city of Salamanca.

His wife was arrested in late January only to be released a few days later after a judge determined there was insufficient evidence against her. Last week, Yepez’s father was detained, accused of driving a stolen car.


President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador aggressively confronted fuel theft early last year, shortly after taking office, ordering the temporary closure of especially vulnerable pipelines which in turn provoked weeks of fuel shortages.

Pemex data shows that the illegal taps fell dramatically last year.

Luis Ernesto Ayala, a senior Guanajuato security official, wrote on Twitter that rumors spread on social media suggesting that an unnamed leader of a criminal group in the state had been arrested were false.

“We continue working in an operation,” he added in the post, without providing more details.

Other state and federal security sources also denied that Yepez had been detained.

The violence in Celaya recalled the gunbattles last October in Culiacan, in northwestern Mexico, where hundreds of Sinaloa Cartel fighters temporarily took over the city of about a million people and forced the government to release a son of jailed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman who had been briefly detained.

The chaos marked a major security setback for Lopez Obrador, who has pledged to pacify the country after years of drug-war violence.

Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and David Alire Garcia; Editing by Robert Birsel
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Mexicans wonder if Trump's wall could stop coronavirus spreading south

True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump has warned coronavirus could spread from Mexico, touting his anti-migrant wall as a solution. Seen from south of the border though, the greater risk is infection from the much bigger outbreak in the United States.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 12, 2020 / 8:51 PM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
Mexicans wonder if Trump's wall could stop coronavirus spreading south

Lizbeth Diaz
3 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - True to form, U.S. President Donald Trump has warned coronavirus could spread from Mexico, touting his anti-migrant wall as a solution. Seen from south of the border though, the greater risk is infection from the much bigger outbreak in the United States.

Residents of the city of Tijuana, just across from San Diego, California, have for years crossed back and forth daily to reach jobs and schools. Many say they are now wary of bringing back the contagious disease from the U.S. side.

Perla Macias, a Tijuana resident who heads into California to tend a make-up concession in a mall, now sees her commute as a daily risk, but an unavoidable one.

“I don’t want to get sick, but I don’t have a choice,” she said. “I work over there.”

In Mexico, authorities have detected 12 cases of the virus so far and no deaths, a fraction of the more than 1,000 confirmed cases in the United States, where there have been dozens of fatalities.


In California alone 50 cases and four deaths have been confirmed. In Tijuana’s state of Baja California, no cases have been confirmed.

WALL WISECRACKS
Last week, Trump wrote on Twitter that his signature border wall is needed “more than ever,” citing coronavirus as a new argument for the barrier.

The overwhelming majority of Mexicans oppose the wall, dating back to Trump’s campaign for president in which he routinely lashed out at Mexico and its migrants.

Across social media though, Mexicans joked on Thursday that the wall had taken on new purpose - to stop U.S. citizens infecting Mexicans.

Wisecracks aside, Julian Palombo, a Tijuana business chamber official said what was needed was much tougher measures to check for infections coming from San Diego.

“It makes sense to build a wall, but a public health wall from over there to here to avoid the risk of possible infections,” he said.

Like others consulted by Reuters, Palombo bemoaned the lack of checks at busy land crossings into Tijuana, or in nearby airports. He added that face masks and hand sanitizer were in short supply on both sides of the border.

Coronavirus has infected more than 126,000 people globally according to a Reuters tally, most of them in China. In Italy there are 15,000 cases.

Some experts speculate that the outbreak is more acute in both Mexico and the United States than the relatively low number of confirmed cases suggests, due to insufficient testing for the virus. Mexican authorities say they have a clear containment strategy.

Tijuana Mayor Arturo Gonzalez Cruz has said that he is working with Baja California state officials to implement better health checks on persons crossing on foot each day.

Dulce Molina, whose husband works in a San Diego hotel, supported tougher sanitation measures at the border but said a physical barrier was not a solution to keeping the virus out.

“It’s all over the world,” she said.

Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Military roadblocks, curfews: Latin America tightens coronavirus controls

Countries around Latin America tightened restrictions on Monday to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, with Peru putting military personnel on the streets, Costa Rica and Colombia closing their borders and other countries ordering curfews.

www.reuters.com

NEWSMARCH 16, 2020 / 2:44 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Military roadblocks, curfews: Latin America tightens coronavirus controls
Marco Aquino, Daniela Desantis, Nelson Renteria
4 MIN READ

LIMA/ASUNCION/SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) - Countries around Latin America tightened restrictions on Monday to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, with Peru deploying military personnel on the streets, Costa Rica closing borders and Paraguay imposing a curfew.

The region has yet to be hit as hard as Asia or Europe, and countries have moved aggressively to contain the virus that has shut down cities and international transport hubs and battered markets.

Nevertheless, not all of them are moving at the same speed, and a diplomatic tiff erupted when El Salvador’s president accused Mexico of allowing people with coronavirus to board a flight due to leave Mexico City for San Salvador.

In Peru, President Martin Vizcarra said leaders from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil spoke via conference call on Monday to analyze the situation and coordinate actions against the pandemic.

“We have agreed that together we are going to join forces,” he told reporters at the governmental palace, adding countries would look to coordinate demand for medical supplies and to calculate the economic impact on the region.

In Lima, masked military personnel blocked major roads, while police restricted the movement of people, as the country rolled out a state of enforced “social isolation”.

Peru has suspended constitutional rights such as free movement and assembly, though the government has assured it will guarantee the operation of supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, basic services and the transport of merchandise.

In nearby Paraguay, which has eight cases of the respiratory disease so far, the government said it would enforce a curfew from 8 p.m. daily to restrict crowds.

Certain people, including those doing vital work, delivering food or transportation could continue to move around, Paraguay’s Interior Minister Euclides Acevedo told a news conference.

Meanwhile Panama’s government said it had now reported 69 cases of coronavirus infection, up from 55 on Sunday.

Cornavirus has been slower to reach Latin America than much of the world. Some countries, including Mexico, have sought to minimize public disruptions. Others such as El Salvador have gone to considerable lengths to keep the virus out.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on Twitter he had information an Avianca flight from Mexico was due to take off with 12 coronavirus patients on board.

In response, Mexico’s foreign ministry questioned where Bukele had obtained his information and said Mexico had always acted with great responsibility on epidemics.

Avianca later canceled the flight. It was not clear if coronavirus patients were going to board the plane.

Venezuela entered the first day of a quarantine on Monday, imposed by President Nicolas Maduro to stop the virus. But many across the economically struggling country went out anyway, saying they could not afford not to work.

Chile cut interest rates to aid growth, while LATAM Airlines Group, South America’s largest carrier, cut 90% of international flights due to weak demand.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said his country, which has 155 confirmed coronavirus cases, would close its borders to foreigners starting on Wednesday.

Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado declared a state of emergency that included shutting borders, and ordered educational authorities to close study centers for a month.

Guatemala suspended all flights and banned foreigners from entering the country for two weeks, while El Salvador and Honduras were in a state of near lockdown.

Honduras suspended various constitutional rights for a week, including freedoms of movement, speech and assembly.

Separately, fast food chain McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N) said on Twitter it was shutting its stores in Guatemala and El Salvador until further notice, appending a message in Spanish: “Stay at home”.

Reporting by Marco Aquino in Lima, Daniela Desantis in Asuncion, Nelson Renteria in San Salvador, Dave Sherwood in Santiago, Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City, Frank Jack Daniel in Mexico City and Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa and Elida Moreno in Panama City; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Paul Simao, Bill Berkrot and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

'Hundreds' of inmates escape Brazil jails ahead of coronavirus lockdown

Hundreds of prisoners broke out of four Brazilian jails on Monday, the day before their day-release privileges were due to be suspended over the coronavirus outbreak, Sao Paulo state prison authorities and local media reported.

www.reuters.com

NEWSMARCH 16, 2020 / 9:47 PM / UPDATED 39 MINUTES AGO
'Hundreds' of inmates escape Brazil jails ahead of coronavirus lockdown
2 MIN READ

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Hundreds of prisoners broke out of four Brazilian jails on Monday, the day before their day-release privileges were due to be suspended over the coronavirus outbreak, Sao Paulo state prison authorities and local media reported.

The Sao Paulo state prison authority said it could not say how many inmates had escaped as it was “still tallying the exact number of fugitives.” Local media reported that as many as 1,000 had fled from four jails - Mongaguá, Tremembé, Porto Feliz and Mirandópolis - ahead of the lockdown.

A video on social media showed a long stream of prisoners purportedly fleeing a prison. Reuters was unable to verify the veracity or location of the video.

The Sao Paulo state prison authority said “acts of insubordination” had taken place at the jails ahead of the suspension of the day-release program.

The suspension was necessary, it added, because 34,000 convicts would be returning to jail and “would have a high potential to install and propagate the coronavirus in a vulnerable population, generating health risks for servers and custodians.” It said law enforcement were “taking care of the situation.”

Sao Paulo state is home to the First Capital Command, Brazil’s most powerful prison gang, which is expanding quickly across the country and in neighboring nations. It traffics guns, drugs and other contraband.

Brazil’s overstuffed prisons often see deadly prison riots between rival gangs.

Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Leslie Adler

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Mexico, former swine flu hub, tests nerves with coronavirus strategy

Mexican officials are dragging their feet on border closures and coronavirus containment measures, in what critics call a high risk strategy driven by bad memories of a shutdown a decade ago that deepened the country's recession during the swine flu epidemic.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 17, 2020 / 7:03 PM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
Mexico, former swine flu hub, tests nerves with coronavirus strategy

Frank Jack Daniel, Adriana Barrera
4 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican officials are dragging their feet on border closures and coronavirus containment measures, in what critics call a high risk strategy driven by bad memories of a shutdown a decade ago that deepened the country’s recession during the swine flu epidemic.


A worker carries out the disinfection of a metro car, as part of Mexico City's government's measures in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mexico City, Mexico March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Gustavo Graf
The United States and neighbors in Latin America have suspended flights, banned public gatherings and closed schools.

In Mexico City, however, tens of thousands of music fans rocked out to Guns and Roses at a festival at the weekend. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also went on tour, hugging surging crowds of supporters and kissing babies.

The gamble is straightforward: Mexico’s economy was stagnating even before the COVID-19 outbreak shuttered factories worldwide and the government has said it wants to limit economic damage by not over-reacting.

Some Mexican scientists, receiving news of Europe’s growing lockdown, South Korea’s widespread testing and global travel bans, are increasingly worried that Mexico’s softly-softly approach could lead to a bigger epidemic down the road.

“I am worried that we end up in a situation like Italy, where measures weren’t taken on time, and the number of cases started to get away from them,” said Rosa Maria del Angel, who heads the Department of Infectomics and Molecular Pathogenesis at Mexico’s National Polytechnic Institute.

In 2009, a new strain of swine flu that emerged in Mexico raised fears of a global pandemic.
Authorities acted swiftly, shutting down public life in the densely populated capital, Mexico City, and swathes of the country. The silent streets foreshadowed scenes today in towns under lockdown from China to Europe and the United States.

The disease was quickly contained and normal life resumed within weeks, but by some estimates the response shaved a percentage point from that year’s economic activity. The economy, already reeling from the global financial crisis, ended 2009 contracted by more than 5%.

LET’S KEEP OUR CALM”
The lesson is not lost on the officials running Mexico’s response in 2020, many of whom were also involved in fighting the influenza epidemic. Mexico’s economy last year suffered its first recession since 2009.

“The economic loss was directly related, in the most past, to the disruption of tourism, trade and services,” said Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell, who was a senior official in the epidemiology department during the flu crisis.

That is “why it is so important, with very careful precision, not to take pre-emptive actions that do not correspond to the magnitude of the risk,” Lopez-Gatell, who is now the public face of the government’s response, told reporters last week.

The finance minister and other senior officials have voiced the same sentiment, while Lopez Obrador has said he will continue public activities until Lopez-Gatell tells him to stop.
This week, the government announced initial measures, including more testing. It recommends school closures from next Monday and canceling cultural events with more than 5,000 people.
While nations from Canada to Peru have suspended flights or limited free movement, Mexico has yet to propose any restrictions on travel around or in and out of the country.

Tourism accounts for about one-sixth of Mexico’s roughly $1.3 trillion economy.
Lopez-Gatell said on Tuesday countries around the world were repeating Mexico’s mistake in 2009, making decisions based on anxiety and social pressure rather than science.

The lesson from the flu epidemic is that acting too soon is counterproductive, he said. “Acting responsibly, we can’t and should not take measures that exhaust our society. Let’s not use up all the interventions too soon. Let’s keep our calm.”
Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel and Adriana Barrera; Editing by Richard Chang
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Melodi]

Per Venezuelan Media (on Twitter) Brazil has shut the border between Brazil and Venezuela over the virus - and blames Maduro.
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TVV Noticias

@TVVnoticias

#18Mar

El presidente de Brasil,
@jairbolsonaro
, atribuyó su decisión de cerrar parcialmente la frontera con Venezuela como una medida de seguridad ante la "incapacidad del régimen dictatorial" de Maduro de contener al COVID-19. #TVV #TVVNoticias

 

[Plain Jane]

Cruise ship with COVID-19 patients docks in Cuba

HAVANA (AP) — A British cruise ship rejected by Caribbean port officials for weeks docked in Cuba on Wednesday to unload more than 1,000 people on board, including five with confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

apnews.com

Cruise ship with COVID-19 patients docks in Cuba

HAVANA (AP) — A British cruise ship rejected by Caribbean port officials for weeks docked in Cuba on Wednesday to unload more than 1,000 people on board, including five with confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

The Braemar arrived in the port of Mariel early in the morning. Passengers leaving the ship were being taken by medical workers in protective gear to Jose Marti International Airport, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east in the capital, Havana.

Most of the 682 passengers were expected to arrive in London Thursday morning on planes chartered by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. Passengers with the coronavirus or flu-like symptoms were being flown to a British military base on a separate plane.

 

[Plain Jane]

Coronavirus thumps Brazil, prompting nationwide cries of 'Bolsonaro Out!'

The coronavirus outbreak hammered Brazil on Wednesday, crushing local markets, infecting more members of the country's political elite and prompting loud protests against President Jair Bolsonaro, whose son waded into a diplomatic spat with China.

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NEWS
MARCH 18, 2020 / 10:22 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Coronavirus thumps Brazil, prompting nationwide cries of 'Bolsonaro Out!'

Gabriel Stargardter, Gabriela Mello
5 MIN READ

RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The coronavirus outbreak hammered Brazil on Wednesday, crushing local markets, infecting more members of the country’s political elite and prompting loud protests against President Jair Bolsonaro, whose son waded into a diplomatic spat with China.

Bolsonaro’s national security adviser, the mines and energy minister and the head of the Senate all tested positive for the virus on Wednesday, as the death toll rose to four dead with 428 people infected.

Bolsonaro has come under mounting criticism for his lax handling of the outbreak, which he initially labeled a “fantasy.” The virus’ spread represents a major threat for the far-right populist, who was already struggling to resuscitate the country’s weak economy.

On Wednesday night, Brazil erupted to the sound of banging pots and pans and shouts of “Bolsonaro out!” with housebound protesters expressing their anger toward the president. The protests took place in major Brazilian cities and even included projections of “Bolsonaro out!” onto the sides of buildings, according to social media videos.

Bolsonaro says he has twice tested negative for the coronavirus, but 14 people in his entourage to Florida 10 days ago have tested positive. The fallout from the trip, in which he met U.S. President Donald Trump, haunts him.

In a fresh headache late on Wednesday, his son Eduardo, a federal lawmaker who also traveled to meet Trump, sparked a diplomatic dust-up with China, Brazil’s top trade partner.

In a tweet, he likened China’s role in the coronavirus outbreak to that of the USSR during the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, alleging a cover-up. “It’s China’s fault and freedom is the answer,” he tweeted.
His comments, which echoed those of Trump, sparked an angry response from the Chinese embassy, which said he had contracted a “mental virus” while in the United States.
“Sadly, you are a person without any international vision or common sense,” it tweeted at him. “We suggest you don’t rush to become the U.S. spokesman in Brazil, or risk an ugly fall.”

With criticism mounting, the president held an afternoon news conference with ministers - all wearing masks - to announce emergency measures to contain the virus and buttress the economy, including assistance for poorer families and support for a struggling aviation industry.

Financial markets were rattled by the fast-spreading virus that causes the COVID-19 respiratory disease.

The benchmark Bovespa stock index closed 10% lower, bond yields spiked and Brazil’s currency hit an all-time low of 5.2 per dollar before central bank measures in foreign exchange and bond markets helped to pare losses.

After markets closed, the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to an all-time low of 3.75% and pledged “to deploy its arsenal of monetary, exchange rate and financial stability policies to fight the current crisis.”

In a fresh blow to many retail stocks, Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria on Wednesday recommended the closure of shopping malls in the metro area of the country’s biggest city, while Sao Paulo city hall also ordered commercial establishments closed to the public from Friday until April 5, with some exceptions.

Airline association ABEAR said the sudden halt in travel was the worst crisis ever faced by Brazil’s aviation sector. Demand for domestic flights in the second half of March fell 50% and international bookings were 85% down, ABEAR said.

BORDER CLOSING
Bolsonaro said Brazil was considering closing all its land borders, following a decree closing its border to Venezuelans, citing contagion risks and strains on the public health system.
The decree, published on Wednesday, does not apply to trucks shipping goods or cross-border humanitarian aid previously authorized by health officials. The 15-day ban on Venezuelans entering Brazil could be extended, it added.

In another restriction of border traffic, land transport regulator ANTT suspended for 60 days all international bus services.
Seven cities neighboring Sao Paulo, Brazil’s biggest metropolis, said they would begin reducing municipal transportation until a total shutdown from March 29 onward.

In a an almost empty lower chamber of Congress, lawmakers approved a presidential decree declaring a national emergency, which allows the government to waive fiscal targets and free up budget resources. The decree is expected to pass the Senate next week.

Senate President Davi Alcolumbre said on social media that had been diagnosed while Bolsonaro Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque, 61, had tested positive. So, too, has the president’s National Security Advisor Augusto Heleno, 72.

Reporting by Gabriela Mello in Sao Paulo and Pedro Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro; Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle and Jake Spring in Brasilia, Alberto Alerigi Jr. in Sao Paulo; writing by Brad Haynes; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Diane Craft, Grant McCool and Gerry Doyle
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

EU asks Ecuador to guarantee airport access after runway blocked with trucks

The European Union on Thursday asked Ecuador to guarantee access to its airports to ensure it can airlift citizens out of the South American nation, following an unusual incident in which a city mayor sent trucks to block a runway.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 19, 2020 / 3:44 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
EU asks Ecuador to guarantee airport access after runway blocked with trucks

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador/QUITO (Reuters) - The European Union on Thursday asked Ecuador to guarantee access to its airports to ensure it can airlift citizens out of the South American nation, following an unusual incident in which a city mayor sent trucks to block a runway.
Vehicles from the municipality of Guayaquil on Wednesday afternoon were sent to fill a runway of the city’s international airport to prevent the landing of an Iberia flight that had planned to evacuate 190 travelers.

Guayaquil Mayor Cynthia Viteri had said the move was meant to “defend the city of Guayaquil,” which has the country’s largest concentration of coronavirus cases. Viteri said on Thursday that she had tested positive for the virus.

An EU statement asked Ecuador to “provide guarantees of security in the use of the airports of Quito and Guayaquil for the arrival of empty flights ... and the exit of European citizens.”
Ecuador as of Thursday had 260 coronavirus cases and four deaths, according to official figures.

The Iberia flight ultimately landed in Quito, the country’s highland capital. The blocked runway also forced carrier KLM to reroute a flight.

Ecuador’s government on Thursday said it could take legal action against the municipality. Alexandra Ocles, the director of the country’s risk management service, called Guayaquil’s move a violation of civil aviation norms.

“It is a regrettable event because it puts the country in a complex situation, especially with the good relations Ecuador has with European countries,” Ocles told reporters, describing the Iberia flight as “humanitarian.”

Foreign travelers have been stranded in Ecuador since the country suspended flights on Sunday to contain the coronavirus’ spread. Iberia’s flight was permitted because it arrived with no passengers and only crew members, according to Transportation Minister Gabriel Martinez.

Reporting by Yury Garcia and Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Luc Cohen; editing by Diane Craft and Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Ecuador drama part 2. Spain tries again.

Spain prepares new flights to Guayaquil, Ecuador to airlift citizens

Spain's Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez said on Friday her administration is preparing new flights to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where the local mayor on Thursday ordered trucks on to the runway to prevent a plane from landing.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 20, 2020 / 4:28 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Spain prepares new flights to Guayaquil, Ecuador to airlift citizens


1 MIN READ

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez said on Friday her administration is preparing new flights to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where the local mayor on Thursday ordered trucks on to the runway to prevent a plane from landing.

Following the unusual incident, the European Union asked Ecuador to guarantee access to its airports to ensure it can airlift citizens out of the South American nation.

The Iberia flight which was unable to land was planning to repatriate 190 EU citizens.

Gonzalez, speaking on radio station COPE, said she discussed the situation with the Ecuadorean foreign minister and her services are now planning to send planes to Ecuador on Saturday to repatriate EU citizens.
Separately, Gonzalez reiterated her administration is taking care of its citizens overseas, repatriating some of them, and urging the majority to stay where they are if they are safe.

Reporting by Inti Landauro
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Bolivia postpones elections, announces nationwide 14-day quarantine to stem spread of coronavirus

Bolivia's interim government announced on Saturday it would postpone presidential elections originally slated for May 3 and institute a mandatory countrywide quarantine for 14 days as coronavirus spread across the Andean nation.

www.reuters.com

NEWSMARCH 21, 2020 / 1:50 PM / UPDATED 13 HOURS AGO
Bolivia postpones elections, announces nationwide 14-day quarantine to stem spread of coronavirus
2 MIN READ

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia’s interim government announced on Saturday it would postpone presidential elections originally slated for May 3 and institute a mandatory countrywide quarantine for 14 days as coronavirus spread across the Andean nation.

The country’s electoral authority said in a statement it would “suspend the elections calendar” for 14 days to match the quarantine, but did not set a new date for the vote.

The tribunal said it would work together with all of the country´s political parties and organizations to determine when to hold the election.

Interim president Jeanine Anez earlier in the day told reporters the quarantine measure would begin Sunday and extend until April 4. Bolivia earlier this week closed its borders and canceled all international flights.

Anez said supermarkets, hospitals, banks and pharmacies would continue to operate as normal during the quarantine. The government would provide cash payments to needy families with children beginning in April, she said.

Bolivia has confirmed 19 cases of coronavirus.

Reporting by Daniel Ramos; Writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Chris Reese

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Bogota prison riot over coronavirus kills nearly two dozen

A prison riot in Colombia's capital Bogota late on Saturday left 23 prisoners dead and 83 injured, the justice minister said on Sunday, as detainees protested sanitary conditions amid the global outbreak of coronavirus.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 22, 2020 / 1:42 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Bogota prison riot over coronavirus kills nearly two dozen


2 MIN READ

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A prison riot in Colombia’s capital Bogota late on Saturday left 23 prisoners dead and 83 injured, the justice minister said on Sunday, as detainees protested sanitary conditions amid the global outbreak of coronavirus.

Thirty-two injured prisoners are hospitalized, Justice Minister Margarita Cabello said in a video, while seven prison guards were also injured. Two guards are in critical condition.

The Andean country will enter a nationwide lockdown meant to stem infections from Tuesday night. So far 231 people have been confirmed infected with the disease and two have died.
“Today is a very sad and painful day,” Cabello said. “Last night there was a mass criminal escape attempt at the El Modelo prison and riots in various detention centers around the country.”

Graphic cell phones videos were posted to social media late on Saturday showing what appeared to be the inside of the prisons. Some showed small fires, others injured prisoners and guards.

In one video, a man says the incarcerated have been “abandoned like dogs” amid the virus outbreak.

Reuters could not independently verify the origin or authenticity of the videos.
No prisoners escaped during the riots, Cabello said.

“There is not any sanitary problem that would have caused this plan and these riots. There is not one infection nor any prisoner or custodial or administrative staffer who has coronavirus.”

The second Colombian to die from coronavirus was a 70-year-old woman in the city of Cali, the health ministry said on Sunday. Her daughter arrived in Colombia from Cuba, where she had been in contact with a person from the United States who is positive for the virus.

The daughter currently has a cough, the ministry said in a statement, while the victim’s 74-year-old husband is hospitalized and positive for the virus.

Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta and Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Lisa Shumaker
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

"First we need to stay alive": virus spread dampens Chile's fiery protests

For many in Santiago's Plaza Italia, ground zero for mass protests in Chile that have raged for months, the chaos seemed never to end. Bloody clashes with police forces, tear gas, hooded vandals, broken windows and graffiti were a daily event.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 23, 2020 / 7:04 AM / UPDATED 15 HOURS AGO
"First we need to stay alive": virus spread dampens Chile's fiery protests

Natalia A. Ramos Miranda, Fabian Cambero
3 MIN READ

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - For many in Santiago’s Plaza Italia, ground zero for mass protests in Chile that have raged for months, the chaos seemed never to end. Bloody clashes with police forces, tear gas, hooded vandals, broken windows and graffiti were a daily event.

Then coronavirus hit.
The city of 6 million’s central square, dubbed “Plaza Dignity” by throngs of angry protesters who dutifully gather here most evenings and weekends, has fallen silent. On Friday and Saturday evening, the few remaining demonstrators were repeatedly shouted down by drivers in passing vehicles who yelled at them to go home.

“First we need to stay alive, then we keep trying to change the world,” said Enrique Cruz, a street vendor who said he supported the cause but recognized it was time to put it on hold.
Though Chile has yet to declare a full lockdown, authorities shut bars, discos and restaurants last week. On Sunday, a nighttime curfew took effect.

Cases of coronavirus in Chile have surpassed 600 on the 20th day of the outbreak, seemingly overnight trumping talk of ailing pensions, piddling salaries and the high cost of public transport that have recently dominated discourse.

Few police patrolled the plaza last Friday night, the weekday evening that had in the past seen the largest and most violent protests.

A handful of demonstrators huddled around a monument to Chilean war hero Manuel Baquedano, in the center of the plaza. Some wore hoods over their faces, others had swapped to surgical masks.

“We knew few people would come out, but we’re still here,” said José Miguel, a 37-year-old protester.

Chile’s protests began in October over a hike in metro fares. In the months that followed, riots wreaked havoc across the country, devastating the economy, sowing billions of dollars in damages and leading to thousands of arrests and injuries.

Protesters won a major concession late in 2019, when lawmakers agreed to hold a referendum on whether to draft a new constitution.

The vote, originally slated for April 26, was rescheduled earlier this week for Oct. 25 as coronavirus fears took hold and upended priorities.

(This story has been refiled to substitute “wreaked” for “reeked” in third to last paragraph.)
Reporting by Natalia Ramos and Fabian Cambero; Additional reporting and writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Daniel Wallis
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Deny, delay, dodge: LatAm mavericks caught cold by coronavirus

The presidents of Mexico and Brazil scored stunning election victories in 2018 in defiance of the political establishment, but their unwillingness to follow consensus on the coronavirus pandemic has left the two increasingly exposed.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 24, 2020 / 5:36 PM / UPDATED 18 MINUTES AGO
Deny, delay, dodge: LatAm mavericks caught cold by coronavirus

Dave Graham
6 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The presidents of Mexico and Brazil scored stunning election victories in 2018 in defiance of the political establishment, but their unwillingness to follow consensus on the coronavirus pandemic has left the two increasingly exposed.

Mexican leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his right-wing Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro have swum against the tide of scientific opinion, talking down the risks, delegating responsibility to others, and flouting advice to the public.

Opinion polls suggest their apparent nonchalance concerns voters, but that has not stopped them falling out of step with many other world leaders - including U.S. President Donald Trump, who has also been accused of underestimating the threat by his opponents.

Contrarian and prickly towards criticism, the two sexagenarians have shown they would rather govern for their core voters than from the center, said Sabino Bastidas, director of Pensar Diferente, a political consultancy in Mexico City.

“Both men have been in denial over the phenomenon. Both have hesitated to take decisions. Both have challenged the science,” he said.

Some global leaders cast the outbreak that has killed more than 17,000 people as the greatest challenge facing the planet since World War II. Some have even gone into quarantine.
Bolsonaro on March 10 in Miami labeled the pandemic a “fantasy” exaggerated by the mainstream media. His attitude sparked anger in Brazil, with housebound protesters banging pots and pans to shouts of “Bolsonaro out!” last week.

Under fire, the former military officer dug in deeper. At the weekend he described efforts to step up quarantining in Sao Paulo as “hysteria.” Bolsonaro argued that severe restrictions were an “overreaction” that could do unnecessary damage to the economy - echoing his political idol Trump.
He did, however, appear in public wearing a face mask.

Lopez Obrador dismissed that idea, instead producing religious charms from his pocket he says will keep him safe.

Claiming the “greatness” of the Mexican people will defeat the virus, Lopez Obrador has faced the threat by fusing his knack for homespun sentimentality to a political message he has hammered home relentlessly: he is cleaning up government.

“The protective shield is honesty. That’s what protects: the non-toleration of corruption,” he said last week.

So as officials and allies were urging people to stay at home and avoid physical contact, Lopez Obrador at the weekend again shook hands with dozens of supporters in southern Mexico - then issued a video urging people to keep going out.

Lopez Obrador argues he must keep up people’s spirits and that to suppress activity would hit poorer Mexicans who tend to live hand-to-mouth, his core constituency. Critics say those are the very people most at risk from the virus.

With the coronavirus spreading in Mexico, which now has 367 confirmed cases and four deaths, the government on Tuesday stepped up its response, banning meetings of over 100 people. It has not imposed strict quarantines or travel bans.

Brazil’s confirmed cases tripled in four days to 1,891 on Monday as related deaths rose to 34, the government said.

BATTERED CURRENCIES
Both Mexico and Brazil have been particularly hard hit in the global markets rout sparked by the pandemic, with their respective currencies at record lows. The Mexican peso is the world’s worst performing currency this year, down 25% against the dollar. The real is not far behind, down 21%.

Mexico was already in recession when 2020 began, dragged down by a drop in investment amid concerns over Lopez Obrador’s unpredictable management of the economy.

But, with the peso plunging, rather than seeking to shore up confidence among investors, the president ordered a referendum to go ahead last weekend on whether to scrap a largely-completed billion-dollar brewery in the northern city of Mexicali.

Only a tiny proportion of the local electorate went out to vote, but those that did overwhelmingly rejected the huge plant, arguing it was a threat to local water supply.
The peso dived again. Analysts said the Mexicali referendum had done further damage to investor confidence in Mexico.

Some members of his own party are so alarmed by his behavior that they say privately they are glad that Trump, who is widely reviled in Mexico, has forced Lopez Obrador to adopt stricter containment measures such as halting border tourist traffic.

The turmoil has taken a toll on his popularity. Lopez Obrador had approval ratings of 80% in some surveys barely a year ago. A daily tracking poll by polling firm Consulta Mitofsky now puts him on the brink of dipping below 50%.

Meanwhile, a poll showed Brazilians were more impressed by the tougher line taken by state governors against the pandemic than with Bolsonaro’s response.

Both men have a tendency to dismiss criticism as evidence of a plot against them.
“(Lopez Obrador) is never going to say ‘I made a mistake.’ Never,” said Polimnia Romana Sierra, a former close aide to the Mexican president.
His self-belief and single-mindedness were a great virtue when he was in opposition because it enabled him to defeat what many considered insurmountable odds to win the presidency at his third attempt, she said.

But for him now to defy science and invoke higher powers to protect Mexico was “highly irresponsible,” Sierra said.

“Because he’s the example that millions of Mexicans are going to follow,” she said. “Mexico is a paternalistic country; we’re always going to respect the president.”

Reporting by Dave Graham in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Brad Haynes and Christian Plumb in Sao Paulo; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Rosalba O'Brien
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Nature reserve activist shot to death in central Mexico

Unidentified gunmen have shot to death a lawyer and activist who defended a rural tract against development near the Mexican city of Cuernavaca.

apnews.com

Nature reserve activist shot to death in central Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Unidentified gunmen shot to death a lawyer and activist who defended a rural tract against development near the Mexican city of Cuernavaca, Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission said Tuesday.

The governmental commission issued a statement condemning the killing of Isaac Medardo Herrera on Monday night.

His neighborhood activist group in Jiutepec, Morelos posted a statement saying the killers knocked on the door of Herrera’s home and shot him, before fleeing.

Herrera had led a fight over at least four years to stop plans to build a housing development on the Los Venados tract, an environmentally sensitive woodland area in Jiutepec, just south of Cuernavaca. The development was halted and the area was supposed to be used as a nature reserve.

The commission said at least one other activist has been killed in Mexico so far in 2020.
The Mexican Center for Environmental Rights reported that 15 land defenders were killed in Mexico in 2019. Morelos, the state where Jiutepec is located, was the third most dangerous for environmental activists in 2019.

The state’s semi-tropical climate and abundant water, added to its close proximity to Mexico City, have made it the subject of heavy pressure from developers eager to build homes and vacation properties there.

 

[Plain Jane]

Bolivia extends closure of borders, declares health emergency for coronavirus

Bolivia declared a national health emergency and extended its border lockdown on Wednesday, as the government seeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 25, 2020 / 8:26 PM / UPDATED 10 HOURS AGO
Bolivia extends closure of borders, declares health emergency for coronavirus


1 MIN READ


LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia declared a national health emergency and extended its border lockdown on Wednesday, as the government seeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Interim President Jeanine Anez said in a public address that the border closure was extended to April 15 from March 31 previously. Anez said no one will be able to enter or exit Bolivia during that time.

Bolivia, which was already under a 14-day national quarantine, also tightened restrictions on movement, permitting only one person per household to go out between the hours of 7 am and noon on weekdays.

“In recent days, non-compliance with the quarantine has increased the risk of contagion,” Anez said, adding that the armed forces and national police would become more involved in enforcing the quarantine.

Bolivia has 38 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to government data.

Reporting by Daniel Ramos; writing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Rio's Favela Gangs Impose Strict Curfews To Fight Spread Of "Disease Of The Rich"

by Tyler Durden
Wed, 03/25/2020 - 23:30
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Brazilian newspaper Extra says gangsters and militias in Cidade de Deus, Brazil, have deployed vehicles with massive loudspeakers blaring prerecorded messages to inform residents in the slums that they must shelter in place amid the COVID-19 outbreak, reported Reuters.

"We're imposing a curfew because nobody is taking this seriously," the message said, according to Extra.
"Whoever is in the street screwing around or going for a walk will receive a corrective and serve as an example.Better to stay home doing nothing. The message has been given."

Cidade de Deus is a West Zone neighborhood of the Rio de Janeiro city, known for lawless favelas.


Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been criticized for his slow response to the outbreak, as more than 2,274 confirmed cases and 47 deaths had been reported in the South American country.



There was speculation earlier this month that Bolsonaro tested positive for the virus, though, later reports revealed that was false.

QuickTake by Bloomberg

✔@QuickTake
https://twitter.com/QuickTake/status/1238491077683957763

JUST IN: Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has tested negative for coronavirus, according to a post on his Facebook page


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Reuters notes, while Extra is a "well-sourced Rio newspaper," they could not verify the recorded message that was played to residents.

Criminal gangs and militias often act as de facto authorities in favelas, one where the government has very little oversight. Favela residents have called COVID-19: "the disease of the rich," due mostly because wealthier Brazilians returning from Europe brought the virus over.

ÁKA TRANSGRESSORES - DOIDEIR@ @Aka_da_tijuca
https://twitter.com/Aka_da_tijuca/status/1242428556665389058

Manda quem pode, obedece quem tem juízo.

QUARENTENA na Cidade de Deus após às 20:00hrs.


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Since the government has been unprepared to fight the virus in the country, but more importantly favelas like Cidade de Deus, it has been up to gangs and militia to make sure residents obey social distancing rules. Another issue, and one that gangs cannot solve, is the access to healthcare, the area does not have a modern hospital system.

Across all of Brazil, 40 million people lack clean water. At the same time, 100 million, or about half the population, don't have access to public sewage, increasing fears that the lack of basic sanitation and weak immune systems could lead to a significant outbreak.

"Basic sanitation is terrible," said Jefferson Maia, a 27-year-old resident of Cidade de Deus. "Sometimes, we don't even have water to wash our hands properly. We are very concerned with the coronavirus issue."

Nelson Carvalheira@N_Carvalheira
https://twitter.com/N_Carvalheira/status/1241814912948715521

RIO - Coronavírus “sobe morro”:

Cidade de Deus tem 1° caso de COVID-19 / Gazeta do Brasil

8
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Thamiris Deveza, a family doctor, working in Rio's Alemao complex of slums, told Reuters that the fast-spreading virus could wreak havoc in favelas.

Bolsonaro has followed President Trump's playbook in attempting to keep the economy open and restore normal life as quickly as possible.

Bolsonaro has defied advice from the medical community to implement a nationwide lockdown, has also lashed out at local governors who have closed their economies to slowdown infections.

On Tuesday, Rio's Governor Wilson Witzel reduced public transportation while shuttering local shops and even closed the beach.

Witzel recently warned that Rio's public health system was at risk of "collapse."

Edmilson Migowski, a virologist at Rio's Federal University, said favelas across the country could be the epicenter of the virus outbreak.
https://twitter.com/N_Carvalheira

 

[Plain Jane]

U.S. indicts Venezuela's Maduro, a political foe, for 'narco-terrorism'

The U.S. government on Thursday indicted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and more than a dozen other top Venezuelan officials on charges of "narco-terrorism," the latest escalation of the Trump administration's pressure campaign aimed at ousting the socialist leader.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 26, 2020 / 10:22 AM / UPDATED 11 MINUTES AGO
U.S. indicts Venezuela's Maduro, a political foe, for 'narco-terrorism'

Matt Spetalnick, Sarah N. Lynch
5 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday indicted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and more than a dozen other top Venezuelan officials on charges of “narco-terrorism,” the latest escalation of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign aimed at ousting the socialist leader.


The State Department offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Maduro, whose country has been convulsed by years of a deep economic crisis and political upheaval.

The indictment, a rare U.S. action against a sitting foreign head of state, marks a serious new phase against Maduro by Washington at a time when some U.S. officials have privately said President Donald Trump is increasingly frustrated with the results of his Venezuela policy.

Attorney General William Barr, announcing the charges, accused Maduro and his associates of conspiring with a dissident faction of the leftist Colombian guerrilla group FARC “to flood the United States with cocaine.”

“While the Venezuelan people suffer, this cabal...lines their pockets,” Barr said of Maduro and the more than a dozen others who were indicted.

Venezuela’s information ministry did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. The U.S. government has previously lodged criminal indictments against members of Maduro’s family and inner circle.

He and his allies have dismissed such allegations as a smear campaign, and argue the United States is responsible for drug trafficking given its role as a leading consumer.

Maduro is already under U.S. sanctions and has been the target of a U.S. effort aimed at pushing him from power. He took office in 2013 after the death of his mentor President Hugo Chavez, a staunch U.S. foe.

Other Venezuelan officials whose indictments were announced on Thursday include Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, senior socialist leader Diosdado Cabello and the chief justice of the country’s supreme court, Maikel Jose Moreno Perez, 54, who was charged with money laundering.

The United States and dozens of other countries have recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate president. But Maduro has remained in power, backed by the country’s military and by Russia, China and Cuba.

U.S. officials have long accused Maduro and his associates or running a “narco-state,” saying they have used drug trafficking proceeds to make up for lost revenue from a Venezuelan oil sector heavily sanctioned by the United States.

The indictments were unsealed in New York, Florida and Washington.
Maduro and his top lieutenants ran a “narco-terrorism partnership with the FARC for the past 20 years,” said Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges,” he added.
Berman accused Maduro and his co-defendants of “using their political and miltiary power to promote narco-terrorism for their personal gain.” He said the case took many years to build.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Ariana Fajardo Orshan said she sees signs of Venezuelan officials’ dirty laundered money throughout her area every day, from fancy yachts to million-dollar condos.


“This party is coming to an end,” she said.
Asked whether the U.S. government wants to capture Maduro dead or alive, Barr said: “We want him captured so he can face justice in U.S. court.” But Barr offered no indication of how U.S. authorities believe they might get their hands on Maduro, who has endured more than a year of international pressure and on-again, off-again street protests as the OPEC member’s economy has continued to unravel.

In February 2017, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Venezuelan Vice President Tareck el-Aissami for drug trafficking and other related crimes.

And in December 2017, two nephews of Maduro’s wife, Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, were convicted in U.S. federal court for drug smuggling.

Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Alistair Bell and Howard Goller
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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[Plain Jane]

We are being encircled by Chinese diplomacy. Aid to Iraq, Italy, Africa, and now Latin America.

With U.S. hit by virus, China courts Latin America with medical diplomacy

As Argentina was scrambling to introduce emergency measures to insulate its ailing economy from the coronavirus last week, the Chinese ambassador paid a visit to the home of President Alberto Fernandez to discuss an offer.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 26, 2020 / 1:38 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
With U.S. hit by virus, China courts Latin America with medical diplomacy

Cassandra Garrison
8 MIN READ

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - As Argentina was scrambling to introduce emergency measures to insulate its ailing economy from the coronavirus last week, the Chinese ambassador paid a visit to the home of President Alberto Fernandez to discuss an offer.

At the meeting in the wealthy Olivos suburb of Buenos Aires, ambassador Zou Xiaoli laid out how the Asian giant was ready to help Argentina face the pandemic: donating masks, gloves, thermometers and protective suits.

The donations, welcomed by Fernandez’s government, show how China is leveraging its production of medical equipment and expertise in halting the coronavirus as a soft-power tool in regions like South America, where it is jostling for influence against the United States.

From Argentina to Mexico, Brazil to Peru, Latin American nations have accepted offers of support from China as the number of coronavirus cases across the region has climbed, amid growing fears about the preparedness of their healthcare systems.

There have been nearly 500,000 confirmed cases worldwide of the virus, which causes the respiratory disease COVID-19, and over 20,000 deaths.

Although South America has so far not been as hard hit as other parts of the world, experts fear that may change as winter arrives in the southern hemisphere.

“Some countries in the region have reached out to China asking for help,” a Chinese official in Buenos Aires, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. “We will share with them our experience in combating COVID-19 and offer sanitary materials within our capacity.”

As trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have simmered in recent years, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Latin American nations that they should be wary of becoming too economically reliant on China - to little avail.

In Argentina, the region’s third-largest economy, China has made steady in-roads, from solar power investments to the construction of a new space monitoring station. It has supplied over $17 billion of financing since 2007, Inter-American Dialogue data shows. China has also become the top consumer of Argentine soybeans and beef.

As the coronavirus spread in China, Argentina’s new left-leaning leader Fernandez - who took office in December - exchanged correspondence with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.


In letters seen by Reuters, Fernandez offered solidarity to China in February as the virus raged from the outbreak center of Wuhan. In March, Xi replied that the situation in China was improving and he called for a deepening of ties between the two nations.

Days later, the Chinese embassy announced its donations, posting pictures on Twitter of large trucks carrying a mobile hospital that was set up within a military base near the Argentine capital.

“China will continue to help in all possible channels. Long live friendship!” the embassy said on Twitter.

The help came at a difficult time for Argentina, which is grappling with a severe economic crisis and re-negotiating $110 billion in foreign debt with creditors, including the International Monetary Fund.

“This is part of the link we have with China, which is a solid relationship of mutual respect and ties that go beyond strong trade,” a spokesman for Argentina’s foreign ministry told Reuters, when asked about the donations.

INFORMATION CONTROL
China’s aid to Latin America reflects a broader global trend, as Beijing looks to steer the narrative away from it being the country where the coronavirus started and was initially downplayed. Instead, China wants to be seen as spearheading the global fight against the pandemic, experts say.

Luo Zhaohui, a vice minister at China’s foreign ministry, said at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday that the country would “ride out the storm with people from other countries, strengthen cooperation and strive to win the last victory in the fight against the virus.”

While Trump has been criticized by opponents for branding the pandemic ‘the Chinese virus,’ China has won praise among Latin American governments that have accepted its help. The Chinese government said it has supplied test kits, protective suits and other forms of medical aid to more than 80 countries and international organizations.

“It’s remarkable and a credit, in a way, to China’s own commanding control of information that it’s been able to re-envision itself as a leader in the fight against coronavirus globally,” said Margaret Myers, director of the China and Latin American program at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue.

Myers said the recent re-start of Chinese industry, as cases have subsided, has enabled the country to be a provider of key products as the rest of the world’s production slows.

“This will create opportunities for China in the coming years,” she said.

The United States, meanwhile, is struggling with its own battle to contain the virus, with the World Health Organization warning on Tuesday that the country could become a new epicenter of the crisis.

Before the epidemic hit hardest, Washington in February pledged $100 million towards international efforts in combating COVID-19, including for developing nations. A regional breakdown of that funding was not immediately available.

THANK YOU, CHINA
In Latin America, China’s hands-on approach has been well received.

Chile, which has among the highest numbers of coronavirus cases in the region, has sought advice from Chinese health officials to guide its response and is sending an air force plane to China to pick up donated supplies, including tests and respiratory equipment, Chile’s health minister said.

In Mexico, officials have said they are awaiting 300 ventilators from China, crucial yet scarce equipment in treating patients, while in Panama, government health officials heralded a video conference with Chinese experts to work on strategy, something China has done with more than 100 countries.

In Venezuela, the government of President Nicolas Maduro said China would send protective gear for health professionals and coronavirus test kits. The country has also opened talks with China over possible financial support.

“Thank you China for cooperation and solidarity with Ecuador!” the country’s Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner wrote on Twitter, itemizing help from China that he said included 40,000 surgical masks, infrared thermometers, and protective suits.

In Brazil, right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has moved quickly to heal a diplomatic rift with China and Chinese officials have said Beijing would assist with medical supplies and technical assistance.


Chinese firms, including Alibaba (BABA.N), Huawei, COFCO, China Communications Construction and the Bank of China have pledged donations around the region.

Back in Argentina, Washington is keen to show that it also wants to help.

“We plan this week to make funds available to Argentine authorities to combat coronavirus,” an official at the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires told Reuters, adding the country was “looking at the possibility of additional donations.”

Reporting by Cassandra Garrison; additional reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing; Aislinn Laing and Dave Sherwood in Santiago; Luc Cohen in Caracas; Jake Spring in Brasilia; Eli Moreno in Panama City, and Diego Oré Oviedo in Mexico City; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Rosalba O'Brien
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

4 passengers dead aboard cruise ship anchored off Panama

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Four passengers have died aboard a cruise ship now anchored off the coast of Panama and two people aboard the ship have tested positive for the coronavirus, the cruise line said Friday, with hundreds of passengers unsure how long they will remain at sea.

apnews.com

4 passengers dead aboard cruise ship anchored off Panama

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Four passengers have died aboard a cruise ship now anchored off the coast of Panama and two people aboard the ship have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the cruise line said Friday.

Holland America Line said in a post on its Facebook page that more than 130 people aboard the Zaandam had reported flu-like symptoms.

“Holland America Line can confirm that four older guests have passed away on Zaandam,” the statement said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and we are doing everything we can to support them during this difficult time.”

The ship was receiving medical supplies and medical personnel from another Holland America ship, the Rotterdam and the company planned to begin transferring healthy passengers to that ship.

“Priority for the first guests to transfer will be given to those on Zaandam with inside staterooms and who are over 70,” the statement said. There are 1,243 guests and 586 crew on board the Zaandam.

The Zaandam departed Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7. The ship was trying to get to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after being denied permission to dock at its original destination of Chile a week ago.

The Rotterdam rendezvoused with the Zaandam Thursday evening.

“It is only authorized to do ship-to-ship maneuvers. No one aboard is allowed to come ashore,” said Panama’s Maritime Authority Administrator Noriel Araúz.

The Zaandam had planned to pass through the Panama Canal en route to Florida, but after being inspected by Panamanian authorities, the request to use the canal was denied, said canal Administrator Ricauter Vásquez. The Health Ministry “did not give permission,” Vásquez told reporters Friday. “The ship is in territorial waters but has to remain isolated.”

Holland America Line had announced March 17 that it was voluntarily suspending its cruise operations for 30 days “Due to the continued port closures and travel restrictions surrounding COVID-19 and in an abundance of caution.” At that point, the company said none of its passengers or crew had tested positive for the virus.

The Seattle-based cruise line is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp.

 

[Plain Jane]

Haiti hospital chief kidnapped amid coronavirus emergency

The director of one of Haiti's top hospitals was kidnapped on Friday, prompting staff to refuse to take in new patients in protest as the impoverished country battles an outbreak of the novel coronavirus amid a spike in gang violence.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 27, 2020 / 8:40 PM / UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO
Haiti hospital chief kidnapped amid coronavirus emergency

Andre Paultre, Robenson Sanon
4 MIN READ

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - The director of one of Haiti’s top hospitals was kidnapped on Friday, prompting staff to refuse to take in new patients in protest as the impoverished country battles an outbreak of the novel coronavirus amid a spike in gang violence.

Dr. Jerry Bitar, a surgeon, was kidnapped shortly after leaving for work at Hospital Bernard Mevs from his home in an upmarket neighborhood of the capital, hospital staff told Reuters.

Kidnappings for ransom have sharply increased this year amid a political and economic crisis in Haiti, which according to the World Bank is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Police confirmed 15 kidnapping cases in January alone. Gangs appear to strike indiscriminately, with victims ranging from Haitian schoolchildren, lawmakers and businessmen to foreign aid workers.

A crowd gathered outside the facility in solidarity with Bitar, who runs the hospital together with his twin brother, while staff chanted in unison calls for his release. Haitian media outlets also pleaded for bandits to free Bitar.

“In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, it is abnormal to take the hospital’s doctor,” said Jean Wilguens Charles, a local resident whose friends have received treatment at the hospital. “We demand his liberation without conditions.”

Medical assistant Claude Devil said the hospital usually attended all Haitians, including those who had no money to pay for services, but would not take in new patients while still attempting to look after existing ones as best possible.


“There are several patients waiting to be operated but we cannot work without the doctors’ order,” he said.

The relevant authorities are following the case, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

The Bernard Mevs hospital is a trauma and critical care center and is not treating coronavirus cases currently, but could need to if the disease spreads substantially in the country, where healthcare services and sanitation infrastructure are inadequate.

According to a 2019 study by the Research and Education consortium for Acute Care in Haiti (REACH), Haiti has only 64 ventilators for a population of around 11 million, which makes it especially vulnerable to an outbreak of the highly contagious coronavirus, which causes the respiratory illness COVID-19.

“This is a serious concern, especially given the relatively high proportion of the population considered to be at an elevated risk,” the Center for Economic and Policy Research wrote in a paper published on Friday, co-authored by its analysts Jake Johnston and Kira Paulemon.

Haitian authorities have so far confirmed eight cases of the coronavirus. President Jovenel Moise last week declared a state of emergency, ordering schools, factories, and places of worship shut to prevent the spread of the virus, closing the country’s borders to people and imposing a curfew.

But the streets continue to buzz as many in the country, where more than half the population lives under the poverty line, ignore recommendations to stay at home or practice social distancing. Many do not have access to sources of news.

Even with the best intentions, tricky access to clean water makes it difficult for Haitians to frequently wash their hands, the hygiene mantra that health experts are preaching as a top defense against the spread of the coronavirus.

Reporting by Andre Paultre in Port-au-Prince; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Leslie Adler
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Alleged Maduro accomplice surrenders to U.S. agents, will help prosecution: sources

U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents on Friday remanded in custody retired Venezuelan general Cliver Alcala, three people familiar with the matter said, after he agreed to work with prosecutors who charged him, President Nicolas Maduro and other top officials with drug trafficking...

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NEWS
MARCH 27, 2020 / 6:32 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Alleged Maduro accomplice surrenders to U.S. agents, will help prosecution: sources

Angus Berwick, Luis Jaime Acosta, Sarah Kinosian
4 MIN READ

CARACAS/BOGOTA (Reuters) - U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents on Friday remanded in custody retired Venezuelan general Cliver Alcala, three people familiar with the matter said, after he agreed to work with prosecutors who charged him, President Nicolas Maduro and other top officials with drug trafficking.

Alcala surrendered to DEA agents in Colombia and waived his right to challenge extradition, the three people told Reuters. He was flown to White Plains, New York from the port city of Barranquilla, where he had been living.

The White House and a DEA spokeswoman referred questions to the U.S. Department of Justice, which declined to comment. The State Department did not reply to a request for comment. Colombia’s National Police declined to comment.

The U.S. government on Thursday indicted Maduro, Alcala and 13 other current and former Venezuelan officials on charges of “narco-terrorism”, the latest escalation of a pressure campaign by U.S. President Donald Trump administration to oust the socialist leader.
Attorney General William Barr accused Maduro and his associates of colluding with a dissident faction of the demobilized Colombian guerrilla group, the FARC, “to flood the United States with cocaine.”

Maduro, in a state television address, dismissed the charges as false and racist, and called Trump a “miserable person.”

The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to Alcala’s arrest, while there is a reward of up to $15 million for information aiding Maduro’s detention.

The indictment alleged that Alcala and other top officials received bribes from the FARC in exchange for safe passage for cocaine shipments sent through Venezuela.

Around 2008, at a meeting with senior socialist party leader Diosdado Cabello and then head of the military intelligence unit, Hugo Carvajal, it was decided Alcala would coordinate drug-trafficking with the FARC, according to the indictment.

Cabello and Carvajal were both charged too. They have previously denied accusations of drug trafficking.

Alcala retired from the armed forces as Maduro took over the presidency in 2013 following his predecessor Hugo Chavez’s death from cancer.

Alcala later fell out with the ruling Socialist Party and fled to Colombia, from where he has publicly spoken out against Maduro and backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has staked a rival claim to the presidency with U.S. support.

On Thursday evening, after the indictment’s announcement, Alcala told the DEA over the phone that he would give himself up, one person said.

In a video posted on his Instagram account on Friday afternoon, before leaving with the DEA, Alcala said, “Family, I say goodbye for a while. I face the responsibilities of my actions with the truth.”

Other Venezuelan officials whose indictments were announced on Thursday include Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and the chief justice of the country’s supreme court, Maikel Moreno, who was charged with money laundering.

One of the people familiar with Friday’s DEA operation said efforts had been under way to convince other individuals who have been indicted to surrender, but it was too early to say whether that would succeed, as unlike Alcala they remained in Venezuela.

Reporting by Angus Berwick, Luis Jaime Acosta, and Sarah Kinosian; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Sarah Lynch in Washington, and Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota; Editing by Vivian Sequera, Daniel Wallis & Simon Cameron-Moore
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Amid pandemic, Ecuador removes 100 corpses from homes in its biggest city

Ecuadorean authorities have removed 100 corpses from homes in the city of Guayaquil in three days, the interior minister said on Friday, following residents' complaints that they have no way to dispose of relatives' remains amid the coronavirus pandemic.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MARCH 27, 2020 / 8:20 PM / UPDATED 11 HOURS AGO
Amid pandemic, Ecuador removes 100 corpses from homes in its biggest city

Alexandra Valencia, Yuri Garcia
3 MIN READ

QUITO/GUAYAQUIL (Reuters) - Ecuadorean authorities have removed 100 corpses from homes in the city of Guayaquil in three days, the interior minister said on Friday, following residents’ complaints that they have no way to dispose of relatives’ remains amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The coastal city has the country’s largest concentration of COVID-19 cases as well as a heavy presence of military officers enforcing curfew prompted by a nationwide health emergency declaration.

Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said on Friday that the curfew had restricted funeral homes’ operating hours and left some family members with no choice but to keep deceased relatives in their homes.

“Some of these deaths are related to the coronavirus and others were not,” she said in an interview with online broadcaster MaxTv.

Ecuador as of Friday had reported 1,627 infections and 41 deaths from the novel coronavirus. More than 70% of the cases are in the province of Guayas, where Guayaquil is located.

Romo acknowledged most of those who had died in their homes had not been tested for the virus, and therefore would not appear in the official tally of deaths.

On social media and in interviews with local media, Guayaquil residents have complained of delays of more than 24 hours to remove the remains of relatives, which they said was creating the risk of the disease spreading further.

One such case was that of Bolivar Reyes, 43, a juice merchant, who died after suffering symptoms consistent with COVID-19 but was never tested, his wife Rosa Romero said in a telephone interview.

His remains stayed inside her home in a poor area of northern Guayaquil for more than a day because crews tasked with removing bodies were unable to keep up, she said.

They told me to be patient, that they hadn’t been able to arrive because they only had a single vehicle that needed to go to a number of places,” said Romero.

“The neighbors told me that if I didn’t get rid of (the remains), they were going to burn down my house.”

Reporting by Alexandra Valencia and Yuri Garcia; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Daniel Wallis
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.