South America News

Brazil approved two vaccines for emergency use against the coronavirus on Sunday as the country’s death toll from the disease it causes neared 210,000 and some of its hospitals grappled with an oxygen shortage.

Argentina confirmed on Saturday the first case in the country of a new coronavirus variant that was first identified in Britain and appears to be more contagious.

Guatemala beat back on Sunday a large migrant caravan bound for the United States, just days before the inauguration of the new administration.

Pope Francis told Uruguay’s new ambassador to the Holy See that a future visit to the country as well as to his native Argentina is still very much on the table. In an interview with Catholic News Service last week, Guzman Carriquiry, who prior to his appointment as Uruguay’s ambassador served as secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, said he decided to ask the pope about the long-awaited visit when he presented his letters of credential Jan. 9.

Argentina on Thursday became one of just a handful of Latin American countries to allow elective abortion, as neighboring Chile initiated its own debate on decriminalizing a procedure denied to most women on the continent. President Alberto Fernandez signed a law that allows abortion until 14 weeks of pregnancy that was passed by the Senate on December 30.

The International Monetary Fund expects the pace of its ongoing discussions with Argentine authorities to accelerate in coming weeks, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said on Thursday.

The risks to an expected economy recovery in Brazil during 2021 are increasing as delays in rolling out a vaccine program against coronavirus continues to be delayed, according to Moody's rating agency.

The appearance of new variants of the COVID-19 virus in several countries of the Americas, combined with an acceleration in the virus’s spread in virtually every country in the Americas, makes it urgent to continue public health measures such as social distancing, wearing masks, and washing hands often, Pan American Health Organization Director Carisa F. Etienne said.

Guyana and the Unites States have signed a new pact aimed at boosting the South American CARICOM nation’s military might. It comes following a decree issued by embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, unilaterally laying claim to Guyana’s Essequibo territory.

Norwegian oil and gas exploration seismic data company PGS has signed an agreement with Uruguay's state oil company ANCAP to reprocess over 11 000 km of existing 2D lines of various vintages, applying the latest seismic imaging techniques.

Argentina's squid season takes off next Saturday, Jan 16, south of parallel 44, according to the Federal Fisheries Council. The decision follows a technical-scientific report from the country's research institute, Inidep, which emphasized that jiggers can begin operating on the Spring Spawning Stock, (SDV), and avoiding the South Patagonic Stock.

Brazil established a new record for oil exports in 2020, with sales averaging 1,4 million bpd and a peak of 1,9 million bpd during the month of May, according to the Mines and Energy minister Bento Albuquerque. The minister also announced that on 7 January, Brazil's oil giant Petrobras reached a daily production record of 2,84 million barrels of oil, beating the previous mark set in 2015, with 2.79 million BOE/day.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday the government was looking at ways to stop a variant of the novel coronavirus found in Brazil from entering Britain.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro attributed Ford Motor Co.’s decision to close its three plants in Brazil to the end of multibillion-dollar subsidies from the government.

After greeting his cabinet, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday “we are back” to the legislative body that he did not attend in 4 years, a period in which the opposition-controlled the National Assembly. In a special session of a parliament now controlled by chavismo, Maduro offered his first annual message in four years. Among the figures he gave during his speech, the poverty indicators managed by the State standout: 4% of extreme poverty and 17% of “general” poverty.