(2021-01-16). Peruvian healthcare workers strike for rights. peoplesdispatch.org In this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes we take you to Peru, where healthcare workers have embarked on an indefinite strike. We also take you to India, where farmers continue their protest for the withdrawal of the three controversial farm laws and a segment from Brasil de Fato on the future of the COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil.
(2021-01-16). Ecuador's Election Promises Advance For Socialism In Latin America. popularresistance.org Four years after turncoat Lenin Moreno claimed the presidency and turned the country inside out, Ecuador will elect a new president on February 7, 2021. Moreno betrayed the citizen's revolution he had promised to continue, and with his approval rating somewhere between 7 percent (CEDATOS, September 2020) and 16 percent (Atlas Intel, December 2020), Moreno will not be seeking re-election. | After winning the presidency in 2017, Moreno turned his back on his predecessor and nominator Rafael Correa and double-crossed the PAIS Alliance party they both belonged to. Moreno is widely despised as a result, and the PAIS A…
(2021-01-15). Venezuela sends oxygen tanks to the Brazilian Amazonas state amid COVID-19 surge. peoplesdispatch.org The sudden surge in numbers of COVID-19 cases in the state has caused a collapse in the public health system with a lack of ICU beds and oxygen…
(2021-01-15). Venezuela Offers Oxygen to Attend COVID-19 in Manaus, Brazil. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza Thursday informed that his country will provide oxygen to Brazil so it can face Manaus city's health emergency. | RELATED: | "On instructions from President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela will support the brotherly Brazilian people. For our nation, solidarity is a duty," Arreaza tweeted. | On Thursday, Amazon State's governor Wilson Lima thanked the solidarity gesture that will end the…
(2021-01-15). Brazil: Manaus City on Curfew Over the Sanitary Crisis. telesurenglish.net Brazilian authorities declared on Friday a curfew in the Amazonian city of Manaus after a COVID-19 health crisis that has killed 4000 people while 94,000 contagions cases are reported, many of them without oxygen tanks. | RELATED: | teleSUR correspondent in Brazil Nacho Lemus reports that over 750 people will be transferred from Manaus to other cities due to the sanitary crisis. The local media outlet reported that in…
(2021-01-15). "Brazil is Broken": Bolsonaro, COVID, and the Looming Return to Austerity. cepr.net As the New Year begins and Brazil officially passes 200,000 COVID deaths, far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro announced with his characteristic bluntness: "Brazil is broken. I can't do anything." While blaming the media for exaggerating the threat of the coronavirus, Bolsonaro complained that COVID had prevented him from further pursuing the structural adjustments and austerity …
(2021-01-15). Argentina Detects Dengue Fever Cases Amid COVID-19 Surge. telesurenglish.net Misiones Province's Health Secretary Oscar Alarcon Thursday confirmed the first cases of dengue fever amid the COVID-19-related health emergency in Argentina. | RELATED: | "We are in an inter-breeding phase where the notifications of new cases are minimal. We are working hard on patients who tested positive," Alarcon said. | Argentina's Health Ministry announced a comprehensive prevention plan that includes training to local governments to reduce dengue's impa…
(2021-01-15). Uruguay's Gender Violence Courts Have No Funding. telesurenglish.net Uruguay's Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) announced that it did not have the financial resources to create three gender-based violence courts, although the 2020-2024 Budget Law allocated funds for their establishment. | RELATED: | "This was already decided and we had a hard time getting it through Parliament," National Women's Institute (INMUJERES) director Monica Bottero said, stressing that "these courts must be created. | S…
(2021-01-15). Argentina Awaits Its Second Batch of Sputnik V Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez Thursday sent a second plane to Russia to transport the second batch of Sputnik V vaccines which will be used in a nationwide vaccination campaign. | RELATED: | The flight AR-1060 departed from Ezeiza International airport at 21.14 local time in a direct route to Moscow where it will load 300,000 doses of the vaccine. | The plane is expected to land on Argentine soil on Saturday morni…
(2021-01-15). Paraguay Approves Emergency Use of Russian Vaccine. telesurenglish.net The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced on Friday that Paraguay's Ministry of Health authorized the Sputnik V vaccine's emergency use. | RELATED: | "Registration of Sputnik V vaccine in Paraguay proves the increasing interest of Latin American countries in a safe and effective Russian vaccine against coronavirus," said the CEO of Russia's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev. | El anuncio de esta mañana del Fondo S…
(2021-01-15). Ford shuts down operations in Brazil, destroying tens of thousands of jobs. wsws.org According to Ford, 5,000 workers will be laid off in Brazil, and tens of thousands more jobs directly associated with its production chain are expected to face destruction.
(2021-01-15). Peru: 10 Officers Under Investigation Over Violence in Protests. telesurenglish.net Peru's Interior Ministry Thursday began an investigation against ten National Police officers for the "unnecessary and excessive" use of force during demonstrations against former Interim President Manuel Merino. | RELATED: | The officers, whose identities are kept secret, are investigated for firing tear gas canisters directly at the protesters' heads and upper bodies. | Authorities revealed that the National Poli…
(2021-01-15). Chile: Children Office Asks Protection for a Mapuche Girl. telesurenglish.net Chile's Children Defense Office (CDO) President Patricia Muñoz Friday submitted a protection appeal on behalf of a 17-year-old Mapuche girl who was a victim of death threats from a police officer during an operation in the Ercilla community on January 7. | RELATED: | The denunciation against the officer came after witnesses' testimonies were collected by the CDO, one of which is an audiotape recording the violent threats against the victim ide…
(2021-01-15). Ecuador's Local Governments Filed a Claim Against Budget Cuts. telesurenglish.net Consortium of Provincial Governments of Ecuador (Congope) Chairman Pablo Jurado filed a lawsuit of "unconstitutionality" before the Constitutional Court (CC) against budget cuts promoted by Presidente Lenin Moreno. | RELATED: | The claim seeks to obtain a ruling on the government's decision to suspend local budgets which have suffered in some cases a cut of 60 percent. | Congope representatives held that the provincial govern…
(2021-01-15). Understanding the upcoming general elections in Ecuador. peoplesdispatch.org Ahead of the general elections in Ecuador on February 7, we look at the leading candidates, their backgrounds and their answers to the major crises the country is facing today…
(2021-01-14). Ecuador: Arauz Rejects Ban on the Use of Rafael Correa's Image. telesurenglish.net Ecuador's presidential candidate Andres Arauz Wednesday rejected electoral authorities' decision to ban the image of former President Rafael Correa in the Union for Hope Alliance (UNES) propaganda. | RELATED: | "We face another attempt of political persecution. The establishment seeks to hinder our arrival at the presidency. No laws are prohibiting the use of the image of a former president as part of an electoral campaign," he denoun…
(2021-01-14). Venezuelan Oil Industry Continues to Struggle as Private Sector Set to Play Bigger Role. venezuelanalysis.com The Maduro government is pursuing increased private investment in the oil sector.
(2021-01-14). Brazilian state of Amazonas enters the most serious phase of COVID-19. peoplesworld.org 
Manaus, Amazonas (January 4, 2021) — Amazonas State went into the purple phase of the new coronavirus pandemic, signifying the highest risk. The information was publicized by the director-president of the Health Vigilance Foundation (FVS) of Amazonas, Rosemary Costa Pinto, during a meeting between state representatives and officials of the Federal Ministry of Health. "Our …
(2021-01-14). UK bans all arrivals from Portugal and South America after discovery of Brazil Covid-19 variant. rt.com 
The UK will ban all travel from South America and Portugal from 4am GMT on Friday after the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in Brazil, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Thursday. | UK-bound travellers from Argentina, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela who do not live in the UK will be banned from entering the country. | "This measure does not apply to British and Irish Nationals and third country nationals with residence rights — but passengers returning from these destinations must self-isolate for 10 da…
(2021-01-14). Argentina Enacts Landmark Abortion Law. telesurenglish.net Argentina's President Alberto Fernández enacted the law of Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy, an unprecedented moment that is set to spark a legal framework securing women's rights across the Americas. | RELATED: | "We are expanding a women's right to choose. Women went out to the street claiming for rights that many people did not even realize they lacked," Fernández said during the ceremony that ends decades of advocacy for a law decrim…
(2021-01-14). Colombian Lawmakers Back Resumption of Peace Talks in Cuba. telesurenglish.net Members of Congress from different political coalitions sent a letter to Colombia's President Ivan Duque requesting the resumption of talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas while also highlighting the Cuban government's meaningful role in the peace process. | RELATED: | More than 20 congressmen signed the letter that condemned the inclusion once again of Cuba in the U.S. blacklist of state sponsors of terror…
(2021-01-14). US Places Sanctions on China, Cuba, Iran, Russia and Venezuela. telesurenglish.net "We cannot allow the foreign military and intelligence organizations of our adversaries in China, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, and Iran (…) to benefit from U.S. technology," U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement Thursday. | RELATED: | According to the note, these new controls linked to U.S. technologies prevent those countries' military intelligence industries from "benefiting." | A week before…
(2021-01-14). Peru's Police Exercised an Excessive Use of Force, UN Says. telesurenglish.net The United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights Office (OHCHR) published a report stating that the Peruvian Police repressed the November 2020 protests with an "unnecessary and excessive use of force." | RELATED: | Besides the use of prohibited projectiles such as glass marbles, the report pointed out that police officers shot "indiscriminately and at close range" to the head and upper body of the demonstrators. | OHCHR als…
(2021-01-14). Bolivian Govt Reaches a Deal With Striking Transit Workers. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's finance Minister Marcelo Montenegro Thursday announced that an agreement on debt payments was reached with transport sector representatives to secure the continuity of public transportation services. | RELATED: | Besides establishing a six-month grace period without paymen…
(2021-01-14). Chile to Face a 50% Drop in Water Availability Within 10 Years. telesurenglish.net A study published by the University of Chile Thursday revealed that the country would drop up to 50 percent in water availability within ten years because of declining river flows and rising temperatures. | RELATED: | The university analyzed 174 watersheds for over five years. Among the conclusions, the center noted that rainfall could decrease by up to 25 percent in the center and 40 percent in the south of the country.
(2021-01-14). Chilean Feminists Urge Safe Abortion Bill in Front of Congress. telesurenglish.net Women's rights defenders Wednesday gathered outside the Chilean Congress' headquarters in Valparaiso as it discussed the approval of the Safe Abortion bill. | RELATED: | The demonstrators wore green scarves as they demanded the Commission on Women and Gender Equality to pass the bill that would allow women to end their pregnancy up to 14 weeks. | "Abortion yes, abortion no, that's for me to decide" was the slogan heard du…