Daily Archives: January 18, 2021

2021-01-18: News Headlines

Aline Maciel (2021-01-18). Brazil Elections Boost Environmental Violators to High Office in Amazon. globalresearch.ca More than a hundred candidates who ran in municipal elections last November in cities across Brazil's Amazonian states are on the environmental regulator's "dirty list" for violations committed over the past decade. | That's the finding from an analysis by Agência …

Anya Parampil (2021-01-18). Biden inaugural guest is Venezuelan coup leader charged with inciting violent assault on gov't building. thegrayzone.com After condemning the pro-Trump invasion of the Capitol, the incoming Biden administration invited Carlos Vecchio — a coup leader charged in the 2014 torching of the Venezuelan Attorney General's office — to its inaugural ceremony As Washington recovered from shock and outrage caused by pro-Trump hooligans storming the United States Congress — breaking windows, smashing doors, and intimidating police officers in order to push their way inside — a sense of pre-inaugural excitement began to sweep the nation's capital. Who …

teleSUR (2021-01-18). Argentina Begins To Distribute the Second Dose of Sputnik V. telesurenglish.net Argentina began on Monday the distribution of 300,000 Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines to complete the vaccination of those who received the first dose on December 29. | RELATED: | As of Friday, this South American nation had applied 200,759 out of 300,000 doses of the Russian vaccine it received last year. | The national vaccination campaign's first stage is focused on citizens between the ages of 18 and 59 who work in hospitals,…

teleSUR (2021-01-18). Brazil To Use Sinovac and Astrazeneca COVID-19 Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Brazil's Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA) unanimously approved on Sunday the emergency use of the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine and the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine. | RELATED: | The decision will allow the Brazilian government to start its vaccination plan with 6 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine, which was developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac and the Butantan Institute of Sao Paulo. | "The…

teleSUR (2021-01-18). Venezuela Inaugurates Ozone Science Center. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday inaugurated the National Ozone Science Center (CENAOZ), a modern facility that aims to promote health strategies based on ozone therapy. | RELATED: | "Today we inaugurate the CENAOZ headquarters. The ozone therapy will contribute to the medical protocols that have been established for the cure of COVID-19," Maduro said. | "The ozone therapy will be present in all the count…

teleSUR (2021-01-18). The U.S. Opposed National Dialogues in Venezuela. telesurenglish.net Opposition lawmaker Timoteo Zambrano on Sunday affirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump hampered all dialogue processes between the Venezuelan opposition and President Nicolas Maduro. | RELATED: | He recalled the meetings held under the auspices of the Dominican Republic's former President D…

teleSUR (2021-01-18). Close to Half of Peruvians Disapprove of President Sagasti. telesurenglish.net Local outlet El Comercio on Monday published a poll revealing that 47 percent of Peruvians disapprove of President Francisco Sagasti's government, while only 34 percent approve it. | RELATED: | The rejection rate against him increased by 10 percent compared with the results of a survey conducted in December. | "Two months into his term, the dissatisfaction against Sagasti's administration increased by 12 points," El Comer…

teleSUR (2021-01-18). Chile Records 23 Wildfires So Far This Month. telesurenglish.net Chile's National Warning Center (NWC) Sunday informed that 23 wildfires have been recorded nationwide, 12 of which are active and 11 are under control. | RELATED: | Valparaiso, Maule, and àëuble are the regions where the four main wildfires were registered. On Sunday, 4,200 hectares of land were affected in the Quilpue community where the Lago Peñuelas National Reserve became a fire hotspot. | No human losses have been…

teleSUR (2021-01-17). Pots and Pans Against President Bolsonaro Heard Loud in Brazil. telesurenglish.net Hundreds of people made their pots and pan ring out to demand Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro's resignation due to his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | The protest was driven by the chaotic situation in the state of Amazonas, where its capital Manaus experienced a serious lack of hospital beds and oxygen to treat patients. | Shouting "Genocide" and "Get out Bolsonaro," loud protests were seen in the largest citie…

Chris Gilbert (2021-01-17). How the Left Got Where It Is in Venezuela. counterpunch.org By the end of Hugo Chávez's presidency, a vague social contract had come to exist in Venezuela. It was not unlike the social contract which sustained real socialism for many decades, as described by Michael Lebowitz in his book Contradictions of Real Socialism. Both situations involved a vanguard that guaranteed a certain level of welfare

teleSUR (2021-01-17). Evo Morales Remembers Congolese Revolutionary Patrice Lumumba. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's former President Evo Morales (2006-2019) Sunday reminisced on the 60th anniversary of the assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba who was murdered by Katanga region's separatists and Belgian mercenaries on 17 January 1961. | RELATED: | "On a day like today in 1961, Congolese leader Patricio Lumumba, who fought for the liberation and independence of his people, was tortured and killed. Our homage…

teleSUR (2021-01-17). Peru: Ex-President Vizcarra Barred From Run for Congress. telesurenglish.net Lima's Special Electoral Jury (JEE) excluded Peru's former President Martin Vizcarra's (2018-2020) candidacy for Congress over the omission of information about his personal incomes. | RELATED: | The JEE concluded that Vizcarra did not specify all the information about the incomes received from the company Agrotecnica Estuquiña SA, of which he has 30 percent of the share. | Ex-Congresswoman Yeni Vilcatoma made the banning…

teleSUR (2021-01-17). The Economy Took Center Stage in Ecuador's Presidential Debate. telesurenglish.net On Saturday night, 16 presidential candidates attended a mandatory debate organized by the National Electoral Council (CNE). | RELATED: | Their debate is scheduled to take place over two days and will cover four topics: health, education, and vulnerable groups; economy and employment; corruption and democratic institutions; and international relations and human rights. | The candidates were divided into two groups of e…

RT (2021-01-16). Argentina receives second batch of Russian Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 (VIDEO). rt.com A plane carrying 300,000 more doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus has landed in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires to allow the country to complete immunization of its frontline medics. | The refrigerated containers with the vaccine were delivered on Saturday from Moscow by a special flight of the Latin American country's flagship carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas. | "Those new doses represent the second component needed to conclude the vaccination after the first stage," Gines Gonzalez Garcia, Argentina's health minister, wrote on Twitter. | Llegaron al país 300.000 nuevas dosis de vacun…

teleSUR (2021-01-16). Activists Demand Justice for Indigenous Leader Milagro Sala. telesurenglish.net Social movements mobilized in Jujuy province, Argentina on Saturday to demand freedom for the Indigenous activist Milagro Salas as January 16 marks the fifth anniversary of her illegal imprisonment. | RELATED: | Sala, the Tupac Amaru leader, gained nationwide notoriety for her fight against powerful conservative politicians in Jujuy province. The activist spent over three years in jail under inhumane conditions until the authori…

Peoples Dispatch (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…

Peoples Dispatch (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…

teleSUR (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…

teleSUR (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…

teleSUR (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…

Dan Beeton (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 …

teleSUR (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…

teleSUR (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…

teleSUR (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…

Tanya Wadhwa (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…

teleSUR (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…

teleSUR (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…

teleSUR (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…

WSWS (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.

RT (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…

teleSUR (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…

teleSUR (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…

teleSUR (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.

teleSUR (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…