Stories for October 18th 2021

Monday, October 18th 2021 - 23:59 UTC
Brazil, Uruguay FMs stay mum after Montevideo meeting: rumors soar

Silence prevailed Monday in Montevideo after Uruguay's Foreign Minister Francisco Bustillo Monday welcomed his Brazilian counterpart Carlos França to discuss bilateral issues, particularly a possible 10% reduction of Common External Tariffs among Mercosur members.
Monday, October 18th 2021 - 22:32 UTC
Gen. Powell dies of COVID-19 aged 84

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the first African American ever to hold that position, died Monday of complications following a COVID-19 diagnosis. He was 84.
Monday, October 18th 2021 - 22:09 UTC
WHO picks Drogba to spread message of healthy practices

Former Ivory Coast football international Didier Yves Drogba Tébily has been appointed the new World Health Organization (WHO)'s Sport and Health Ambassador, it was announced Monday.
Monday, October 18th 2021 - 10:05 UTC
Buenos Aires key to the region's future, says Pepe Mujica

Former Uruguayan President José “Pepe” Mujica said this weekend in a newspaper interview that the future of the River Plate area was at stake and it hinged on whatever happens in the Argentine capital.
Monday, October 18th 2021 - 10:01 UTC
Lula must appease markets or risk his presidential chance, point out advisors

Brazilian former president Lula da Silva is preparing to “build bridges” with the business community to appease markets and economic agents, given some of his latest statements criticizing policy decisions from the current administration of president Jair Bolsonaro.
Monday, October 18th 2021 - 09:57 UTC
PAHO/ECLAC report on Covid-19 exposes the fragility of Latin America's health systems

In n a new joint report released the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) urge the governments of the region to accelerate vaccination processes and improve health systems.
Monday, October 18th 2021 - 09:48 UTC
Bolivia's ruling party sets up headquarters in Peru

Just a couple of days after Peru's President Pedro Castillo Terrones lost support from his Marxist Peru Libre party, which decided not to support his new cabinet, press reports have come out indicating former Bolivian President Evo Morales's Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) has set foot into the country and even has established its headquarters in Cusco.
Monday, October 18th 2021 - 09:43 UTC
Poverty on the rise in Brazil

Brazil's poverty indexes are on the rise despite President Jair Bolsonaro's claims that his actions, however controversial from a sanitary viewpoint regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, were always aimed at sustaining the country's economy.
Monday, October 18th 2021 - 09:23 UTC
Paraguay has 180 days to repair environmental damages, says UN

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has ruled in Geneva that indigenous people are affected by Paraguayan companies spreading pesticides in areas neighbouring homes, schools, roads and rivers thus affecting the water supply to indigenous peoples, causing “diarrhoea, vomiting, respiratory problems and headaches,” were entitled to reparations.
Monday, October 18th 2021 - 09:20 UTC
Argentine ambassador unsuccessfully defends Jones-Huala

Argentina's Ambassador to Chile Rafael Bielsa has turned up at a Chilean judicial hearing to defend incarcerated self-proclaimed Mapuche leader Facundo Jones Huala even though the latter has vociferously relinquished his Argentine citizenship.