Since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to office on Jan. 1, Brazil's Institute of the Environment (Ibama) increased by almost 90% the fines imposed on trespassers of environmental rules, when compared to the last year of the Jair Bolsonaro administration, it was reported.
Paraguay's President-elect Santiago Peña will re-establish diplomatic ties with Venezuela without conditions after he is sworn in in August, it was reported. Peña is on a Mercosur tour meeting those heads of state who will shortly become his colleagues. After Brazil, he will meet with his counterparts in Uruguay and Argentina.
The British government has suffered defeats in the House of Lords over plans to scrap certain EU laws by the end of the year, reports BBC. Peers backed an amendment which would give Parliament greater scrutiny over which rules should be ditched and also voted to give devolved governments, rather than Westminster ministers, the final say on whether EU rights should be kept.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso Tuesday insisted during his appearance before the National Assembly that his impeachment for alleged embezzlement was groundless and that opposition lawmakers “have created a fictitious situation that does not solve the problems of the people or of anyone.”
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) Tuesday ruled that Congressman Deltan Dallagnol needs to leave his post effective immediately because he was not eligible. The decision came months after the lawmaker and former prosecutor took his oath of office and served on the Lower House, Agencia Brasil reported.
A team of researchers from the Center for Plant Protein Research (CIProVe) and the Center for Research and Development in Applied Sciences Dr. Jorge J. Ronco (Cindeca), both from the School of Exact Sciences of the National University of La Plata (UNLP) announced that the fungus Candida antarctica has a series of properties that make the manufacture of Ibuprofen more efficient, Diario Hoy reported.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Tuesday said it considered that the current level of indebtedness in Latin America requires a transformation of the international financial architecture to offer countries other alternatives to attain “inclusive and sustainable” development.
As Argentina raised the interest rate to 97% and adopted other measures such as the opening of food imports to control inflation while at the same time further restricting people's access to foreign currency, the “Blue” (a euphemism for “black market”) dollar rose again Monday to AR$ 483, it was reported in Buenos Aires.
Chile's Government Monday approved the creation of the Lithium and Salt Flats Committee to add to the National Lithium Strategy announced last month in areas involving the Economic Development Agency (Corfo) and also as a technical advisory body, it was reported in Santiago.
As Ecuador's Parliament prepares to cross-examine President Guillermo Lasso Tuesday during his impeachment trial, the Organization of American States (OAS) Monday called for all guarantees of due process to be offered to the head of state.