Leftwing governments in South America seem to have turned their backs on Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro after he forecasted last week that his country would be heading for a bloodbath if he failed to win Sunday's presidential elections.
The tragedy of the longliner Argos Georgia plus the loss and disappearance of thirteen mariners, and the survival of fourteen, is headline news in Galicia with the city of Vigo declaring a day of mourning and the Spanish foreign minister announcing that an Air Force aircraft will be flying Friday to the Falkland Islands to pick up Spanish crew members.
Brazilian health authorities Thursday reported the first two Oropouche fever deaths in the country and the world. The victims were two women from Bahia, aged under 30, with no comorbidities, it was also explained. The malady is said to cause symptoms similar to those of severe dengue fever.
Major refiners Reliance Industries of India announced it would soon be purchasing crude from Venezuela once again after getting the nod from Washington DC, which would represent an easing of the current sanctions against the South American country.
UK’s Minister for International Development Anneliese Dodds is in Rio de Janeiro representing the UK at the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting – on the first visit by a member of the new government to South America.
At mid morning Thursday, fishing vessels in the port of Montevideo turned their sirens on for a few minutes to the memory of the lost mariners from longliner Argos Georgia, believed to be almost unsinkable given its sturdy complexion and modern technology, which sunk in the middle of a dramatic storm in the deep south Atlantic.
Following the marine-side tender for the replacement of the Falkland Islands port facility, FIPASS, Harland and Wolff were identified as the preferred bidder. Pre-contract negotiations commenced in order to ensure commercial criteria were met and in order to then seek ExCo approval to proceed to necessarily contract to deliver.
While Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) Chairman Elvis Amoroso denounced that Western media outlets were behind a campaign seeking to taint next Sunday's presidential elections, Argentine reporter Jorge Pizarro of Buenos Aires' Radio Rivadavia was denied access into the country upon landing at Caracas' Simón Bolívar International Airport, from where he was deported via Panama after over six hours in detention.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva insisted during a G20 event in Rio de Janeiro that fighting hunger was a political choice, Agencia Brasil reported. The South American leader also pledged to steer his country out of that plight during his ongoing term.
Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Toto Caputo met Thursday in Rio de Janeiro with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who said the encounter had been constructive.