Brazil

• Tuesday, March 30th 2021 - 09:22 UTC

  Bolsonaro reshuffles Brazil's cabinet, apparently to take on Covid-19 from a different angle

  

  Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro Monday ordered a sizeable reshuffle of his cabinet by accepting resignations from six top aides and appointing their successors. The most significant changes involved Foreign Affairs, Defense and Justice, at a time when the government's image is weakened and under pressure due to the way the coronavirus pandemic has been handled.

• Sunday, March 28th 2021 - 08:53 UTC

  Mercosur has no raison d’être if members go rogue according Argentine Foreign Ministry top official

  

  In the aftermath of Friday's presidential clash between Alberto Fernández and Uruguay's Luis Lacalle Pou over the Mercosur's alleged lack of “flexibility,” Argentine Foreign Ministry's Cabinet Chief Guillermo Chaves said Saturday in a radio interview that the bloc's fundamental identity was to negotiate jointly on behalf of all members, but if each partner was allowed to hold deals individually, the association would lose its raison d'être.

• Saturday, March 27th 2021 - 10:23 UTC

  Presidents of Uruguay, Argentina clash during Mercosur online summit

  

  Argentine President Alberto Fernández told his Uruguayan counterpart Luis Lacalle Pou his country did not want to be “a burden on anyone” when the latter called for signs of “flexibilization” on the part of Mercosur to allow member states to seek unilateral foreign trade agreements elsewhere without the bloc's approval.

• Saturday, March 27th 2021 - 09:03 UTC

  Butantan develops 100% Brazilian covid vaccine

  

  The Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo has reportedly developed a vaccine of its own against covid-19 and is awaiting clearance from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) to start clinical trials in humans.

• Friday, March 26th 2021 - 10:48 UTC

  Argentina halts all flights to/from Brazil, Chile and Mexico

  

  Starting this coming Saturday, no passenger flights will be allowed into Argentina from covid-ridden Brazil, Chile and Mexico, in a move to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly the Amazon or P1 strain as well as the British variant which is also causing havoc in the country's health system.

• Friday, March 26th 2021 - 10:03 UTC

  Brazil: over 100,000 new Covid-19 infections detected in just one day

  

  More than 100,000 Sars-CoV-2 infections in a 24-hour period were reported Thursday in Brazil for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic which has already killed over 300,000 people nationwide.

• Friday, March 26th 2021 - 09:59 UTC

  Brazil's Foreign Minister hangs on to his job as pressure for his departure mounts

  

  Ernesto Araújo's days as Foreign Minister of Brazil seemed to be counted Thursday as he made what was perceived to be the last effort to stay on the job, while advisers to President Jair Bolsonaro already deem his departure inevitable.

• Thursday, March 25th 2021 - 08:58 UTC

  Bolsonaro appoints committee of experts as Covid-19 kills over 3,000 daily in Brazil

  

  Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro Wednesday announced the creation of a committee of experts which is to convene weekly to guide the government's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic as it spreads rapidly causing over 3,000 deaths every 24 hours.

• Thursday, March 25th 2021 - 07:14 UTC

  Sergio Moro's ruling on Lula was biased, says Brazil's Supreme Court

  

  In a 3-2 split ruling, Brazil's Supreme Court Tuesday determined that Judge Sergio Moro's sentencing of former President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva (2003-2011) on corruption charges in the Lava Jate case was biased.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2021 - 16:56 UTC

  Covid kits contributed to deaths in Brazil

  

  A “covid kit” touted by Jair Bolsonaro as an effective early treatment against Covid may have resulted in an increased number of deaths in seriously ill covid patients, according to reports in BBC Brasil today.