Latin America

• Friday, December 24th 2021 - 09:45 UTC

  Ecuador makes COVID-19 vaccination mandatory

  

  The Government of Ecuador has decided to make vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory, except for people with a medical condition that renders the shot counterproductive, it was announced Thursday.

• Friday, December 24th 2021 - 09:21 UTC

  Eastern cancellations leave hundreds of Paraguayans stranded in Miami

  

  Some 300 Paraguayan nationals who were stranded in Miami after Eastern Airlines canceled its Dec. 18 and 21 flights to Asuncion will be arriving shortly before midnight Friday, it was announced.

• Thursday, December 23rd 2021 - 20:30 UTC

  Almost 30 tons of illegally extracted coltan taken away from Colombian guerrillas

  

  According to reports published this week, Colombian law enforcement authorities have seized some 30 tons of coltan in the last six months from Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) dissidents, who, according to the Prosecutor's Office, allegedly exploited indigenous people to extract the mineral.

• Thursday, December 23rd 2021 - 09:05 UTC

  IAPA wants press freedom guaranteed in Chile's new Constitution

  

  The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) Wednesday asked Chile's Constitutional Convention to “guarantee the broadest access to public information and to prohibit Congress from enacting laws that restrict freedom of the press” in the new text being drafted.

• Wednesday, December 22nd 2021 - 22:32 UTC

  Colombia's proposed security law violates human rights, opposition claims

  

  Opposition parties in Colombia have raised their voices Wednesday against the Security bill passed Tuesday by the Senate because while it claims to guarantee citizen security, it violates the Constitution, criminalizes social protest, and hands out licenses to kill. The bill is now up to President Iván Duque for enactment.

• Wednesday, December 22nd 2021 - 11:29 UTC

  Áñez's daughter seeks help from Bachelet regarding her mother's arrest

  

  Carolina Ribera, daughter of Bolivia's former interim President Jeanine Áñez, Tuesday sought assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to help put an end to the “torture” her mother is allegedly enduring while incarcerated pending trial.

• Tuesday, December 21st 2021 - 20:50 UTC

  Bolivian lorry drivers stranded in the middle of the Andes with Covid-19 and snow

  

  Scores of Bolivian lorry drivers and their vehicles were reported Monday to be stranded on the Chilean border at Tambo Quemado after at least 200 of them tested positive for COVID-19. They claim they had departed with negative PCR tests from 72 hours before the beginning of their journeys. The border crossing now is closed and snow is falling.

• Tuesday, December 21st 2021 - 20:23 UTC

  Peru's Congress passes motion of censorship against Education Minister

  

  Peru's Congress Tuesday passed a motion of censure against Education Minister Carlos Gallardo who must now turn in his resignation. President Pedro Castillo has 72 hours to accept it.

• Tuesday, December 21st 2021 - 00:51 UTC

  Colombia's Ombudsman calls for protection of sexually diverse individuals

  

  The Office of Colombia's Ombudsman Monday launched an appeal for the authorities to look after the integrity of LGBTQ people after 35 transgender women have been murdered this year nationwide.

• Monday, December 20th 2021 - 12:55 UTC

  Boric wins runoff to become Chile's youngest ever President

  

  Leftwing Deputy Gabriel Boric (35) beat first-round frontrunner Conservative José Antonio Kast in Sunday's presidential runoff to become Chile's youngest-ever head of state. After more than 90% of the votes were counted, Boric led by 56% against Kast's 44%.