Latin America

• Monday, March 16th 2020 - 11:20 UTC

  Coronavirus: Argentina closes borders for 15 days and suspends classes until March 31

  

  Argentina will close its borders for 15 days to non-residents in order to combat the spread of coronavirus, President Alberto Fernandez announced on Sunday. Public and private school classes would also be suspended until March 31, Fernandez said. National parks would also be closed.

• Monday, March 16th 2020 - 11:15 UTC

  Chile quarantines 1.300 people aboard two cruise vessels

  

  Chile has quarantined more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus, the health ministry announced on Saturday. Both ships are cruising the Chilean fjords in Patagonia.

• Saturday, March 14th 2020 - 09:55 UTC

  Uruguay confirms first four tested cases of coronavirus, all arrived from Italy

  

  Uruguay confirmed its first four tested cases of coronavirus on Friday, the Ministry of Health announced in a tweet. All four cases were people who had arrived to Uruguay from Milan, Italy between March 3 and March 6, the ministry said, adding that the patients are stable and at their homes.

• Friday, March 13th 2020 - 08:47 UTC

  South American stock markets suffer heavy losses on Thursday

  

  Argentina's main stock exchange crashed by nearly 10% on Thursday as markets continued to panic over the coronavirus pandemic. The fall wasn't as bad as Monday's that reached almost 14% but it continued the week's general downward spiral across the region.

• Friday, March 13th 2020 - 07:29 UTC

  Civil disobedience resumes in Chile with demands for president Piñera to step down

  

  A Chilean student blinded in both eyes by police rubber bullets became the symbol of this week's protests on the second year of president Sebastián Piñera's mandate but also the thirtieth anniversary of the return of democracy to Chile.

• Wednesday, March 11th 2020 - 06:55 UTC

  Ronaldinho remains in jail in Paraguay on possession of fake passports

  

  Brazilian football great Ronaldinho will remain in pre-trial detention in Paraguay after a judge on Tuesday rejected his lawyer's request that he be released on bail or to house arrest.

• Tuesday, March 10th 2020 - 18:35 UTC

  LATAM offers Coronavirus waivers for International Flights

  

  People heading to Latin America with the LATAM group can now receive a coronavirus fare waiver on bookings until March 22 for travel to the end of 2020.

• Tuesday, March 10th 2020 - 08:15 UTC

  Black Monday cocktail: oil price war and coronavirus trigger market panic

  

  World oil prices crashed on Monday, fuelling a vicious selloff on stock markets that were already buckling from the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Stocks tanked as the global oil market nosedived 30% at one stage after top exporter Saudi Arabia slashed the prices it charges customers following a bust-up with Russia over crude production cuts.

• Monday, March 9th 2020 - 08:54 UTC

  Trump and Bolsonaro discuss Venezuela and a bilateral trade accord

  

  United States President Donald Trump hosted Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday, where the two leaders discussed the U.S.-led effort to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and spoke about a future trade deal.

• Monday, March 9th 2020 - 08:43 UTC

  First Covid-19 death in Latin America; twelve positive cases in Argentina

  

  A 64-year-old man died in Argentina as a result of the Covid-19, the first such death in Latin America, health authorities announced Saturday. The Ministry of Health said the patient lived in Buenos Aires and had been confirmed with COVID-19 after coming down with a cough, fever and sore throat following a recent trip to Europe.