Latin America

Thursday, August 29th 2019 - 09:45 UTC
Bolsonaro will join with other Amazon countries to set a common policy to protect the rainforest

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Wednesday he would meet with other South American countries to set common policy for defending the Amazon rain forest, while his foreign minister said Brazil should be seen as an environmental hero.
Thursday, August 29th 2019 - 09:42 UTC
Bolivia admits fires have destroyed 1.2m hectares of forest; ecologists demand an end to bill promoting pastures

Fires have destroyed 1.2 million hectares of forest and grasslands in Bolivia this year, the government said on Wednesday, though environmentalists claim the true figure is much greater.
Wednesday, August 28th 2019 - 09:56 UTC
Insufficient rainfall forecasted as Brazil's Amazon dry season end approaches

Weak rainfall is unlikely to extinguish a record number of fires raging in Brazil's Amazon anytime soon, with pockets of precipitation through to Sept 10 expected to bring only isolated relief, according to weather data and two experts.
Wednesday, August 28th 2019 - 09:55 UTC
Amazon fires a “tipping point” for the health of rainforests, warns tropical forests organization

The fires tearing through the Amazon represent a “tipping point” for the health of the rainforest, the head of a top global forestry management body said on Wednesday, urging the world to do more to save the trees.
Wednesday, August 28th 2019 - 09:50 UTC
Peru and Colombia propose an emergency Amazon basin summit

Peru and Colombia proposed on Tuesday an emergency Amazon summit for countries in the region in order to coordinate a strategy to protect the vast rainforest currently blighted by numerous fires. The Amazon is known as the “planet's lungs” but is suffering from its worst outbreak of fires in years, which has sparked a global outcry.
Wednesday, August 28th 2019 - 09:34 UTC
Bolivian president Morales welcomes the G7 tiny contribution to preserve the Amazon rainforest

Bolivia's president Evo Morales gave a half-hearted welcome on Tuesday to a G7 pledge of US$20 million to fight the Amazon wildfires, describing it as “tiny.” An underwhelmed Morales said the aid from the most industrialized countries was part of the world's “obligation” to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Wednesday, August 28th 2019 - 09:15 UTC
Archeologists in Peru find 227 bodies of pre Columbian sacrificed children

Archeologists in Peru say the 227 bodies they have unearthed from a site used by the pre-Columbian Chimu culture is the biggest-ever discovery of sacrificed children. Archeologists have been digging since last year at the huge sacrificial site in Huanchaco, a beachside tourist town north of the capital Lima.
Tuesday, August 27th 2019 - 08:59 UTC
Venezuelan migrants will be provided with a regional vaccination card

Venezuelan migrants will be provided with a regional vaccination card beginning in October, health officials from 10 countries agreed on Monday in an effort to ensure they receive needed vaccines and are not given double doses. More than 4 million Venezuelans have fled an economic and political crisis in their home country that has caused widespread shortages of food and medicine.
Tuesday, August 27th 2019 - 08:30 UTC
Argentine court rejects request to throw out a corruption case against ex president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

An Argentine court rejected on Monday a request from lawyers to throw out a corruption case against former president and current vice-presidential candidate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Monday, August 26th 2019 - 18:18 UTC
Morales suspends re-election campaigning and calls for aid to fight blazes in the Bolivian Amazon

Bolivian President Evo Morales said on Sunday he is open to international aid to fight the blazes that have engulfed rural villages and doubled in size since Thursday. Morales is also suspending his campaign for re-election for at least a week, just two months from election day, to focus on the wildfires.