
A bank in Portugal has blocked Venezuela’s attempt to transfer US$ 1.2 billion to Uruguay, a lawmaker said on Tuesday as the opposition to President Nicolas Maduro warned of the theft of public funds, while the United States sent food and medical aid to the Venezuelan-Colombian border.

The Security Council convened by the United States this Saturday to discuss the institutional and political crisis that Venezuela is experiencing has been lifted this afternoon. With a strongly polarized participation, the bloc that supports the transitional government of Juan Guaidó with the US at the head, faced the block that recognizes as legitimate the regime of Nicolás Maduro, headed by Russia and China. Latin American countries also expressed their positions, describing the case as a crisis that directly affects the region.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has rejected an offer of talks from President Nicolás Maduro amid an ongoing power struggle between the two. Guaidó declared himself “acting president” on Wednesday, a position that has been recognized by several countries, including the US, Canada, the Lima Group and some EU members, but not the EU as a block..

United Kingdom welcomed Uruguay’s positive record in promoting freedom of expression and independent media, as well as its progressive legislation particularly in promoting gender equality and LGBT rights.

Intense rainfall in northeast Argentina and neighbouring areas in Mercosur members has caused devastating floods, amplifying the economic burdens of Argentina's recession. Over 5,000 people have evacuated the region, and millions of hectares of crops have been sent underwater.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed on Monday, through a statement, its “deep concern” regarding the “serious institutional crisis” and the “acts of intimidation” that led to the arrest and subsequent release of the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó , by officials of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin).

It seemed sure that, starting January 10, Venezuela would experience high uncertainty. Nicolás Maduro swore in the presidency for the 2019-2015 government period in front of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), when the constitution of that country dictates that it is before Parliament that the president must present the inauguration. Both the international community and the National Assembly (AN), declared in contempt by the Supreme Court, mark Maduro as an usurper. The illegitimacy of the president is discussed globally and Juan Guaidó is recognized as interim president of the Republic.

Uruguay and Bolivia will be the only South American countries attending this Thursday the inauguration of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro for a second five year mandate. A regime which has become an increasingly international pariah for its non democratic practices, human rights abuses, and disastrous management of the economy creating a major humanitarian crisis with food and essential pharmaceutical shortages while some three million of Venezuelans have fled the country in desperation.

Mark Waghorn, writing for The London Economic, and based on a paper on Magellanic penguins published in the January edition of Current Biology, gives us access to some fascinating facts about this breed which is most common along the Atlantic Patagonia coast and the Falkland Islands.

BBC has published a piece on the history of Corned Beef and its brand name, Fray Bentos, the city located on the banks of the Uruguay River, and which over a century ago produced what it describes as the most influential food brands of the 20th century