South America

Attacker kills four children with hatchet at Brazil preschool

by Anderson COELHO Agence France-Presse BLUMENAU, Brazil (AFP) — A 25-year-old man burst into a preschool in southern Brazil and killed four children with a hatchet-like weapon Wednesday before turning himself in to police, an attack President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned as “monstrous.” The attacker, who jumped a wall to get inside, also wounded four other children at the private preschool, known as the Good Shepherd Center, in the city of Blumenau, said […]

Volcano that wiped out Colombian town active again

Bogotá, Colombia | AFP | Seismic activity has increased at Colombia’s Nevado del Ruiz volcano, which killed 25,000 people in an eruption 38 years ago, authorities said Friday, warning of a “probable” new outbreak. The 1985 eruption was considered the worst natural disasters in Colombian history and one of the deadliest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century. There has recently been a “significant increase in seismic activity,” the ministry of mines said in a statement […]

Race against time to save dozens missing after Ecuador mudslide

ALAUSÍ, Ecuador (AFP) — Rescuers raced against time in southern Ecuador Tuesday to find survivors of a weekend landslide that left at least eight people dead and more than 70 missing. Torrential rain overnight Sunday triggered a mudslide that buried dozens of homes and injured 30 people in the village of Alausi some 300 kilometers (180 miles) south of the capital Quito, officials said. As hopes faded of finding survivors under the rubble, rescuers with […]

Seven dead, more than 60 missing in Ecuador landslide

ALAUSI, Ecuador (AFP) — Rescuers searched Monday for more than 60 people reported missing after a landslide triggered by months of heavy rain killed at least seven people in southern Ecuador. The mudslide happened overnight Sunday into Monday, burying dozens of homes and injuring 23 people in the village of Alausi in Chimborazo province, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) south of Quito, officials said. Shocked residents, many in tears, stood waiting for news Monday as […]

Brazil police raid leaves 13 dead in favela near Rio: media

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — A police raid on a favela near Rio de Janeiro Thursday left at least 13 people dead, including the suspected leader of a crime gang active in the north of Brazil, local media reported. “There are 13 dead, two individuals detained and a large number of weapons seized,” Fabricio Oliveira, from the Coordination of Special Resources of the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, told a press conference. Police […]

Brazil’s Lula irks foreign oil companies with new tax

by Marcelo SILVA DE SOUSA Agence France-Presse BRASÍLIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has not even been in power for 100 days but has already provoked the wrath of foreign oil companies with the creation of a new tax on crude exports. Multinationals Repsol, TotalEnergies, Shell, Equinor and Galp have petitioned a federal court to suspend the 9.2 percent tax due to run from March to July and announced by […]

End of truce: Colombia kills two cartel members, captures one

MONTERÍA, Colombia (AFP) — The Colombian army said Tuesday it had killed two members of the infamous Gulf Clan drug cartel and captured one of its bosses as operations resumed after the government called off a ceasefire. On New Year’s Eve, the government of new President Gustavo Petro had declared a bilateral ceasefire with armed groups including the Clan, National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels and dissidents of the disarmed former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia […]

Three Ecuador TV stations receive letter bombs, one explodes

QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — Letter bombs addressed to journalists were sent to three TV stations in violence-plagued Ecuador Monday, one of which exploded without causing casualties, officials and the outlets reported. The prosecutor’s office said it had opened an investigation into the crime of “terrorism,” without stating why the three stations were specifically targeted, or by whom. In the port city of Guayaquil, journalist Lenin Artieda of the Ecuavisa private TV station received an envelope […]

At least 12 killed as strong quake jolts Ecuador and Peru

Guayaquil, Ecuador | AFP | At least 12 people were killed, one was wounded and buildings were damaged in a powerful earthquake that shook Peru and Ecuador Saturday, Ecuador’s presidency said. Destroyed buildings, crushed vehicles and debris could be seen in cities such as Machala and Cuenca in Ecuador, as rescue officials rushed to lend aid and panicked residents ran into the streets. The quake, which the United States Geological Survey (USGS) put at magnitude […]

Northeast Brazil sees more fierce gang violence

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Marauding attacks by gang members in northeast Brazil continued for a third night despite a beefed up presence of security forces, authorities said on Thursday. Media reports carried images of public buses and buildings in flames in nine cities — including state capital Natal — in the northeastern Rio Grande do Norte state. The unrest, which began late Monday, was orchestrated by imprisoned gang leaders as a protest against jail […]

Sorrow in Peru as mudslides destroy homes

by Carlos MANDUJANO Agence France-Presse CHACLACAYO, Peru (AFP) –One mudslide after another finally destroyed the house of Elvis Palomino in Chaclacayo, east of Peru’s capital Lima, where others are stacking sandbags they hope will save them from a similar fate. As heavy rains continue to drench the region, they fear the rising waters of the Rimac — Quechua for “talking river” — could also turn them into casualties of the natural disasters that have claimed […]

Bolsonaro’s Saudi jewels scandal: what we know

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro is in hot water over allegations he tried to illegally import millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry given to him and his wife by Saudi Arabia. The scandal has triggered multiple investigations, potentially complicating life for Bolsonaro — who is expected to return soon to Brazil from the United States, where the far-right ex-army captain has been living since just before his leftist successor, […]