Latin America

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Police say they used tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators in Brazil’s largest city on Sunday as groups protesting and supporting President Jair Bolsonaro neared a clash.

People have begun turning to this unconventional union at a notary in Santa Cruz, a neighborhood on the western outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, since the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus started battering Brazil.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — The passenger from Spain that Sonia Sánchez picked up at the airport in Colombia’s capital in March did not seem well.

Caribbean islands have rarely been so vulnerable as an unusually active hurricane season threatens a region still recovering from recent storms as it fights a worsening drought and a pandemic that has drained budgets and muddled preparations.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — The men panted from exertion as they climbed the mist-covered hill carrying a coffin with another body in Peru’s largest cemetery, where the dead from the new coronavirus are being buried.

The initiative is not only about informing the public, but also about strengthening the country’s media sector, particularly at a time when journalists are under attack and constant threat.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — As the coronavirus spreads into indigenous lands in Brazil, killing at least 40 people so far by the government’s count, the first two COVID-19 deaths were registered this week in the Xingu area, one of the biggest reserves in the world.

FUNZA, Colombia (AP) — At a small farmhouse outside Colombia’s capital city, Marlene Beltran picks up a ruler and crayons. She turns on the radio, sits down at a creaky wooden table and helps her 5-year-old brother with a lesson on how to make paper cubes and decorate them with drawings that tell a story.

In this latest episode of Latino Rebels Radio, Amanda Alcántara welcomes back Paula Ávila-Guillén, human rights lawyer and director of Latin America Initiatives for the Women’s Equality Center.

MIAMI (AP) — Even in a pandemic, there’s no slowdown for swindlers in Latin America.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Defying dire predictions, Venezuela so far seems to have avoided the coronavirus wave striking much of South America.

SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica became the latest country to legalize same-sex marriage early Tuesday when a ruling from its supreme court went into effect ending the country’s ban.

Overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate medical attention, and delays in testing prime Paraguay’s quarantine shelters to spread the virus, rather than contain it.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — With Brazil emerging as one of the world’s most infected countries, President Jair Bolsonaro is deflecting all responsibility for the coronavirus crisis, casting blame on mayors, governors, an outgoing health minister and the media.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The first of five tankers loaded with gasoline sent from Iran reached Venezuelan waters late Saturday, expected to temporarily ease the South American nation’s fuel crunch while defying Trump administration sanctions targeting the two U.S. foes.

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Adrián Alonso Gama lived life on both sides of the border, until he got the coronavirus.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — Santiago Cedeño opened the front door of his house when the car stopped outside. For days, the Panamanian soccer player had been eagerly anticipating the vehicle and its cargo of food supplies.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s high court ordered the immediate seizure of all DirecTV property on Friday, days after the U.S. firm abandoned its services in the South American nation, citing U.S. sanctions.

NEW DELHI (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic accelerated across Latin America, Russia and the Indian subcontinent on Friday even as curves flattened and reopening was underway in much of Europe, Asia and the United States.

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s president questioned his country’s relationship with the United States, revealing frustration over the U.S. continuing to send deportees infected with COVID-19 to a country struggling to manage the crisis.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s top diplomat in charge of relations with the United States said Thursday relations have sunk to a new low, and potentially could sink even lower with the appointment of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.