Stories for January 2024

Tuesday, January 9th 2024 - 11:40 UTC
State of Emergency decreed in Ecuador amid simultaneous prison riots

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa Monday decreed a state of emergency after riots erupted in at least six prisons nationwide, with inmates taking guards hostage and starting fires by burning mattresses. The measure allows the Armed Forces to intervene in support of law enforcement agencies.
Tuesday, January 9th 2024 - 11:29 UTC
Montevideo wages sanitary war against mosquitoes

Montevideo City authorities are upping precautions in the presence of disease-transmitting mosquitoes. City Health Director Hugo Rousserie urged residents to take measures and explained that critical places where puddles appear, such as cemeteries, were monitored closely.
Tuesday, January 9th 2024 - 10:59 UTC
Argentine FM to meet with Chinese ambassador amiid growing tension

Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino is to meet on Thursday or Friday with Chinese Ambassador Wang Wei to discuss a US$ 6.5 billion currency swap brokered by former Economy Minister Sergio Massa last year, among other topics.
Tuesday, January 9th 2024 - 10:42 UTC
Extent of ransomware attack in Paraguay downplayed

Paraguayan authorities Monday downplayed the importance of the ransomware attack by the Black Hunt group against the Armed Forces' computer systems that reportedly took place Sunday and argued there was no such breach.
Monday, January 8th 2024 - 12:59 UTC
Back from Antarctica, Milei calls opponents “useful idiots” and defends 30% inflation

Argentine President Javier Milei returned this weekend to the mainland after touring the Marambio and Esperanza Bases in Antarctica, it was reported in Buenos Aires.
Monday, January 8th 2024 - 12:50 UTC
Milei praises Minister Caputo and says 30% monthly inflation would be ”a great achievement”

Argentine President Javier Milei praised Economy Minister Luis Toto Caputo for his management of the country's inflation for December 2023 and said that if it reached 30% it would be “a great number” because previous estimates spoke of 45%.
Monday, January 8th 2024 - 12:29 UTC
Uruguayan authorities project 4.9% inflation for 2024

Uruguayan authorities forecast a 4.9% inflation for 2024 while the target range will remain between 3 and 6%, the Macroeconomic Coordination Committee reported in Montevideo.
Monday, January 8th 2024 - 12:26 UTC
Ransomware attack hits Paraguayan Armed Forces?

Paraguay's General Directorate of Information and Communication Technologies of the Armed Forces Sunday issued a bulletin alerting all units of a ransomware infection that allegedly hit its computer systems, it was reported in Asunción.
Monday, January 8th 2024 - 12:20 UTC
Chile's health minister wants people to show up for vaccination against Covid-19

Chile's Health Minister Ximena Aguilera launched an appeal to the citizenry to update their vaccination schedules given the appearance of the JN.1 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, also known as Pirola, of which an outbreak is feared after the strain was detected in over 40 countries.
Monday, January 8th 2024 - 12:18 UTC
Lula insists Bolsonaro masterminded the Jan. 8, 2023, uprising

One day before the first anniversary of the Jan. 8, 2023, riots in Brasilia, when the headquarters of all three branches of government were stormed by anti-government groups, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Sunday insisted his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro was behind it all.