LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Brazil's Lula calls on French president to attend Amazon summit

President Guillermo Lasso is looking to tamp down growing illegal mining activity in various places around the South American country, especially in the Amazon, where there are large reserves of gold and copper. The government will back international companies that have legal concessions and the armed forces will help control areas with security threats, said Security Secretary Diego Ordonez.


Reuters | Updated: 27-01-2023 07:14 IST | Created: 27-01-2023 07:14 IST
LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Brazil's Lula calls on French president to attend Amazon summit

The latest in Latin American politics today: Lula wants Macron to attend summit of Amazon countries

SAO PAULO - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged French President Emmanuel Macron to attend the summit of the Amazon countries that he aims to host in the coming months. Lula, who narrowly won election last October vowing to tackle deforestation, discussed climate change policies with Macron in a phone call, a statement from his office said.

Lula talked about the importance of France attending the summit as it is the only European country to share the biome, through its overseas territory of French Guiana. Peru recalls Honduran envoy over 'interference'

LIMA - Peru withdrew its ambassador to Honduras, Jorge Raffo, due to the Honduran government's "unacceptable interference" in the internal affairs of Peru, the Peruvian foreign ministry said. The step is part of a deepening showdown between Peruvian President Dina Boluarte and her regional peers, including the leftist leaders of Mexico, Bolivia and Honduras.

"As a consequence of the position adopted by Honduras, bilateral relations with said country will be maintained, indefinitely, at the level of chargé d'affaires," the foreign ministry said on Twitter. At a summit in Argentina earlier this week, Honduran President Xiomara Castro called Boluarte's ascension to power a coup.

Brazilian ex-senator takes over as Petrobras chief RIO DE JANEIRO - The board of directors of Petrobras approved former Senator Jean Paul Prates as the firm's chief executive, marking a strategic shift for the state-run Brazilian oil company.

A longtime energy consultant-turned-politician, Prates was tapped for the top Petrobras job by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and is expected to oversee a strategic shift to more renewable energy projects and more investments in oil refining. Sao Paulo-traded shares in the Brazilian oil company, the region's top crude producer, dropped more than 3% following the news, making it the biggest decliner on Brazil's benchmark stock index.

Prates was unanimously approved by the board, on which he will also hold a seat, Petrobras said in a securities filing. He is taking office on an interim basis until April, when he will be sworn in permanently. U.S. slaps sanctions on Paraguay's VP and former president

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Paraguay's former President Horacio Cartes and current Vice President Hugo Velazquez, citing "rampant corruption that undermines democratic institutions." The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control also designated four entities owned or controlled by Cartes.

It accused Cartes of participating in corrupt activities before, during and after his term as president and of interfering with legal processes to "protect himself and criminal associates" from investigation. Cartes denied wrongdoing in July, when the United States first made the accusations. He, Velazquez, and a spokesperson for their ruling Colorado Party, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On local radio, Velazquez called the accusations false. Ecuador calls illegal mining a national security threat

QUITO - Ecuador's government declared illegal mining a national security threat, saying it has connections to money laundering and arms trafficking, and stressing it will take actions to combat it. President Guillermo Lasso is looking to tamp down growing illegal mining activity in various places around the South American country, especially in the Amazon, where there are large reserves of gold and copper.

The government will back international companies that have legal concessions and the armed forces will help control areas with security threats, said Security Secretary Diego Ordonez. Illegal mining "is part of the chain of trafficking of arms and trafficking of explosives and of money laundering, and for that reason it is considered an activity that attacks national security," Ordonez told journalists, adding it also causes environmental damage. (Compiled by David Alire Garcia; editing by Grant McCool)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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