A powerful earthquake centered near the southern Mexico resort of Huatulco on Tuesday killed at least five people, swayed buildings in Mexico City and sent thousands fleeing into the streets.  Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said one person was killed in a building collapse in Huatulco, Oaxaca. Otherwise he said reports were of minor damage from the magnitude 7.4 quake, including broken windows and collapsed walls. Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat said a second person was killed in an apparent house collapse in the mountain village of San Juan Ozolotepec and a third died in circumstances he did not explain. Federal civil defense authorities reported two more deaths: A worker at the state-run oil company, Pemex, fell to his death from a refinery structure, and a man died in the Oaxaca village of San Agustin Amatengo when a wall fell on him. Mexico earthquake locator mapPemex also said the quake caused a fire at its refinery in the Pacific coast city of Salina Cruz, relatively near the epicenter. It said one worker was injured and the flames were quickly extinguished. Churches, bridges and highways also suffered damage during the quake. López Obrador said there had been more than 140 aftershocks, most of them small. Seismic alarms sounded midmorning with enough warning for residents to exit buildings. Power was knocked out to some areas. Helicopters flew over downtown Mexico City and police patrols sounded their sirens. People brace themselves against a wall during an earthquake, in Mexico City, June 23, 2020.Groups of people still milled around in close proximity on streets and sidewalks in some neighborhoods of the capital about an hour after the quake. Many were not wearing masks despite past appeals from municipal officials for them to do so as a way to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Inside a Mexico City military barracks converted to COVID-19 hospital, medical staff suited in protective equipment tried to calm anxious patients. Unable to evacuate isolation areas, patients huddled under a large beam in the women’s ward while a nurse tried to calm one having a panic attack. Teresa Juárez could only wish for it to pass quickly from her hospital bed where she lay connected to oxygen. Diabetic and with high blood pressure, Juárez said she thought about her five children. “It’s horrible, you’re here and you don’t know what to do,” she said. The U.S. Geologic Survey said the quake hit at 10:29 a.m. (11:29 a.m. Eastern) along Mexico’s southern Pacific coast at a depth of 16 miles (26 km). The epicenter was 7 miles (12 km) south-southwest of Santa Maria Zapotitlan in Oaxaca state.It was felt in Guatemala and throughout south and central Mexico. A damaged building is seen after an earthquake in Mexico City, Mexico, June 23, 2020.In Huatulco, a laid-back beach destination known for surfing and small protected coves, the earthquake knocked goods off shelves and some rubble from buildings. Mari González of the Princess Mayev hotel in Huatulco said staff and guests were able to evacuate the building before the quake, but that 45 minutes after the initial quake they were still outside as strong aftershocks continued.  “It was strong, very strong,” she said. González said there was some visible broken glass and mirrors, but no major damage. The staff was waiting for the aftershocks to dissipate before fully evaluating the property. Local news media reported damage to some buildings in the state capital, Oaxaca city. State officials said they were looking for damage. The USGS estimated that some 2 million people felt strong or moderate shaking and another 49 million felt weak or light shaking.  The earthquake hit a quake-prone region where four underground tectonic plates come together. In the past 35 years, there have been at least seven magnitude 7 or greater earthquakes, killing around 10,000 people — most of them in a 1985 8.0 quake. “This has the potential to be a deadly earthquake and cause significant damage,” U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Paul Earle said. “This area is capable of and has had larger earthquakes in the past.” “There will be aftershocks,” Earle said. “It is not unexpected to see a magnitude 6 at this point and a number of smaller ones.” This quake happened when the Cocos plate, which is to the southwest of the area, slipped under the North American plate, Earle said. “You’ve got all sorts of plates and they’re moving quickly,” Earle said. “The important thing is how fast the plates are moving relative to each other.” 
  
…

A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake shook southern Mexico Tuesday, killing at least two people and damaging several buildings.  The quake was centered near the Pacific coast resort of Huatulco and was felt nearly 700 kilometers away in Mexico City, causing buildings to sway and sending thousands of residents into the streets.Much of the damage is minor, with broken windows and collapsed walls. But authorities say one person was killed when a building in Huatulco collapsed, and a second died after a house in the mountain village of San Juan Ozolotepec fell.  Mexico earthquake locator mapThe state-run oil company Pemex said the quake caused a fire at its Salina Cruz refinery which was quickly put out.  At least 140 aftershocks have been felt.  Geologists say southern Mexico, where four tectonic plates merge, is particularly vulnerable to strong earthquakes. An 8.0 magnitude quake hit the area in 1985.   
…

A powerful earthquake centered near the resort of Huatulco in southern Mexico swayed buildings Tuesday in Mexico City and sent thousands into the streets.  The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake had a magnitude of at least 7.4 and hit at 10:29 a.m. local time along Mexico’s southern Pacific coast at a depth of 26 kilometers.Seismic alarms sounded as the quake struck with enough warning for residents to exit buildings. Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in a message posted to social media said he was not aware of any serious damage done by the quake, but urged people to go outside where they would be safe, should any weakened buildings collapsePower was knocked out to some areas, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.The epicenter was 12 kilometers south-southwest of Santa Maria Zapotitlan in Oaxaca state. It was felt in Guatemala and throughout south and central Mexico.Earthquakes of this magnitude can be extremely dangerous. In 2017, a magnitude 7.1 quake killed hundreds of people in and around Mexico City. 
…

A powerful earthquake centered near the resort of Huatulco shook southern and central Mexico on Tuesday. There were no immediate reports of the extend of damage or injury.The U.S. Geologic Survey said the quake that hit at 10:29 a.m. (11:29 a.m. Eastern) had a magnitude of 7.4 and was centered along the Pacific coast of Oaxaca state. 
…

A man accused of ramming his car into the front gate of the Chinese Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday night is under arrest. The incident, which attracted a heavy police response, is under investigation in the Argentine capital. Police said no-one was hurt, including the 24-year-old Argentine driver. The Chinese ambassador to Argentina was not at the embassy at the time of the incident. There are reports the driver was seen on social media saying that he “knows the truth about COVID-19” and needed “help from the Chinese Embassy.”A source at the Foreign Ministry told the French News Agency, AFP,  the man drove into the closed gate after he was refused permission speak to officials inside the embassy. The Buenos Aires Times says unconfirmed reports in local outlets claimed the driver was allegedly looking for political asylum at the Chinese Embassy. 
…

Peruvian lawmakers are set to consider legislation as early as Thursday that aims to protect sections of the Amazon rain forest from outsiders, including purveyors of the oil industry. Reuters news agency says indigenous leaders seeking the support of lawmakers are concerned the oil industry lobby may block the legislation from coming up for a vote. Indigenous leaders reportedly met with President Martin Vizcarra on Friday ahead of the vote. The president’s government is said to oppose the proposed legislation that strengthens protections for the Amazon already in place. Jorge Pérez, president of the Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon, told Reuters the legislation will guarantee the lives and human rights of the thousands of isolated groups, who up to now have been exposed to high risk extractive activities in their region. Felipe Cantuarias, president of the Peruvian Hydrocarbon Society industry lobby group, says passing the bill would disrupt operations and hurt business. 
…

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he would only meet with Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro to discuss his departure from power, after an interview in which he suggested otherwise.
 
 Axios published an interview with Trump in which he said he would be open to meeting with Maduro and appeared to waver in his support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom the U.S. and a number of other countries had formally recognized as interim president after contested elections in 2018.
 
“I would maybe think about that … Maduro would like to meet. And I’m never opposed to meetings,” Trump told Axios. “But at this moment, I’ve turned them down.”
 
But on Monday Trump tweeted “My Admin has always stood on the side of FREEDOM and LIBERTY and against the oppressive Maduro regime!”  
 
“I would only meet with Maduro to discuss one thing: a peaceful exit from power!” the tweet continued.Unlike the radical left, I will ALWAYS stand against socialism and with the people of Venezuela. My Admin has always stood on the side of FREEDOM and LIBERTY and against the oppressive Maduro regime! I would only meet with Maduro to discuss one thing: a peaceful exit from power!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020Guaido met with Trump in February as a guest for the State of the Union address in an attempt to rekindle his campaign to depose Maduro. In a statement about his visit, the White House said it would continue to work to “confront the illegitimate dictatorship” in Venezuela.
 
The United States and other countries blame Maduro’s socialist policies for a political and economic crisis threatening regional stability, while recognizing Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate interim leader. 
…

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is urging the immediate release of two Canadians detained by China on allegations of espionage. In a statement released Monday, Pompeo said the United States was “extremely concerned” about their safety. “These charges are politically motivated and completely groundless,” said Pompeo. Full U.S. statement on FILE – People hold signs calling for China to release Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig during an extradition hearing for Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, Canada.The two were arrested shortly after Canada detained Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. warrant. China has said that the two incidents are unrelated but some experts believe Kovrig and Spavor are being used as pressure against Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the arrests of the two men “arbitrary.” Secretary of State Pompeo on Monday also echoed what he said was Canada’s call for immediate consular access to its two citizens, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. “China has prohibited such access for almost six months, and the world has no knowledge of the two Canadians’ condition,” said Pompeo. 
…

China told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday to “stop making irresponsible remarks” after he said Beijing’s decision to charge two Canadians with spying was linked to his country’s arrest of a Chinese tech executive.The spying charges are “completely different” from the case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, a foreign ministry spokesman said. Meng was arrested on U.S. charges connected to possible violations of trade sanctions on Iran. In this image made from video taken on March 2, 2017, Michael Spavor, director of Paektu Cultural Exchange, talks during a Skype interview in Yangi, China.Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained in what was widely seen as an attempt to Canada after Meng’s December 2018 arrest in Vancouver. Charges against them were announced Friday after a Canadian judge ruled Meng’s extradition case can proceed to its next stage, moving her closer to being handed over to American authorities.Trudeau, speaking to reporters in Ottawa, said Chinese authorities “directly linked” the cases of Kovrig and Spavor with Meng. He called on Beijing to end their “arbitrary detention.””There is no such thing as arbitrary detention,” said the ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian.”China urges the relevant Canadian leader to earnestly respect the spirit of the rule of law, respect China’s judicial sovereignty and stop making irresponsible remarks,” Zhao said.Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Ltd. and the daughter of its founder, is accused of lying to banks in Hong Kong about Huawei’s dealings with Iran in possible violation of U.S. sanctions.Meng’s case is a “seriously political incident” and part of U.S. efforts to “suppress Chinese high-tech enterprises and Huawei,” Zhao said. He said Canada “played the role of an accomplice.””We strongly urge Canada to correct its mistakes as soon as possible, immediately release Meng Wanzhou and ensure her safe return to home,” said Zhao.Meng is living in a mansion she owns in Vancouver, where she reportedly is working on a graduate degree. Kovrig and Spavor are being held at an undisclosed location and have been denied access to lawyers or family members. China has also sentenced two other Canadians to death and suspended imports of Canadian canola.Zhao said visits by foreign diplomats to prisoners were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. 
…

Brazil on Sunday said it had registered more than 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus outbreak as well as about one million infections, as the second worst-affected country in the world struggles to control the disease.The Ministry of Health reported 641 new deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 50,617, with 1,085,038 recorded infections.Brazil is the second most-affected country behind the United States, which accounts for nearly 120,000 deaths and more than 2.2 million cases.President Jair Bolsonaro, who has famously compared the virus to a “little flu,” has clashed with state and local authorities over their use of stay-at-home measures and business closures to contain it.The far-right leader argues the economic impact of such measures risks being worse than the virus itself.The spread of COVID-19 is accelerating in Latin America, with Mexico, Peru and Chile all hard-hit.Mexico has recorded 170,000 cases and 20,349 deaths.Peru passed 8,000 deaths on Sunday as it prepares to reopen shopping malls on Monday after 99 days of confinement.Argentina on Sunday passed 1,000 deaths, underscoring the region’s woes.Chile nearly doubled its reported coronavirus death toll Saturday to 7,144 under a new tallying method that includes probable fatalities from COVID-19.Experts say under-testing means the real numbers are probably much higher. 
…

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says the more than 3.5 million Venezuelans who have left the country in the past five years are officially considered refugees.The UNHCR announcement that coincided with World Refugee Day on Saturday, said the Venezuelans were being added to the total number of refugees worldwide.”Well, this decision comes after a very wide discussion in the organization on how to categorize the Venezuelans that have been displaced abroad,” said Luis Fernando Godinho, UNHCR spokesperson in Brazil. Since last year, he said, the UNHCR has said that these people need international protection and thus should be recognized as refugees.The agency’s classification also includes thousands of people from Central America who crossed into Mexico last year, hoping for a better life in the United States after escaping credible life-threatening situations prompted by criminal organized groups in their own countries.The refugee agency said fleeing violence in the country of origin was sufficient reason for a migrant to be classified as a refugee.Meanwhile, UNHCR has asked host governments to give refugees and asylum seekers the same benefits as their own citizens. 
…

At least one hospital in Canada’s British Columbia province is under investigation after allegations that healthcare staff made up a “racist” game that involved guessing the alcohol level of Indigenous patients in the emergency room. British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix said if the allegations are true the staff’s behavior was “racist and completely abhorrent.”  He said the staff members might have targeted other racial groups in the game said to be called ‘The Price Is Right,’ after a popular television game show.The health minister did not identify the hospital but said all hospitals in the province would be investigated for racist practices. The allegation about the game was revealed during a cultural training session for healthcare workers. The BBC reports that Daniel Fontaine, CEO of Metis Nation British Columbia filed a formal complaint.Fontaine told the BBC the government has known about racism in the healthcare system for years. 
…

UNICEF has sent a third shipment of humanitarian aid to Venezuela to help the country cope with the coronavirus crisis.A plane with 90 tons of medicine, sanitation and water supplies landed in the capital, Caracas, on Friday.”We are here in Maiquetía Airport in Caracas receiving the third cargo plane with humanitarian assistance for Venezuela in the framework of the response to COVID-19 and the general humanitarian response in the country,” Peter Grohmann, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Venezuela, said.Friday’s shipment brought the total humanitarian aid to Venezuela to about 200 tons since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.”We hope that this [aid] will help the Venezuelan people in their fight against the coronavirus and in general to support them with their most urgent needs,” Grohmann said.Venezuela’s health system has had great difficulty bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control, since the Latin American country is under U.S. economic sanctions.Caracas has confirmed about 3,600 infection cases with the virus, and 30 deaths. 
…

Chinese prosecutors charged two detained Canadians with spying Friday in an apparent bid to step up pressure on Canada to drop a U.S. extradition request for a Huawei executive under house arrest in Vancouver.
Michael Kovrig was charged by Beijing on suspicion of spying for state secrets and intelligence. Michael Spavor was charged in Dandong, a city near the North Korean border, on suspicion of spying for a foreign entity and illegally providing state secrets.
The charges were announced by China’s highest prosecutor’s office in brief social media posts.  
Asked what evidence China had against the two, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said only that each is charged with “secretly gathering state secrets for overseas forces with particularly serious consequences.”
“The facts are clear and the evidence solid and sufficient,” Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing. Zhao gave no details.
Both men have been held for 18 months. They were detained shortly after the December 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei. The daughter of Huawei’s founder was arrested at the request of U.S. authorities who want her on fraud charges related to trade with Iran.  
A Canadian judge ruled this month that the U.S. extradition case against Meng could proceed to the next stage.  
China has denied any explicit link between her case and the lengthy detention of the two Canadian men, but outside experts see them as tied and Chinese diplomats have strongly implied a connection.  
Meng has been released on bail while her extradition case proceeds in court and is residing in one of her two Vancouver mansions where she is reportedly working on a graduate degree. Kovrig and Spavor are being held at an undisclosed location and up to now, have been denied access to lawyers or family members.
 
China has also sentenced two other Canadians to death and suspended imports of Canadian canola, while saying those moves were also unrelated to Meng’s case.  
Relations between Canada and China are at their lowest point since the Chinese military’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.  
The tensions appear to be causing further harm to Huawei’s reputation in the Americas, with two of Canada’s three major telecommunication companies announcing earlier this month that they’ve decided not to use the Chinese tech giant for their next-generation 5G wireless network.
Bell Canada announced that Sweden-based Ericsson will be its supplier and Telus Corp. later announced that it had also selected Ericsson and Nokia.  
Huawei is the world’s biggest supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, but has long been seen as a front for spying by China’s military and its highly skilled security services.  
The U.S. has urged Canada to exclude Huawei equipment from their next-generation wireless networks, saying Huawei is legally beholden to the Chinese regime. The United States and Australia have banned Huawei, citing concerns it is an organ of Chinese military intelligence — a charge the company denies.  
Canada’s diplomats in China have been meeting regularly with their detained citizens but there was no immediate comments on the new indictments.
…

The seven-member Guyana Elections Commission could get a report from Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield Friday that could move the South American country closer to confirming the results of March presidential and regional elections.The meeting, initially planned for Thursday, was canceled because of a lack of quorum.The commission is to announce the results after its chair, former justice Claudette Singh, receives a report from Lowenfield.A senior official of the main opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic Thursday dismissed an injunction sought by a citizen to prevent the commission from declaring the results. The party claimed victory in the election based on the national recount that ended last week.Preliminary results showed that opposition presidential candidate Irfaan Ali won the recount of votes in March’s presidential election after charges the count had been manipulated.The party also secured a two-seat advantage in the 65-seat National Assembly over President David Granger’s APNU+AFC party.Granger initially claimed victory, even after U.S. and EU observers said the count was flawed.  
…

A sinkhole on a Mexican highway has exposed a water-filled cave teaming with fossils of sea life and rock formations dating as far back as 2.5 million years.Cave explorers are using the large crevasse between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, Quintana Roo, to enter the 60-meter-long cave, where they also uncovered living creatures, including crustaceans.The Mexico Daily News said specialists are now working on a topographic map of the cave.Robert Rojo, a biologist and cave explorer said the cave gets its water from the Caribbean Sea.Rojo also said filling in the sinkhole and closing off the entrance would be tantamount to “ecocide,” a total destruction of the natural environment.Rojo and other experts are working on a detailed report of the cave, with recommendations on how to preserve it.
…

Scores of demonstrators in Guatemala are demanding President Alejandro Giammattei ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions, even as the death toll in the Central American nation tops 400.A motorcade of protesters and others on foot rallied outside the Congress in Guatemala City on Thursday, calling on the government to start relaxing restrictions and reopen the economy.Attorney Giovanni Fratti said the government is causing what he called a time bomb situation and that it should reopen the economy immediately, adding that advanced economies such as the United States and Italy, with more COVID-19 cases than Guatemala, are already reopening their economies.The demonstration comes a week after the government said it is considering increasing lockdown restrictions if COVID-19 cases continue rising.Guatemala has reported more than 11,800 cases and more than 430 deaths.   
…

The U.N. refugee agency reports more than nine million people were newly displaced by persecution and conflict in 2019, bringing the total number of forcibly displaced around the world to a record-breaking 79.5 million people.  These unprecedented figures appear in the agency’s annual FILE – A refugee camp is seen on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, near Atma, April 19, 2020.The U.N. refugee agency considers this a matter of great concern.  It notes most of the nearly 80 million uprooted are displaced inside their own countries, while 29.6 million are refugees, who have sought asylum in other countries.   Despite commonly held perceptions, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, says most refugees do not seek asylum in richer countries, but flee to nearby countries.  He says 85 percent are being hosted by poor developing countries.   The UNHCR chief says only five countries generate 68 percent of the world’s refugees.   “Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar.  You know what this means.  If crises in these countries were solved, 68 percent of the global forced displacement would probably be on its way to being solved,” he said. FILE – Congolese families, who fled from Democratic Republic of, prepare meals at United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ (UNHCR) Kyangwali refugee settlement camp, Uganda, Mar. 19, 2018.Grandi says conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa’s Sahel region, Yemen and Syria account for most of the nine million newly displaced last year.  He says he is particularly worried about the dramatic drop in the number of refugees who are able to return home or find countries of resettlement.     In the 1990s, he notes an average 1.5 million refugees were able to return home each year.  This number, he says, has now declined to fewer than 400,000 a year. “This, of course, is a sign of the persistence of conflicts, the emergence of new conflicts, the inability, the paralysis of the international community, including institutions like the Security Council to address these conflicts, to bring them to an end and to create conditions for refugees and displaced people to return home,” he said.  The report notes the number of refugees resettled in third countries has fallen to 107,000 last year from a high of 163,000 in 2016.  U.S. resettlement figures have declined dramatically.  Canada now has replaced the United States as the biggest receiving country.   Information in the Global Trends report does not include the likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on asylum.  But High Commissioner Grandi notes 164 countries have totally or partially closed their borders because of the pandemic.  This, he says has put a brake on people’s ability to cross borders in search of international protection.   
…

Confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths have been soaring in Latin America, including Brazil and Mexico.  But the region faces another obstacle: lockdowns have already taken a massive toll on its very large informal economy as laborers, street vendors and domestic workers struggle to survive through the shutdown.  Megan Janetsky reports from Medellín, Colombia.Camera: Megan Janetsky  Produced by:  Barry Unger  
…

When Rafaela Matos saw police helicopters over her favela and heard gunshots, she fell to her knees and asked God to protect her son, João Pedro. Then she called the boy to make sure he was OK.  
“Be calm,” João Pedro wrote back, explaining that he was at his aunt’s house and everything was fine, Rafaela told The Associated Press. Minutes after he sent the message, police burst in and shot the 14-year-old in the stomach with a high-caliber rifle at close range.  
João Pedro Matos Pinto was one of more than 600 people killed by police in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the first months of this year. That’s almost double the number of people killed by police over the same period in the entire U.S., which has 20 times Rio’s population. Like João Pedro, most of those killed in Rio were black or biracial and lived in the city’s poorest neighborhoods, or favelas.WATCH:  Which countries spend the most on policing?Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 3 MB480p | 4 MB540p | 5 MB720p | 11 MB1080p | 20 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioAs the Black Lives Matter movement brings hundreds of thousands to the streets around the world, demonstrators outraged by João Pedro’s death one month ago have been organizing the largest anti-police brutality demonstrations in years on the streets of Rio.
Still, the protests are nowhere near the size and public impact of other countries. To protesters, their struggle to gain momentum in the country where more than half the population is black or biracial, with a police violence problem that far overshadows other nations, is evidence of the depth of racism and complacence.
“They kill teenager after teenager in their homes every day. We’re here because we need to be,” 19-year-old civil engineering student João Gabriel Moreira said at a June 10 protest in Duque de Caxias, a poor city in the Rio metropolitan area. He said he had never protested anything before this year.
“Kill a young black man in a favela, it’s seen as normal — he must be a drug dealer,” Moreira said. “Racism has always been veiled in Brazil. That’s why so few of us are here. If Brazil had racial consciousness, this street would be filled.”
Rio de Janeiro police initially said they were pursuing a criminal in a joint operation by civil, military and federal police officers when they shot João Pedro on May 18. There was no sign of illegal activity at the house in the Salgueiro complex of favelas, according to Eduardo Benones, a federal prosecutor investigating the operation.
João Pedro’s father, Neilton Pinto, was serving up fish at a bayside kiosk when he heard the choppers. By the time he reached the scene, police had already taken the teen’s body away, he said, sitting beside Rafaela for an interview just before the one-month anniversary of the incident.
Police never took João Pedro to a hospital and his family began a frantic search. Rafaela, 36, received a glimmer of hope when she saw on her phone that her son’s WhatsApp was active.
“Hi … ,” she wrote. “Hi … Hi … Hi … Talk to me …”
No response came from whomever was using João Pedro’s phone. But a campaign swept across social media and his body was tracked down the next day, inside a police forensic institute.  
“Good people live in the favela, people with families, who plan on growing in this life,” Neilton, 40, said. “I’m sure if this were in wealthy areas, police wouldn’t act this way, breaking down the house of someone good.”  
Benones’ investigation seeks to hold the Brazilian state responsible for João Pedro’s death, alleging it occurred in the context of institutional racism. All depositions and eyewitness accounts Benones has reviewed indicate João Pedro and others present posed no threat to officers on the scene, he said.  
“Why didn’t police directors or whoever see that we’re in a pandemic, so obviously a place that’s already densely populated would be even more densely populated with kids? That’s predictable,” Benones said. “You can’t say it’s racism of that police officer, but a practice of police forces not taking care when dealing with the black population. And if something happens, it’s seen as collateral damage.”  
Rio police killed a record 1,814 people in 2019, according to official data — triple the number five years earlier. The 2020 death toll is on track for a repeat.  
Both President Jair Bolsonaro and Rio state Gov. Wilson Witzel won election in 2018 with campaigns that emphasized law and order, and both have said police should be able to kill criminals with almost no legal constraints.  
At a June 11 protest in Niteroi, another city in Rio’s metro area, Bruna Mozer told how her son Marcos gave up on school and fell in with drug traffickers in his favela. Even though he surrendered when police found him with a walkie-talkie in 2018, officers executed him, she said. Marcos would have been 18 this year.  
“Every day more mothers, victims of state violence, join our groups,” said Mozer.  
Rio’s civil police said in an e-mailed statement that it is investigating the circumstances surrounding João Pedro’s death and that three officers have been suspended. Rio’s military police didn’t respond to multiple requests seeking comment.  
Brazil’s Supreme Court on June 5 banned police operations in favelas until the coronavirus pandemic ends, in response to outrage over João Pedro’s death.  
His life had been divided between home, school, church and the mall, his father said. He got good grades and wanted to study law. He told his dad he would make him proud.
When Neilton lost his job, João Pedro entered public school, only to find it lacking teachers and classes. Rafaela got him into the private school where she teaches.  
His parents said they never talked to João Pedro about racism. Nor did they ever participate in protests, but they joined one on June 7. Rafaela said hearing João Pedro’s name become a rallying cry has lightened their emotional load a bit.  
“I never participated in events against racism or policing, never got involved with those things. Today we’re living something we didn’t expect, something that arrives and knocks on the door,” Rafaela said. “With this repercussion, we saw João Pedro wasn’t the first, and he also wasn’t the last.” 
…

The president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, is said to be in good condition after being admitted to a military hospital for pneumonia on Wednesday, a day after revealing he and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19. A health agency spokesman said Wednesday that Hernández was receiving intravenous medicine. Hernandez said late Tuesday, his wife had not showing any symptoms. The president said he began feeling discomfort over weekend. The health agency spokesman said two presidential aides also tested positive for the coronavirus, but their status was not immediately clear. President Hernandez’s health challenge comes as some hospitals in Honduras are being strained by the rise in coronavirus cases, which the country confirmed has reached 10,000 infections and 330 deaths. The World Health Organization considers Latin America the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 1.5 million coronavirus cases and more than 70,000 deaths linked to the disease. 
…

Colombian President Ivan Duque said he will use the full force of the military to bring to justice the drug gang that killed at least six soldiers and wounded eight of them during an ambush, near the country’s jungle region.Authorities said Wednesday’s attack on the army unit occurred as soldiers were conducting an offensive against drug trafficking in a rural area known as San Juan de Lozada, Caqueta.Duque called the fallen soldiers “heroes.”Separately, Duque on Wednesday hailed a new United Nations report that showed a 9 percent decrease in the illegal coca leaf plantations in Colombia in 2019 from the previous year.Still, Colombia remains the world’s largest cocaine producer. 
…

China’s capital imposed new coronavirus restrictions Wednesday to try to control a new outbreak, while Brazil reported a record daily increase in confirmed cases and the number of deaths in the United States surpassed those the country suffered in World War One.  Among the steps taken in Beijing were canceling dozens of domestic flights, requiring stricter social distancing efforts and making those entering some residential areas undergo temperature checks and registration.  There have been at least 137 new cases in Beijing since late last week linked to a wholesale food center.    Brazilian health officials reported Tuesday 34,918 new confirmed cases during a 24-hour period.  The country now has more than 900,000 total cases, trailing only the United States.  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed the severity of the virus while urging businesses to reopen.  His Chief of Staff Walter Braga Netto said Tuesday, “There is a crisis, we sympathize with bereaved families, but it is managed.”  “Brazil has 23% of all cases and 21% of all deaths in our region, and we are not seeing transmission slowing down,” Pan American Health Organization Director Carissa Etienne said in a briefing Tuesday.  “That is, the cases in almost all countries in Latin America, and a few in the Caribbean, are rising”  Peru has also been hit hard by the coronavirus, reporting Tuesday its death toll had surpassed 7,000 people.  And in Honduras, President Juan Orlando Hernandez announced late Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with COVID-19.Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado addresses the 74th session of the U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 25, 2019.The United States has more than 2.1 million confirmed cases and about 117,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Wednesday she assigned a top military leader to oversee “all quarantine and managed isolation facilities” after two citizens who arrived from Britain to visit a sick relative were allowed to leave quarantine without being tested, and later tested positive.  The development came more than three weeks after the country’s previous positive test, and the prime minister said she could not allow New Zealand to squander the gains it has made in stopping the spread of the virus.  “This case represents an unacceptable failure of the system,” Ardern told reporters.  “It should never have happened, and it cannot be repeated.”    As work continues in numerous labs around the world toward the creation of a coronavirus vaccine, the World Health Organization on Tuesday welcomed initial clinical results that showed the drug dexamethasone can help treat those who are critically ill with COVID-19.    A University of Oxford team gave the drug to more than 2,000 critically ill COVID-19 patients, and reported that among those who were so sick they needed a ventilator to breath the drug reduced deaths by 35 percent.    Patients who needed less help, only oxygen to help them breathe better, the drug reduced deaths by about 20 percent.  The researchers reported no benefit from the drug for patients who were mildly sick. Spain, which at 27,000 has the sixth most COVID-19 deaths in the world, will honor its victims with a state ceremony on July 16.  Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the plan to lawmakers Wednesday, saying officials European Union and World Health Organization would attend. 
…

Venezuela’s Supreme Court has removed the leadership of two political parties opposed to Socialist President Nicolas Maduro and replaced them with politicians reportedly tied to Maduro months ahead of legislative elections. The court installed lawmaker Jose Brito as head of the Justice First party on Tuesday, a day after expelling the leadership of the Democratic Action party and replacing it with long-time party activist Bernabe Gutierrez.  The Democratic Action party issued a statement Tuesday that it had expelled Gutierrez for conspiring “with different factions   of the Nicolas Maduro regime.” Brito was expelled from Justice First back in December following accusations that he was involved in an influence peddling scandal.   The action by the Supreme Court, widely believed by many to be friendly to President Maduro, follows an earlier decision to name members of the National Electoral Council, ignoring a constitutional mandate that places that responsibility with the National Assembly. Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who heads the National Assembly, said last Saturday it would not recognize the “false” electoral authority.   Maduro has overseen a six-year economic crisis in Venezuela. More than 50 countries, including the United States, have indicated their support for opposition leader Guaido as the country’s rightful leader after a disputed election in 2018, but Maduro maintains control of Venezuela’s military.  The elections will be held later this year, but no date has been set.   
…