South America

Following the capture of the Venezuelan president, strategic tensions between the United States and China, which has invested heavily in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years, have returned to the forefront. Competition between the two powers could now fall on the Panama Canal. In the recent past, the Central American country has sought to keep a balance among rival interests. Washington could target other Chinese infrastructure projects and investments in raw materials.

Shanghai-based SpaceSail wants to reach remote areas of Brazil in the coming years thanks to an alternative to Starlink. The South American country currently relies on Elon Musk's company, but the latter has recently faced off the country’s Supreme Court.

Xi’s tour of the region began yesterday. One stop included the virtual inauguration of Chancay Port, a key trade hub between China and the region. His aim is to boost cooperation and multilateralism. Donald Trump's return to the White House is a challenge for the future.

With the tycoon’s return, hundreds of thousands of Asians risk deportation from the United States, along with Latin Americans. The Philippine government is getting ready to assist 370,000 Philippine migrants. Indians are one of the largest groups of asylum seekers, along with the Chinese. Due to a legislative void, many South Koreans adopted as infants until the 1980s are at risk.

On the eve of the meeting between President Boluarte and Xi Jinping, Peru drops its lawsuit over exclusivity. The facility will be inaugurated in November, giving direct access to the region to the largest container ships from Asia. Pressure is building for a new Trans-Amazonian Highway to connect the port to Brazil.

Seoul and Havana open ties at the UN, a move that further isolates North Korea. Cuba is the 193rd country with full relations with South Korea, leaving Syria as the only UN member state without relations with the East Asian country.

Behind the trafficking of dozens of children and young teenagers was the Süleymancılar sect, which, according to some reports, benefited from government and Akp cover. At least six youngsters from remote forest areas ended up in Manaus, then transported overseas to the association's Turkish headquarters. Child abuse increased by 700 percent under "sultan" Erdogan

Honduras is set to switch from Taiwan to China. Since 2016, Xi Jinping has wrested eight diplomatic allies from Taiwan. Now the spotlight is on Paraguay. Taiwan is not standing idly by and could gain diplomatic recognition from Micronesia, which wants to break ties with China.

Chinese companies are looking for lithium, cobalt and nickel, key for batteries for electric vehicles. As a result of restrictions imposed by the United States and its allies, China is looking for new markets; however, its investments are hampered by political instability in South America and Africa. Pope Francis warned against the exploitation of Africa.

Annual meeting of the group formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The unifying trait is the desire to increase trade cooperation and promote a multipolar world. The final communiqué makes no mention of Putin's proposals to weaken the role of the dollar. Sino-Indian disagreements hinder the strengthening of the partnership between the five countries.

A memorandum of understanding is signed during Argentine President Alberto Fernández’s visit to China. His predecessor Macri kept China’s plans at bay in favour of relations with the United States. On paper, China plans to invest US$ 24 billion. Mexico, Brazil and Colombia are next China’s list.

“We can hardly fail to see that these days, in addition to the pandemic, an ‘infodemic’ is spreading: a distortion of reality based on fear, which in our global society leads to an explosion of commentary on falsified if not invented news,” Francis said. “Fake news has to be refuted, but individual persons must always be respected, for they believe it often without full awareness or responsibility,” he added. “[T]ruth is never merely a concept having to do with judgment about things; no, that is only a part of what truth is. Truth regards life as a whole”.