Latin America

Brazil’s top court on Tuesday rejected a request to release former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva following allegations that a judge cooperated with prosecutors to jail him on corruption charges.

“This is not a Russian state presence. It does not involve elements of destabilization of the situation,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in comments carried by Russian news agency Interfax.

Hundreds of thousands marched through the streets of Sao Paulo in Brazil on Sunday in the city’s annual gay pride march, with demonstrators protesting the policies of the country’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, reported dpa news.

Venezuela’s political crisis has had little effect on Europe to date, but the number of people seeking asylum is rising steadily, with no end to the standoff in Caracas in sight. Spain has borne the brunt of the influx to date and has been slow to process applications.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet met with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and with opposition leader Juan Guaido in Caracas on Friday.

Brazilian Justice Minister Sergio Moro on Wednesday denied allegations that he cooperated with prosecutors to jail former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva while he worked as a judge handling the case.

The Venezuelan opposition has called anti-government protests for Friday, when UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet will be visiting the crisis-hit country. Bachelet will be meeting with president Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido.

A Brazilian judge on Tuesday granted bankruptcy protection to the corruption-tainted construction giant Odebrecht, giving it 60 days to present a debt restructuring plan, the national news agency Agencia Brasil reported.

Critics described the agreement as allowing the United States to open a military base on the Galapagos, best known as the inspiration for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. The islands are home to plant and animal species found nowhere else.