Latin America in Short: Pedro Castillo Accuses Coup | Iguazú Falls Closed

After the Peruvian prosecutor's office opened an investigation for corruption, Pedro Castillo has accused a coup d'état and with this has increased the already existing political tension. In global news, NATO approves joint anti-missile shield for the war in Ukraine. In environmental news, the Iguazú falls, the largest in Latin America, were temporarily closed due to rain. Finally, NASA announced a new date for the Artemis mission. You find the most relevant of the week summarized here.

Pedro Castillo accuses coup

The Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, seems not to have a single month of tranquility. Earlier this week, the attorney general, Patricia Benavides, filed a constitutional complaint against the president for alleged acts of corruption. For its part, the Castillo government dismissed the accusation as unconstitutional and a "coup d'état." According to the Peruvian Prime Minister, Aníbal Torres, this complaint does not meet the requirements to be presented. The Peruvian Magna Carta allows the president to be investigated by the prosecution. However, the constitution limits an accusation to the president only in cases of treason against the country, preventing elections or dissolving Congress. This is the first time that an acting president is accused under this figure that allows officials with special jurisdiction to be accused and investigated, such as the president.

NATO approves a joint anti-missile shield

It seems that Vladimir Putin's plans to weaken NATO are achieving the opposite. Recently, 15 member countries of the organization approved the construction of a system that prevents missile attacks. The signatories do not represent the entire group, but they do represent a large majority. The shield was approved by Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Romania and Finland (a candidate country to join the group). This initiative was led by the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and did not have the participation of other members such as Spain, the United States and Turkey. However, the Spanish Government explained that Germany did not inform them of any request to be part of the project, but ruled out that it was a lack of commitment on the part of the Iberian country in the defense group. Christine Lambrecht, German defense minister, explained that this new anti-missile shield will operate in parallel to the one already deployed by NATO, coordinated by the United States, and that this new project will be complementary to the existing one. Now, the signatories must acquire air defense material with the purchase of Patriot, Arrow 3 and IRIS-T missiles.

NASA announced a new date for the launch of Artemis

This week NASA announced that it has set a new date, November 14, for the launch of the unmanned mission Artemis I, which aims to carry out lunar exploration and pave the way for the arrival of the first woman on the moon. This release has already been canceled three times. The last time was on September 27 due to the arrival of Hurricane Ian in Florida. After this launch, a manned mission is expected to go in 2024 and open the way to explore the moon like never before.

Iguazú Falls are closed due to heavy rains

The Iguazú National Park, which is home to the most visited waterfalls in South America, has had to close this week due to an extreme growth in the flow of the Uruguay and Iguazú rivers. The cause is the heavy rains that have wreaked havoc in the region. Impressive videos of the situation have been shared on social networks. The tourist trails are partially flooded and trees have fallen. In fact, estimates indicate that the usual volume of water has increased tenfold, a phenomenon that has not occurred since 2014.

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