He said only parties which took part in Sunday’s mayoral polls would be able to contest the presidency.

Leaders from the Justice First, Popular Will and Democratic Action parties boycotted the vote because they said the electoral system was biased.

President Maduro insists the Venezuelan system is entirely trustworthy.

In a speech on Sunday, he said the opposition parties had “disappeared from the political map”.

“A party that has not participated today and has called for the boycott of the elections can’t participate anymore”, he said.

In October, the three main opposition parties announced they would be boycotting Sunday’s vote, saying it only served what they called President Maduro’s dictatorship.

President Maduro says his party won more than 300 of the 335 mayoral races being contested. The election board put turn out at 47%.

Venezuela has been mired in a worsening economic crisis characterised by shortages of basic goods and soaring inflation.

Mr Maduro said he was following the criteria set by the National Constituent Assembly in banning opposition parties from contesting next year’s election.

But the assembly, which came into force in August and has the ability to rewrite the constitution, is dominated by government loyalists. Opposition parties see it as a way for the president to cling to power.

The presidential vote had been scheduled for December 2018, but analysts say it could now be brought forward.

Venezuela, in the north of South America, is home to more than 30 million people. It has some of the world’s largest oil deposits as well as huge quantities of coal and iron ore.

Despite its rich natural resources many Venezuelans live in poverty. This led President Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, to style himself as a champion of the poor during his 14 years in office.

Now the country is starkly divided between supporters of President Maduro and those who want an end to the Socialist Party’s 18 years in government.

Supporters of Mr Maduro say his party has lifted many people out of poverty, but critics say it has eroded Venezuela’s democratic institutions and mismanaged its economy.

–

Source: BBC

The post Venezuela opposition banned from running in 2018 election appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Seventy cases – including 40 deaths – are confirmed, mostly in rural areas of the state of Minas Gerais. More than 300 cases are under investigation.

Vaccinations are being recommended for people travelling to Minas and other areas with confirmed cases.

Yellow fever is a potentially fatal disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

Most of Brazil is considered at risk from yellow fever but the country has only seen a handful of cases in recent years.

The governor of Minas Gerais has declared a 180-day state of emergency.

There have also been three confirmed cases in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state, and one each in Espiritu Santo and Bahia, which both neighbour Minas.

Around 5.5m vaccine doses have already been sent to five states that have confirmed cases or are at risk. The other 6 million ordered will arrive soon.

It is not clear what has caused the rise in cases.

Jimmy Whitworth, professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “It’s unusual.

“The more cases you have, the more chance that it’s going to light up and take off in urban areas.”

The Brazilian authorities are taking the situation very seriously and appear to have enough vaccine stocks, he added.

–

Source: BBC

The post Brazil orders 11.5 million yellow fever vaccine doses appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

They said there had been 63 confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne illness so far this year, up from seven in the whole of 2016.

Most of the cases have been in rural areas of Minas Gerais state, a Ministry of Health statement said.

The government has sent two million doses of yellow fever vaccines to the state.

The governor of Minas Gerais has declared a 180-day state of emergency.

What is yellow fever?

• Caused by a virus that is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes
• Difficult to diagnose and often confused with other diseases or fevers
• Most people recover after the first phase of infection that usually involves fever, muscle and back pain, headache, shivers, loss of appetite, and nausea or vomiting
• About 15% of people face a second, more serious phase involving high fever, jaundice, bleeding and deteriorating kidney function
• Half of those who enter the “toxic” phase usually die within 10 to 14 days

Source: WHO

Of the 63 confirmed cases in Brazil, 35 have proved fatal, Brazilian Health Ministry figures show.

That is the highest number of deaths since at least 2008, the year to which Ministry of Health records date back.

There have also been three confirmed cases in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state, and one each in Espiritu Santo and Bahia, which both neighbour Minas.

It is not clear what has caused the rise in cases.

–

Source: BBC

The post Yellow fever cases rise in Brazil appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.