LATIN AMERICA NEWS ROUNDUP – AUG. 30, 2019

News Americas,  NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Aug. 30, 2019: Here are the top stories making news from across Latin America for the week-ending Aug, 30, 2019:

The US says it will offer amnesty to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro if he voluntarily leaves power, according to Elliott Abrams, the State Department’s special envoy for Venezuela.

The UN in a scathing corruption report says Guatemala is in the in grip of a ‘mafia coalition’ after President Jimmy Morales refused to renew its mandate to investigate corruption.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has now signed a decree banning the setting of fires to clear land for 60 days in response to a massive increase in the number of fires in the Amazon rainforest.

A former commander in the Farc rebel group in Colombia, Iván Márquez, has called on his followers to take up arms less than three years after the rebels signed a peace agreement with the government.

A former commander in the FARC rebel group in Colombia, Iván Márquez, has called on his followers to take up arms less than three years after the rebels signed a peace agreement with the government.

While most of the world is focused on brazil, Fires have destroyed 1.2 million hectares of the amazon rain forest and grasslands in Bolivia so far this year.

In Paraguay, blazes have destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of protected wetlands and other areas.

Acting US Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan has signed a letter of intent with El Salvador signaling that the countries hope to cooperate on migration and gangs.

Ecuador is the latest country to impose visa restrictions on Venezuelans fleeing political, economic and humanitarian crises, leaving many now stranded.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez will travel to Israel today to inaugurate a “diplomatic office” in Jerusalem, recognizing the holy city as Israel’s capital.

U.S. immigration officials have partnered with Panama to boost screening of migrants passing through to the U.S.

Florida native, Charlie Hughes, 62, who was last seen with a gigolo while on vacation in Costa Rica has gone missing, according to reports.

And Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed what is believed to be the largest single mass child sacrifice in history. The bodies of 227 victims, aged between five and 14, were found near the coastal town of Huanchaco.