SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazilian police launched Thursday a police operation to dismantle a major tax evasion and money-laundering scheme in the fuel sector. The group under investigation is the country’s largest tax debtor, owing more than 26 billion reais ($4.8 billion), authorities said.

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) – President José Jarí of Peru said his government on Friday would declare a state of emergency along the country’s southern border and deploy more armed forces to the area as a large number of Venezuelan migrants venture north from Chile, where anti-immigrant sentiment has surged during a fraught presidential campaign.

LIMA, Peru (AP) – Peru’s Supreme Court sentenced former President Pedro Castillo to 11.5 years in prison for conspiracy to commit a rebellion in 2022, when he tried to dissolve the Congress as lawmakers prepared to impeach him.