The Cuban government said Monday that it plans to study ways to allow residents of the island to travel abroad as tourists, suggesting it will ease the bureaucratic hurdles and outright restrictions that prevent many residents from leaving.
Chile’s consumer prices rose 0.3% in April from March, reported the National Statistics Institute. Annual inflation reached 3.2%, down from 3.4% a month earlier, and 1.6% in the first four months of 2011.
Industrial production in Chile increased at the fastest ever pace in the 12-month period ended March, data released by the National Institute of Statistics revealed. Industrial output climbed a record 30.9% in the year ended March, marking the biggest growth in the history of the indicator. In February, output rose 1.9%.
Rising international food prices could trigger an acceleration of inflation in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean this year, highlighting the need for policies to protect the urban poor, according to a new study by the Inter-American Development Bank, (IDB).
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa claimed victory in a referendum on government and social reforms that critics have charged is a disguised attempt to consolidate more power in a still fragile democracy.
Foreign direct investment, FDI, in Uruguay during 2010 reached 1.627 billion US dollars which represents a 29% increase over 2009 and puts the country among the top six FDI recipients in South America and eighth in the region, according to the latest report from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC.
Sernatur, Chile’s National Tourism Office, has officially launched the second part of its “Chile es Tuyo” (Chile is Yours) campaign to encourage domestic tourism. The project, which is overseen by Secretary of Tourism Jacqueline Plass, and Sernatur’s National Director Alvaro Castilla, is especially hoped to encourage tourism during the country’s off-season, which runs from March until November.
An international group of scientists plan to recreate Charles Darwin’s five-year sea voyage around the world aboard a replica of the HMS Beagle. They plan to set sail from London in 2014.
Economic growth in much of Latin America remains strong, propelled by rising commodity prices, easy financing conditions, and stimulative policies. Growth exceeded 6% in 2010, and while it is projected to moderate to about 4¾% in 2011, the IMF says countries should remove the policy stimulus on a timely basis.
The Argentine ‘development model’ had had its successes but it belongs to the average group of most South American countries that benefited by the explosive advance of commodity prices and since 2007 has fallen to the bottom half of performers in the region according to former Economy minister Martin Lousteau.