Latin America

• Tuesday, September 27th 2011 - 01:39 UTC

  Brazilian officials committed to protect the Real from international volatility

  

  Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega returned home early from the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington this weekend, after a plunge in the Real extended the world’s biggest currency slump over the past month.

• Tuesday, September 27th 2011 - 01:36 UTC

  Chilean company farming algae for future production of bio-fuels

  

  BAL Chile SA is dedicated to farming algae on the island of Chiloé and in a second stage, plans to produce bio-fuels for industrial use, announced the company’s CEO Benjamin González.

• Tuesday, September 27th 2011 - 01:17 UTC

  Bolivian Indians defending their lands expose divisions in Morales government

  

  Bolivia's Defence minister resigned on Monday to protest a police crackdown and arrests on anti-highway demonstrators which according to unconfirmed reports also caused the death of a baby and several disappeared.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 18:53 UTC

  Venezuelan opposition requests Unasur observers for elections and primaries

  

  Venezuela’s Democratic Unit Panel, MUD, which brings together most opposition forces, has requested Unasur observers for the 2012 presidential election and for the different parties’ primaries.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 06:45 UTC

  Given global crises Argentina urges region countries “to implement their own solutions”

  

  Argentine Economy Minister Amado Boudou urged countries in the region to “seize the opportunity created as a result of the crisis affecting developed nations and implement their own solutions.”

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 06:27 UTC

  The Economist analyzes trade restrictions (protectionism) in Argentina and Brazil

  

  The Economist in its latest edition has a two-chapter piece on trade restrictions imposed by South America’s two biggest economies. The first (“Keep Out”) refers to Argentina and the second (“A self made siege’) to Brazil.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 04:37 UTC

  Chavez says he’s fine but admits feeling “a little diminished’ and short in red cells

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that he is recovering “favourably” from the “impacts” of his fourth and latest round of chemotherapy, although he admitted that he feels that his physical strength is “a little diminished”.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 03:58 UTC

  Huge blackout exposes vulnerability of world’s main copper supplier energy grid

  

  A massive power blackout on Saturday paralyzed crucial copper mines in Chile and darkened vast swaths of the country including the capital Santiago before energy started to be restored, officials said.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 03:53 UTC

  LAN assessing regulator’s tough conditions for the takeover of Brazil’s TAM

  

  LAN Airlines said it hopes its multibillion-dollar takeover of Brazil's TAM will be completed in the first quarter of 2012, but it is studying conditions imposed by Chile's regulator.

• Monday, September 26th 2011 - 03:27 UTC

  Latin America situation ‘solid’ but not ‘immune’; watch the fiscal front, says IMF

  

  The head of the IMF for the Western Hemisphere Department Nicolás Eyzaguirre discards an outflow of capitals from Latin America as a consequence of the current global situation and pointed out that the region’s position is solid.