Latin America

• Thursday, July 21st 2011 - 09:58 UTC

  Paraguay, after a dramatic finale (scuffle included) makes it to Copa America final

  

  Paraguay beat Venezuela 5-3 on penalties to reach the Copa America final after regulation and extra-time produced a goalless draw. The Wednesday night match played in the Malvinas Argentina stadium of the city of Mendoza ended with a general brawl among some players and assistants.

• Thursday, July 21st 2011 - 01:40 UTC

  Humala seems ready to accept Peruvian economy is robust and on the right track

  

  In a week’s time Ollanta Humala takes office in Peru as president for the next five years.

• Wednesday, July 20th 2011 - 11:17 UTC

  Cuba imports 60% of rice consumption, the basic diet; main supplier Vietnam

  

  Cuba is forced to import more than 400,000 tons of rice each year, 60% of the total amount of this dietary staple consumed on the island, according to official figures published Sunday by the daily Juventud Rebelde.

• Wednesday, July 20th 2011 - 09:22 UTC

  Reduced Chinese import makes and cheaper palm oil, see G-3 exports fall

  

  Soybean processing and exports from the US, Argentina and Brazil, the largest shippers, were below expectations in the second quarter on reduced Chinese imports and competition from palm oil, Oil World said in a Tuesday released report.

• Wednesday, July 20th 2011 - 07:01 UTC

  Chile’s tsunami victims protest violently demanding government honours aid promises

  

  Residents of Dichato, Chile, capped off a week of demonstrations with violent protests to demand the government revamp assistance efforts for victims of the tsunami that devastated the area in February 2010.

• Wednesday, July 20th 2011 - 06:47 UTC

  Punta Arenas supply route cut by snow storms; some food shortages feared

  

  Many trucks loaded with perishables and other food products heading for Punta Arenas extreme south of Chile are stranded in border crossings with Argentina blocked by the snow that has accumulated during the last storms.

• Wednesday, July 20th 2011 - 06:39 UTC

  Beware winter travellers: Chile’s airline overbooking “is permitted and habitual practice”

  

  If you’re planning to take a flight around Chile this winter, you may want to get to the airport early. Otherwise, you may discover that the airline overbooked your flight and there are no seats left.

• Tuesday, July 19th 2011 - 23:22 UTC

  Chavez will run for re-election next year, despite cancer: “there’s no Plan B”

  

  Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez will run for re-election next year despite his struggle with cancer said Finance Minister Jorge Giordani who underlined there’s no Plan B. Giordani’s statement came as the populist leader is in Cuba undergoing chemotherapy and twitted to his compatriots his “insurmountable optimism”.

• Tuesday, July 19th 2011 - 23:18 UTC

  End of story: family confirms Chile’s former leader Allende committed suicide in 1973

  

  Experts examining the remains of former Chilean leader Salvador Allende ruled out murder in the Marxist president's 1973 death, concluding that he committed suicide as soldiers involved in a coup burst into the presidential palace, the late leader's daughter said Tuesday.

• Tuesday, July 19th 2011 - 17:20 UTC

  New alternative route to Antarctica in Chile to cut fuel and sailing hours

  

  A new alternative commercial route to Antarctica from the Chilean city of Punta Arenas avoiding the Beagle Channel and saving several hours sailing has been opened by the Chilean navy with the establishment of a state of the art lighthouse.