Stories for 2009

Friday, November 20th 2009 - 09:46 UTC
Chile’s presidential election: whoever wins, not much change

Chile has been Latin America’s success story since the 1980’s, boasting rapid economic growth, successful integration into the world economy, solid democratic institutions, an effective state bureaucracy, and low levels of crruption. By most standards, the country is far better off than the rest of the region.
Friday, November 20th 2009 - 08:45 UTC
Brazilian Senate calls on a “medium” to explain major blackout causes

Last week’s huge blackout in Brazil which left 18 of the country’s 26 states in the dark is becoming a major embarrassment for the government with opposition Senators summoning a medium to help explain the causes of the outage.
Friday, November 20th 2009 - 05:49 UTC
Ten-year input for the Atlas of the Patagonian marine ecosystem

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and BirdLife International have released the first-ever comprehensive atlas of the Patagonian Sea -- a globally important but poorly understood South American marine ecosystem.
Friday, November 20th 2009 - 02:47 UTC
Uruguayan incumbent presidential candidate leads by 6 points in polls

With only ten days for the Uruguayan presidential run-off, incumbent candidate Jose Pepe Mujica leads with 48% vote intention while his rival Luis Alberto Lacalle stands at 42% and the undecided 10%, according to the latest public opinion poll released Thursday by a Montevideo newspaper.
Friday, November 20th 2009 - 02:33 UTC
Cuban greetings for 2010: tighten your belts, it’s bad and it’s getting worse

Cuba is going through one of its cyclical “hard moments” but this time the lack of foreign currency is forcing draconian cuts in food subsidies, public utilities and other services taken for granted. The media repeatedly calls on the population to “tighten belts” because in 2010 restrictions are “for worse”.
Friday, November 20th 2009 - 02:17 UTC
Brazil, Mexico and Chile out of recession beginning 2010, says OECD

The Brazilian economy will experience a robust growth in 2010 and 2011, in the range of 4.5%, while Mexico will recover from deep recession beginning next year with a GDP expansion of 2.7% and 3.9% in 2011, according to the Organization for Economic and Development Cooperation, OECD.
Friday, November 20th 2009 - 02:11 UTC
OECD warns UK jobless could reach 9.5% by 2011

United Kingdom’s jobless rate could soar to 9.5% in two years' time, even after the economy begins to recover, a leading economic body has warned.
Friday, November 20th 2009 - 02:09 UTC
Santiago airport expansion and fast train plans unveiled by Chile

The Chilean government this week unveiled two major public transport initiatives aimed upgrading the nation’s transport infrastructure: a third runway and expanded terminal at the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport (AMB) and a fast train service connecting the airport to the port city of Valparaiso in 2010.
Thursday, November 19th 2009 - 13:26 UTC
Russia opens its first embassy ever in Paraguay’s 200 year history

The Russian Federation has formally opened its first embassy in Paraguay’s 200 year history. Although there have been diplomatic relations the Russian ambassador was concurrent from Buenos Aires and only since two decades ago.
Thursday, November 19th 2009 - 13:23 UTC
Brazil/Argentina agree trade differences should not influence political relation

Brazil and Argentina ended Wednesday in Brasilia a full day of talks at presidential level without reaching a clear agreement on trade disputes that have caused disruptions to the bilateral relation.