Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile will be hosting until next Thursday the four-day annual meeting of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, IAATO which has a confirmed attendance of over a hundred representatives from the industry.
Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos has signalled he may run for re-election in 2014, but only if he can serve for just two more years, half the usual term, and change the rules for future heads of state.
President José Mujica said Uruguay “must always talk and maintain close relations with Argentina” following the recent controversy that flared up when he was caught by an open microphone calling Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez “the old lady” and her deceased husband Néstor Kirchner “the one-eyed.”
The leader of Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, Beppe Grillo, criticised the re-election of President Giorgio Napolitano as a desperate attempt to retain power by a discredited establishment.
In his victory speech Paraguay president-elect Horacio Cartes said he expects to win the confidence of all the Paraguayan population and called on the opposition to work for the good of the nation. He also had a direct reference to the neighbouring giant saying he wanted to work with Brazil, a ‘brother-country’.
President Nicolas Maduro replaced Venezuelan Finance Minister Jorge Giordani, appointing central bank chief Nelson Merentes in his place two days after being sworn in as Hugo Chavez's successor.
President-elect Horacio Cartes is one of Paraguay's wealthiest men with businesses in tobacco, finance, farming, retail and the soft drinks industry among others. Brash and ambitious, Cartes had never voted before joining the conservative Colorado Party in 2009.
Argentine president Cristina Fernandez congratulated Paraguayan president-elect Horacio Cartes for his ample victory in Sunday’s election and said Mercosur was waiting for the return of the country to the trade block.
Millionaire businessman Horacio Cartes won Paraguay's Sunday presidential election, returning the powerful centre-right Colorado Party to power after a brief spell started in 2008 ended in impeachment last year. Cartes won with a 9 or 10 percentage point lead over Efrain Alegre of the ruling Liberal Party, the head of the country's electoral tribunal said.