The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 165.6 points in August 2016, up 3 points (1.9%) from July and almost 7% above the corresponding period last year. The August value of the Index is the highest since May 2015. Except for cereals, prices of all other commodities used in the calculation of the FFPI rose in August, led by dairy, oils and sugar.
The United States on Friday gave Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declassified CIA documents confirming that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet personally ordered the 1976 assassination of opposition leader Orlando Letelier. US Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom presented the documents to Bachelet during a ceremony on the site of the killing in the US capital, two days after the 40th anniversary of the brazen attack.
Brazilian president Michel Temer addressing business leaders and foreign policy experts in New York earlier this week revealed another twist to the recent political events in the country which led to the impeachment and removal of his elected predecessor Dilma Rousseff.
The Amaro family from Brazil, one of the main controllers of LATAM Airlines, sold a 6.47% stake in the regional carrier on Friday on the Santiago stock exchange for some US$296 million, as part of a strategy to modify the company's ownership structure.
A consortium led by Canada's Brookfield Infrastructure has signed a deal to buy a controlling stake in a natural gas pipeline system in Brazil from Petrobras for US$5.2 billion. Under the deal, the consortium will acquire a 90% stake in Nova Transportadora do Sudeste S.A. (NTS). Petrobras will retain a 10% stake.