Latin America

• Sunday, May 17th 2009 - 13:26 UTC

  Peru army to quell Amazon protests

  

  The government “authorises for 30 days the intervention of the armed forces to ensure the continued functioning of essential services in select districts” of the Amazon rainforest region, a statement from the ministry of defence said on Saturday.

• Sunday, May 17th 2009 - 13:06 UTC

  Chavez promises to combat the “terrorist” press of Venezuela

  

  Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez anticipated that the “terrorist” media of his country will face the full consequences of the law for their insistence in allegedly manipulating, misleading or fabricating the president’s statements.

• Sunday, May 17th 2009 - 12:58 UTC

  To school for reading classes with Karl Marx and Che Guevara

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez approved last week a list of books for schools to educate young people on Socialist ideology and the Bolivarian revolution, reported the Caracas press.

• Saturday, May 16th 2009 - 13:19 UTC

  Chilean Patagonia provides few bright spots of economic activity

  

  The southern tip of the Chilean Patagonia provided most of the few bright spots in the Chilean government’s latest Index of Regional Economic Activity (INACER), published this week by the National Statistical Institute.

• Friday, May 15th 2009 - 11:25 UTC

  Bolivia says relations with Peru are at “high risk”

  

  Bolivia's president said relations with Peru are at “high risk” after the neighbouring nation gave refuge to two more former Bolivian officials accused in the 2003 army killings of dozens of protesters.

• Friday, May 15th 2009 - 11:21 UTC

  Colombia’s Uribe closer to the second “re-election of his ideas”

  

  Colombia's senate has delayed a vote on scheduling a referendum that could let President Alvaro Uribe seek a third term. Lawmakers had been expected to vote Wednesday but the body put off consideration of the measure until May 19 for lack of quorum.

• Friday, May 15th 2009 - 02:55 UTC

  Per capita meat consumption in Chile increases 26% in ten years

  

  Chileans consumed 81.3 kilos of meat per capita in 2008, 26% more meat than they did 10 years ago, according to a study recently published by the country’s Office of Studies and Agrarian Policy (ODEPA) of the Ministry of Agriculture.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 12:11 UTC

  Chile’s Central bank slashes growth estimate

  

  Chile's economy could shrink by as much as 0.75 percent this year, its first annual contraction in a decade, as the global crisis hits consumer spending and investment, the Central Bank announced on Wednesday. The bank slashed its 2009 GDP forecast to a range between a 0.75% contraction and a 0.25% expansion.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 09:56 UTC

  Peru inaugurates largest and most modern air cargo hub

  

  Peru's president Alan García officially opened this week Lima Cargo City, considered the most modern air freight logistics centre in Latinamerica, built with an investment of more than 35 million US dollars.

• Thursday, May 14th 2009 - 08:44 UTC

  LAN’s passenger traffic up 20% in April; cargo down 25.4%

  

  Chile's leading airline LAN reported this week its passenger traffic rose 19.9% in April, compared with a year earlier, but cargo traffic decreased by 25.4% as Latinamerican trade slowed due to the global economic crisis.