Latin America

• Saturday, April 4th 2009 - 10:53 UTC

  Chilean conservative presidential hopeful leads opinion poll

  

  Chilean conservative presidential hopeful Sebastián Piñera is ten percentage points ahead over Eduardo Frei the ruling coalition candidate for next November’s election according to the latest public opinion poll released Friday.

• Saturday, April 4th 2009 - 07:01 UTC

  Former Chavez ally and now opponent arrested on corruption charges

  

  Former Venezuelan Defence minister General Raúl Baduel accused President Hugo Chavez of ordering his detention to try to intimidate him and insisted he's innocent of corruption charges which are politically motivated.

• Friday, April 3rd 2009 - 09:12 UTC

  Bipartisan support in US to lift travel restrictions to Cuba

  

  United States senators from both parties, backed by activists and businessmen, began promoting a bill this week to lift travel restrictions to Cuba, and apparently have the necessary votes for approval.

• Thursday, April 2nd 2009 - 08:11 UTC

  Punta Arenas unemployment remains the lowest in Chile

  

  Unemployment in the region of Magallanes, extreme south of Chile increased from 2.2 to 3.2% in the December-February quarter compared to the same period a year ago according to the latest release from the Chilean Statistics Office.

• Wednesday, April 1st 2009 - 10:20 UTC

  South American and Arab leaders agree on trade and investments

  

  South American leaders underscored the importance of economic and political ties with the Arab world in a summit meeting with their Arab counterparts in Qatar. Tuesday's meeting, the second Arab-South American summit, in Doha, followed the conclusion of the Arab League conference in the city.

• Wednesday, April 1st 2009 - 09:08 UTC

  Venezuela’s main opposition leader claims persecution and goes into hiding

  

  Venezuelan opposition leader Manuel Rosales, under investigation for corruption, has gone into hiding to escape alleged persecution by President Hugo Chavez, his party said on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, March 31st 2009 - 11:19 UTC

  Venezuela benefited 14 “allies” with 220 billion USD in four years

  

  Venezuela is estimated to have spent 220 billion US dollars from its oil and gas revenue in investments, subsidies and donations to 14 “allied” countries between 2005 and 2009, according to Centro de Investigaciones Economicas, a Caribbean think-tank.

• Tuesday, March 31st 2009 - 10:32 UTC

  Arab League, South America summit looks for political common ground

  

  Arab League and South American countries will open Tuesday their second summit with the purpose of boosting trade and cooperation. The idea of regular meetings between the 22 members of the Arab League and 12 South American countries was born in Brasilia in 2005, sponsored by Brazilian president Lula da Silva.

• Tuesday, March 31st 2009 - 10:00 UTC

  Bolivian government airline takes off in stormy atmosphere

  

  Bolivian government owned air carrier Boliviana de Aviación (BoA) took off last weekend with a first flight La Paz-Cochabamaba and 40 passengers, including President Evo Morales. However private operators are claiming the airline begins with a significant deficit and doubt it will be able to break even.

• Tuesday, March 31st 2009 - 07:09 UTC

  China interested in Latam bonds and Yuan swaps to ensure trade

  

  China is likely to buy more Latin American bonds and promote Yuan swaps to support increased public spending in the region to combat the global financial crisis, revealed a Beijing think tank researcher.