Latin America

Tuesday, January 13th 2015 - 07:20 UTC
Fidel sends letter to Maradona to quash rumors about his alleged death

Fidel Castro has sent a letter to his friend and Argentine football great Diego Maradona, a Venezuelan-based TV network said, adding that the missive quashed rumors that the former Cuban leader might have died.
Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:49 UTC
Caricom countries want to use Chinese credit to restructure debt

Caribbean Community countries (Caricom) want to use the three billion US dollar concessionary facility announced by China last year for debt restructuring and refinancing among other initiatives, CARICOM Chairman Perry Christie has said.
Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:41 UTC
China pledges 250bn in investments and 500bn in bilateral trade with Latam

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday 250 billion dollars in investment in Latin America over the next five years as part of a drive to boost resource-hungry China’s influence in the region.
Saturday, January 10th 2015 - 06:22 UTC
Significance of China for Latam trade and investment underlined by Eclac

The importance of forging closer strategic ties between China and Latin America was underlined by Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in her speech to the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean two-day ministerial forum that took place in Beijing.
Wednesday, January 7th 2015 - 04:20 UTC
Colombia launches first Antarctic research expedition with Chilean training

Colombia's first Antarctica expedition is expected to call in Punta Arenas on Wednesday before crossing to the peninsula to begin a three-month scientific hydrographic and climate research with twenty researchers on board committed to ten projects.
Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 22:00 UTC
Cuba has freed some of 53 political prisoners, as agreed in the rapprochement with the US

Cuba has freed some of 53 people the United States regards as political prisoners as agreed under last month's US-Cuban rapprochement and Washington wants to see the rest released soon, the US State Department said on Tuesday.
Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 06:58 UTC
Optimistic forecast for Latin America: 2.2% growth in 2015, up from 1.3% in 2014

Latin America and the Caribbean's economic growth might recover modestly to 2.2% in 2015, up from 1.3% in 2014, its lowest rate since last decade's global financial crisis. Despite the slowdown, the region has managed to maintain its gains against poverty, said Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno.
Sunday, January 4th 2015 - 06:34 UTC
Prolonged extreme droughts could help to explain collapse of Mayan civilization

The mysterious collapse of the ancient Mayan civilization has been attributed to a variety of factors, most notably overhunting, deforestation, and a catastrophic peasant uprising. However the theory of prolonged extreme drought has been gaining ground among the scientific community in recent years regarding the Mayan demise.
Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 06:32 UTC
Mujica defends Brazilian leadership in the region and called for strong unity

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica defended Brazil's leadership in helping Latin America carve a place and advance in the world context, but at the same time underlined that even when Brazil seems large to its neighbors, together with the rest of the countries, the region is still small in global terms.
Saturday, January 3rd 2015 - 06:07 UTC
Panama Canal planning major transshipment port on the Pacific entrance

The Panama Canal Board of Directors this week formally approved the development and construction of a transshipment port in Panama’s Corozal region. Upon completion, the port will have the capacity to handle more than five million TEUs within a 120-hectare area at the Canal’s entrance to the Pacific. The project is now awaiting the final step for approval from Panama’s National Assembly.