Latin America

• Thursday, April 9th 2015 - 00:54 UTC

  Pope Francis will meet President Cristina Fernández for the fifth time, next June

  

  Pope Francis and Argentine president Cristina Fernández will meet for the fifth time at the Vatican in June, according to government sources. The head of state will visit the pontiff between June 7 and 9, two months before the PASO primaries and ahead of national elections that are to be held in October. It will be their fifth meeting since Francis was elected and the first one under the administration of Eduardo Valdés, the Argentine Ambassador to the Vatican, appointed in December.

• Wednesday, April 8th 2015 - 18:26 UTC

  Santos port soy exports expected to resume at slow pace after six-day fire

  

  Brazil’s soy exports will likely slow because a six-day fire at a nearby fuel-storage facility has restricted access to Brazil’s largest port, Santos, a port official and the soy industry association Abiove said. Authorities have agreed to restrict truck access to some terminals at the port at least through Wednesday while flames are extinguished.

• Wednesday, April 8th 2015 - 17:40 UTC

  Obama/Castro in Panama: 'grip and grin” photo or historic head-to-head sit down?

  

  President Barack Obama will attend a Summit of the Americas in Panama this week, a gathering that could see the first substantive meeting between US and Cuban leaders in half a century.

• Wednesday, April 8th 2015 - 17:11 UTC

  Bachelet denies any idea of stepping down, because of her family's corruption scandal

  

  “No way, I've never thought of resigning or stepping down” said emphatically Chilean president Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday, following a barrage of media rumors which echoed in the social networks during Holy Week, which in South America in a long weekend holiday.

• Wednesday, April 8th 2015 - 14:44 UTC

  Argentina's few friends in the world; China and Russia, Cristina Fernandez foreign policy priorities

  

  Argentina's foreign policy, under president Cristina Fernández, has new priorities, China and Russia, according to columnist Joaquin Morales Solá, one of the outstanding political analysts of Argentina. This means a radical change from democratic Argentina (since 1983) when the interests of the country were targeted in Latin America, particularly Brazil, Europe and the US, although the importance of the short list varied according to the different elected presidents.

• Monday, April 6th 2015 - 16:43 UTC

  Mexican oil production drops following deadly fire on offshore rig

  

  Mexico's oil production dropped following a deadly fire at an offshore platform, while authorities are still searching for three missing workers, state-run energy firm Pemex said.

• Friday, April 3rd 2015 - 07:49 UTC

  Caribbean countries hold for fifth consecutive time OAS Permanent Council chair

  

  The Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the Organization of American States (OAS), Neil Parsan DVM, MBA, CACM, RFC, was inaugurated on Thursday as Chair of the Permanent Council of the hemispheric institution, a position he will hold for the next three months and in which he follows the Ambassador of Suriname, Niermala Badrising.

• Friday, April 3rd 2015 - 06:52 UTC

  Cable & Wireless consolidates in the Caribbean and targets Latin America

  

  British telecommunication company, Cable and Wireless Communications, Plc (CWC) Tuesday announced it had completed its US$1.85 billion acquisition Columbus International Inc (CII).

• Wednesday, April 1st 2015 - 08:14 UTC

  Latam countries the happiest, according to Gallup's Positive Experience Index

  

  People in Latin America are the most likely in the world to experience a lot of positive emotions on a daily basis, according to Gallup's Positive Experience Index. In fact, for the first time in Gallup's 10-year history of global tracking, all of the top 10 countries with the highest Positive Experience Index scores are in Latin America.

• Wednesday, April 1st 2015 - 06:35 UTC

  Peruvian president after new prime minister: seven in less than four years

  

  Peru's prime minister was ousted by Congress in a vote of no confidence late on Monday following allegations of spying on her opponents, delivering a blow to President Ollanta Humala who will now have to form another new government. The new PM will be Humala's seventh in less than four years.