Latin America

Tuesday, October 22nd 2013 - 22:50 UTC
Cuba to scrap two-currency system which helped creation of a two-tier class system

Cuba is to scrap its two-currency system in the latest financial reform rolled out by President Raul Castro, official media report. Since 1994 Cuba has had two currencies, one pegged to the US dollar and the other worth only a fraction of that. The more valuable convertible peso (CUC) was reserved for use in the tourism sector and foreign trade. Now its value will be gradually unified with the lower-value CUP, ending a system resented by ordinary Cubans.
Tuesday, October 22nd 2013 - 20:01 UTC
Chilean leading presidential candidate comments trigger anti-terrorism law debate

Chile’s controversial anti-terrorism law became a major talking point for presidential candidates as the country nears elections after front-runner Michelle Bachelet spoke out against the law’s application in a widely publicized arson case which resulted in two deaths.
Tuesday, October 22nd 2013 - 19:58 UTC
Interpol and Rio 2016 Olympics committee sign agreement to strengthen security

An agreement has been signed by INTERPOL and the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the world police body to provide additional support to the Brazilian authorities in ensuring the safety and security of the event.
Tuesday, October 22nd 2013 - 19:38 UTC
Lula da Silva praises protests in Brazil as something 'healthy' for democracy

Former president Lula da Silva described the street protests that have shaken Brazil as something 'good and healthy' and said demands reveal that the Brazilian people have discovered that it is possible to aspire for more, although when as a union leader he marched “I didn't destroy public or private property”.
Tuesday, October 22nd 2013 - 16:34 UTC
Cartes and Mujica will address Mercosur and port facilities in Friday's meeting in Montevideo

Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes will be visiting Uruguay next 25 October to meet with his peer Jose Mujica and a month later will be flying to the Vatican to visit Pope Francis, November 25, announced Foreign minister Eladio Loizaga.
Tuesday, October 22nd 2013 - 16:26 UTC
Punta Arenas expects 23% increase in calls this 2013/14 cruise season

Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile is expecting over a hundred international calls this coming 2013/14 cruise season, which could reach over 150 including Puerto Natales and the domestic cruise lines, according to local authorities.
Tuesday, October 22nd 2013 - 05:31 UTC
Ozone layer hole reaches Argentine and Chilean Patagonia

The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica stretched for the third time this year to reach cities in the south of Argentina and Chile according to the Izaña Atmospheric research centre in Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Monday, October 21st 2013 - 22:14 UTC
Cruise on world tour calls in Uruguay; season opens officially November

Even when Uruguay's official cruise season is scheduled for November this last Sunday Montevideo received “Costa Neo Romantica” a vessel on a world tour. She was expected to call at the Atlantic seaside resort of Punta del Este, but adverse weather conditions cancelled the visit.
Monday, October 21st 2013 - 21:41 UTC
Brazil auctions 35-year production rights to giant offshore Libra oil area

Brazil sold production rights to develop the giant offshore Libra oil area to a consortium led by Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA in an auction with a single bid on Monday. The auction in Rio do Janeiro took place amid strict security measures with hundreds of police forces clashing with protestors.
Monday, October 21st 2013 - 21:30 UTC
Argentine Central bank losing reserves at a rate of 47.5 million dollars per day

Argentina's central bank is currently losing international reserves at an average of 47,5 million dollars per day or 8 million per hour, according to the latest figures on the bank's accounts which is increasingly used by the government of President Cristina Fernandez to honor foreign debt and finance the budget.