Latin America

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 06:25 UTC

  Panel of scientists blames UN for cholera deadly epidemic in Haiti

  

  A group of international scientists studying a deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti has concluded that peacekeepers from the United Nations were the most likely source of the disease. The epidemic, which began in late 2010, has so far claimed over 8,000 lives. The UN formally rejected compensation claims in February.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 06:11 UTC

  Mujica praises Fidel Castro as a brilliant man promoter of ideas

  

  Uruguayan president Jose Mujica currently in Havana said he had an enlightening conversation with the leader of the Cuban revolution Fidel Castro whom he described as “a wise old man who continues to be brilliant” and a ‘promoter of ideas”.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 06:02 UTC

  OAS chief Insulza honoured as “a dear friend of Paraguay”

  

  Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) received on Wednesday the National Order Award of Merit, ‘Don Jose Falcon’ from the government of Paraguay.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 01:57 UTC

  Malvinas: Uruguay politicians honoured for having volunteered to fight next to Argentina in 1982

  

  Two Uruguayan politicians, one from the ruling coalition and the other from the main opposition National party will be honoured with a medal by Argentina for their unlimited support to the Malvinas cause, announced the Argentine ambassador in Montevideo, Dante Dovena.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 06:09 UTC

  Pope Francis warns Latam leaders against legalizing narcotics: attack roots of the problem

  

  Pope Francis on Wednesday warned Latin America against legalizing narcotics and urged courage in the face of deadly drug violence as he met addicts in a Brazilian hospital.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 06:06 UTC

  OAS chief praises Cartes and says Paraguay must not be excluded from Mercosur

  

  The Organization of American States Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said on Wednesday that Paraguay should return to Mercosur because “it’s not good to have exclusions in South America”, but insisted that the solution to the problem is in the hands of the ‘protagonists’ and not in president elect Horacio Cartes.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 06:01 UTC

  Uruguay expects to launch its first broadcasting and infrared info satellite in 2014

  

  The first satellite of the Uruguayan AntelSat project will be launched at the beginning of 2014, according to the country's telecom authority Antel.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 05:43 UTC

  For the first time since 2000, Brazil is expected to post a trade deficit

  

  Brazil is this year, for the first time since 2000, is expected to post a balance of trade deficit which, according to the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (Aeb), and should be in the range of 2 billion dollars.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 02:33 UTC

  Brazil prepared to change Mercosur negotiation strategy to spur agreement with the EU

  

  Brazil wants to change the way Mercosur negotiates trade agreements with the European Union, EU, so as to definitively advance with the ongoing discussions that were started in 1995, but still have to see concrete results, according to Brazilian official trade and diplomatic sources.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 02:08 UTC

  From Brazil’s largest basilica Pope Francis calls on young people to shun the idols of money and pleasure

  

  Pope Francis held his first mass as a pontiff at the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Sao Paulo before thousands of faithful who gathered despite de cold and the rain. During the Wednesday mass, Pope Francis urged young people to shun the “ephemeral idols” of money and pleasure and cherish traditional values to help build a better world.