Latin America

Wednesday, July 24th 2013 - 07:19 UTC
Mass with 400.000 Catholics in Copacabana beach marks opening of World Youth Day

Around 400,000 Roman Catholics have joined a Tuesday evening ceremony on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro to mark the opening of World Youth Day. The highlight of the festival will be a visit on Thursday by Pope Francis.
Wednesday, July 24th 2013 - 07:15 UTC
Mujica flies to Havana to meet the Castro brothers and celebrate 60 years of Cuba’s revolution

Uruguayan president and former guerrilla Jose Mujica left Tuesday night for Cuba where he is scheduled to hold meetings with President Raul Castro, the revolution leader Fidel Castro and attend the celebrations of the sixtieth anniversary of the assault on the Moncada military fort.
Wednesday, July 24th 2013 - 07:09 UTC
Cristina Fernandez candidate for Army Chief questioned over human rights record

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has defended the designation of César Milani as head of the Armed Forces, and complained that “those who previously voted for the Due Obedience and Final Stop laws put in doubt” her administration's “human rights record”.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 08:15 UTC
Santos and Maduro agree to open a new chapter of neighbourly relations

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos on Monday agreed to turn the page on a diplomatic dispute triggered when Santos met with Venezuela's main opposition leader in May.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 08:06 UTC
Argentina refuses to inform Paraguay on a nuclear reactor it is planning along the border

The administration of President Cristina Fernandez rejected a request from Paraguay on the nuclear plant, and area of influence, Argentina plans to build in the neighbouring province of Formosa. The situation was exposed by Paraguayan lawmaker Olga Ferreira de Lopez who called the Argentine president a ‘perverse woman’.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 08:00 UTC
Polls confirm support for Rousseff has crashed and Lula da Silva becomes an option

Former president Lula da Silva is back leading opinion polls as the most likeable candidate for Brazil’s presidential election in 2014, eleven percentage points ahead of his successor and current president Dilma Rousseff according to the latest public opinion polls released over the week end.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:54 UTC
Despite papal blessings, Brazil further cuts spending and growth forecast

Brazil is cutting spending for the second time in two months to help meet its fiscal target as it forecasts slower growth this year which was also confirmed according to the latest Central Bank survey. The economic data was announced while Brazil had its eyes and ears in Rio do Janeiro to receive Pope Francis.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:48 UTC
Violent protests against Rio do Janeiro governor following Pope’s reception

Rio de Janeiro was the stage for violent protests centred at Palacio Guanabara where earlier in the day Pope Francis had been received by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. The incidents occurred Monday night during a demonstration against Rio state governor Sergio Cabral which convened an estimated 1.500 people according to the police.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:39 UTC
Mujica praises the OAS and the report on the drug problem in the Americas

The Organization of American States (OAS), Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, presented on Monday Uruguayan president José Mujica the Report on the Drug Problem in the Americas, prepared by the hemispheric institution following a mandate of the Sixth Summit of the Americas.
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:33 UTC
China interested in developing agriculture in Venezuela’s 30 million hectares of land

Venezuelan Vice-president Jorge Arreaza said that cooperation between China and Venezuela, which has been especially strong and beneficial in energy and technology, could be extended to include agriculture and land exploitation, an area of special interest for Beijing.