Latin America

• Tuesday, May 28th 2013 - 06:27 UTC

  Further drop in Latam average regional urban unemployment, says UN agency

  

  The average regional urban unemployment rate could drop by up to 0.2 percentage points to stand between 6.4% and 6.2% in 2013, the lowest rate in recent decades, according to a new report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

• Tuesday, May 28th 2013 - 06:00 UTC

  Fearing Andes volcano eruption, Chile and Argentina order mandatory evacuation

  

  Chilean and Argentine authorities declared a red alert and ordered the mandatory evacuation of a 25-km radius around the active Copahue volcano, which straddles the border between the two Andean nations.

• Monday, May 27th 2013 - 08:13 UTC

  Chile fines and suspends Barrick Gold for contamination at major project

  

  Chilean authorities have fined the world's largest gold mining company, Barrick Gold Corp, more than 16 million dollars for environmental offences. Construction at the Pascua-Lama mine, on the border with Argentina, has been suspended until a system to contain contaminated water is put in place.

• Monday, May 27th 2013 - 07:18 UTC

  “The Malvinas are Argentine, but also Latinamerican” says President Correa

  

  “The Malvinas Islands are not only Argentine, they are Latinamerica”, said Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa who claimed it was time to put an end to the ‘colonial situation’ of the disputed Islands in the South Atlantic and blasted the Organization of American States, OAS for dragging its feet on this and other crucial issues for the continent.

• Monday, May 27th 2013 - 02:59 UTC

  Colombia and rebels reach agreement of agrarian reform and development of rural areas

  

  Colombia and the Marxist-led FARC rebels have reached agreement on the critical issue of agrarian reform, the two sides said in what appeared to be a major step forward for the peace process aimed at ending their long war.

• Monday, May 27th 2013 - 02:54 UTC

  Brazil warns Uruguay on Pacific Alliance plans: Mercosur can only act as ‘a block’

  

  Mercosur must negotiate any possible incorporation to the Alliance of the Pacific “as a block” since it is important that its member countries remain ‘united’ and respect the current charter, said the Mercosur High Representative, Ambassador Ivan Ramalho from Brazil.

• Monday, May 27th 2013 - 01:49 UTC

  Paraguay demands respect from Mercosur, “if not leave us as we are”

  

  The Argentine ambassador to Uruguay, Dante Dovena, assured that authorities are “working intensely” in preparations for the next Mercosur summit scheduled to take place on June 28th in Montevideo. However news form Paraguay doesn’t indicate the same optimism and are demanding respect for ‘the country’s dignity and rule of the law”.

• Saturday, May 25th 2013 - 05:34 UTC

  Falkland Islands elected lawmaker will attend C24 regional seminar in Ecuador

  

  Falkland Islands elected lawmaker Mike Summers will attend next week the Caribbean Regional Seminar of the Special Committee on Decolonization which is to be held in Quito, Ecuador in anticipation of the main C24 annual meeting in New York.

• Saturday, May 25th 2013 - 05:16 UTC

  Former Guatemalan president extradited to face money laundering charges in US

  

  Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was extradited on Friday to the United States to face money laundering charges, the US embassy in Guatemala said. A US grand jury decided in 2009 that Portillo, who was in office from 2000 to 2004, should face charges that he laundered 70 million dollars through US banks.

• Saturday, May 25th 2013 - 05:11 UTC

  Brazil’s employment rate remains stable but job creation slowed in recent months

  

  Brazil's jobless rate rose slightly in April for the fourth straight month but remained near record lows, suggesting that tight labour conditions bolstered a gradual recovery and fed into inflation, statistics agency IBGE said this week.