Latin America

• Friday, May 17th 2013 - 06:05 UTC

  Criticized Peruvian foreign minister steps down and is replaced by a female

  

  Peru's Foreign minister has resigned, the government said on Wednesday, days after he was criticized for contributing to a diplomatic spat with Venezuela. The office of President Ollanta Humala said in a statement that Rafael Roncagliolo resigned ”strictly because of health reasons”.

• Thursday, May 16th 2013 - 22:18 UTC

  OAS praises Ecuador ‘civic spirit’ and suggests regulating use of public resources for electoral purposes

  

  The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) received this week the oral report of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) that accompanied the process of general elections in Ecuador on February 17, which was presented by the Chief of Mission Rafael Alburquerque, who stressed the “great civic spirit” of Ecuadorians.

• Thursday, May 16th 2013 - 19:23 UTC

  Females take the top three seats in the new Ecuadorean National Assembly

  

  The newly elected Ecuadorean National Assembly sat for the first time this week and next week will take the oath of office to President Rafael Correa, who was re-elected by a landslide last February. The legislative with 137 members has a majority of members from Correa’s party Alliance Country Movement, and was elected for a four-year mandate.

• Thursday, May 16th 2013 - 06:50 UTC

  In Bolivia and suffering from altitude sickness, try Coca beer

  

  A Bolivian brewer has come up with an innovative solution for quenching thirst and coping with altitude sickness: coca beer, based on the same leaf used to make cocaine.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 21:59 UTC

  Paraguay on Independence Day blasts Argentina and Brazil over “power resource exploitation”

  

  President Federico Franco said Paraguay has long cancelled its debts for the construction of two huge shared hydroelectric dams with its powerful neighbours and demanded Argentina pay for the surplus energy it receives and compensation for flooding Paraguayan territory.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 07:46 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez pledges she will not propose any constitutional reform

  

  Argentine President Cristina Fernández defended her controversial judiciary reform and announced that deep reforms require “amendments to the Constitution”. However, she emphasized she would not push any initiative in that sense.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 07:38 UTC

  Allegations of a network of corruption money involves former president Kirchner

  

  Argentine and Uruguayan magistrates and prosecutors are investigating an alleged network of corruption money, and probably money laundering involving former president Nestor Kirchner and close political and business cronies some of which continue in key positions or proximity to current head of state Cristina Fernandez.

• Wednesday, May 15th 2013 - 07:24 UTC

  Uruguay awards French company contract for 1.2bn dollars re-gasification plant

  

  Uruguay awarded French gas and power group GDF Suez SA a contract to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) re-gasification plant at an estimated cost of 1.125 billion dollars, the government said on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 23:13 UTC

  Venezuela net importer of gasoline in 2012 because of Amuay refinery fire

  

  Venezuela in 2012 became a net importer of gasoline as a result of escalating problems at its refineries and increasing demand for fuel in its internal market, joining a growing list of countries that struggle with fuel supplies despite ample oil reserves.

• Tuesday, May 14th 2013 - 23:04 UTC

  Record FDI year confirms Latam as commodities supplier but with little technology input

  

  Latin America and the Caribbean received last year a record 173.361 billion dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) (6.7% more than in 2011), despite an international context characterized by shrinking FDI flows worldwide, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).