Latin America

• Monday, March 18th 2013 - 21:37 UTC

  Rough times ahead for Latam warns IDB; limited margin for fiscal and monetary policies

  

  World growth is likely to be suppressed below potential for several years to come, but Latin America and the Caribbean can escape this global outlook and boost growth significantly by adopting appropriate structural reforms, according to the Inter-American Development Bank’s annual macroeconomic report, released at the IDB annual meeting.

• Monday, March 18th 2013 - 21:13 UTC

  Argentina should be self-sufficient in energy in five/six years says YPF

  

  Argentina’s energy self-sufficiency can be expected in five to six years said Miguel Galuccio, CEO of YPF, the oil and gas corporation which was nationalized a year ago when the government of President Cristina Fernandez seized a 51% majority from Spain’s Repsol.

• Monday, March 18th 2013 - 20:52 UTC

  Bachelet returns to Chile for primaries; good chances of becoming opposition presidential candidate

  

  Former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet who resigned to her job as the Executive Director of UN Women is to be proclaimed as the leading presidential candidate at the opposition parties primary elections to be held next April 13. She has very good chances of repeating her four year period, according to public opinion polls.

• Monday, March 18th 2013 - 08:22 UTC

  “The people of the Falklands have spoken clear and loud”, MLA Hansen tells Trinidad and Tobago

  

  The Falkland Islands have spoken, and have spoken clearly and loud for all countries in the world to listen, said Ian Hansen, member of the elected Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly currently on a tour of Caribbean countries to deliver the message from the March 10/11 referendum.

• Monday, March 18th 2013 - 08:02 UTC

  China will provide 2bn dollars for Latam development projects through IDB

  

  China will provide up top 2 billion dollars for an Inter American Development Bank (IDB) fund, in support of projects for the public and private sector that promoted sustainable growth in the region.

• Monday, March 18th 2013 - 07:20 UTC

  Peruvian capital Lima’s first woman mayor narrowly survives recall vote

  

  The first woman mayor of Peru's capital Lima, Susana Villaran, has narrowly survived a vote to depose her from office, exit polls suggest. They indicate that Ms Villaran was backed by about over 50% of voters.

• Saturday, March 16th 2013 - 07:41 UTC

  Millions turned out in Caracas for the final farewell to Hugo Chavez

  

  Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets of Caracas on Friday to bid a final farewell to late president Hugo Chavez a month before elections to pick his successor.

• Saturday, March 16th 2013 - 03:39 UTC

  Rousseff reshuffles cabinet but leaves Mantega and economic team intact

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff appointed on Friday new ministers for agriculture, civil aviation and labour, the presidential office said, in a Cabinet shuffle that left her economic team intact.

• Saturday, March 16th 2013 - 03:37 UTC

  Bolivia and Venezuela ranked world's unfriendliest countries for tourists; overall bad score for Mercosur

  

  A new report, put out earlier this month by the World Economic Forum, has ranked which countries roll out the welcome mat to travellers and which give the cold shoulder. The “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013” ranked 140 countries according to attractiveness and competitiveness in the travel and tourism industries.

• Friday, March 15th 2013 - 07:03 UTC

  Francis calls on the Church to keep to its roots or it could become “a passionate NGO”

  

  In his first public Mass, Pope Francis urged the Catholic Church on Thursday to stick to its roots and shun modern temptations, warning that it would become just “a compassionate NGO” if it forgot its true mission.