Latin America

• Friday, March 11th 2011 - 01:23 UTC

  European Parliament casts uncertainty over EU/Mercosur trade talks

  

  This week’s strong statement from the European Parliament warning about concessions that ‘can adversely affect European farmers’, precisely a week before Mercosur and EU delegates meet in Brussels to advance trade discussions has caused a certain degree of uncertainty among the South American group delegates.

• Friday, March 11th 2011 - 00:20 UTC

  Unasur becomes effective with a ministerial meeting in Quito

  

  Union of South American Nations Foreign Affairs ministers meet Friday in Quito to formally launch the group’s treaty and charter and begin discussions on a successor for deceased former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner who was the first Secretary General of Unasur.

• Thursday, March 10th 2011 - 06:29 UTC

  Enrolment of foreign students in Chilean universities soars 700% in a decade

  

  The enrolment of foreign students in Chilean universities has grown by 700% this past decade, with North American students leading the pack. Many students are attracted by the opportunity to travel, to learn Spanish and to experience a different culture.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 21:31 UTC

  Unasur HQ to be named after Nestor Kirchner; next Friday the official ceremony

  

  The permanent headquarters of Unasur, (Union of South American Nations) in Quito, Ecuador will be named after its first Secretary General, deceased Argentine former president Nestor Kirchner, the government of Ecuador officially announced Wednesday.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 05:10 UTC

  Wikileaks reveals Chilean government changed environment rules to please US interests

  

  Wikileaks cables last week revealed that the U.S. Embassy in Santiago pressured Chilean government officials in 2009 to change environmental rules so that a controversial thermoelectric plant could be built.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 04:59 UTC

  Magallanes region discusses gas prices with Chilean central government

  

  Mining and Energy Minister Laurence Golborne met with the Citizens’ Assembly of Magallanes Region (ACM) (extreme south of Chile) after the first of a series of meetings intended to resolve the Magallanes’ gas subsidy controversy.

• Wednesday, March 9th 2011 - 01:08 UTC

  Piñera presented with “Star of Palestine” honour; avoids pre-1967 borders controversy

  

  Chile’s President Sebastian Piñera visited both sides of the hotly contested Israeli- Palestine border this weekend. He reasserted his support for an independent Palestinian state, but fell short of formally recognizing the pre-1967 borders.

• Tuesday, March 8th 2011 - 04:52 UTC

  Chile’s Concha y Toro acquires California’s Fetzer Vineyard

  

  Chile’s Concha y Toro, Latin America’s largest wine producer, sealed a deal this week with Brown-Forman’s Fetzer Vineyards in a transaction worth 238 million US dollars to purchase its portfolio of American wine brands. The sale is expected to close in April 2011.

• Tuesday, March 8th 2011 - 00:04 UTC

  Food prices have soared most in Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina

  

  Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina are the three Latinamerican countries where food prices have climbed the most during the twelve months of 2010, according to official regional statistics.

• Monday, March 7th 2011 - 23:57 UTC

  US ambassadors consider Mercosur as “anti-American” according to Wikileaks

  

  United States considers Mercosur as an “anti American” organization and fears the incorporation of Venezuela to the group made up of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay according to one of the latest Wikileaks to see light in the River Plate press.