Latin America

• Monday, January 30th 2012 - 21:45 UTC

  Unasur members begin sharing information on defence expenditure

  

  Six South American countries are sharing for the first time in history information on defence expenditure which is seen as a first concrete step to leave behind border disputes and ensure peace in the region, said delegates from Chile, Ecuador and Unasur, Union of South American Nations.

• Monday, January 30th 2012 - 09:45 UTC

  Chile, Brazil and Uruguay among the world’s leading exporters of wood chips

  

  Wood chip exports from Latin America are on track to reach a record high of almost eight million tons in 2011, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. This would be an increase of 7% from last year and of almost 60% higher than in 2006.

• Monday, January 30th 2012 - 09:40 UTC

  Venezuela convenes an ALBA summit to propose creating an economic space

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called for a presidential summit of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of our America, ALBA, for next February 5 in Caracas when it is expected Chavez will insist in the creation of an economic block.

• Monday, January 30th 2012 - 09:28 UTC

  Balloon tests for indefinite re-election of President Cristina Fernandez

  

  The possibility of a constitutional amendment to allow Argentine President Cristina Fernandez a third consecutive mandate is being seriously considered and publicly hailed and tested by her most ultra-orthodox followers although no projects have been presented to Congress.

• Monday, January 30th 2012 - 06:53 UTC

  Jack mackerel disappearing in South Pacific, fingers point to Chile

  

  Jack mackerel stocks have plummeted from an estimated 30 million tons to less than 3 million in 20 years. An eight-country investigation of the fishing industry in the southern Pacific by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) shows that this phenomenon foreshadows progressive collapse of fish populations across the world's oceans.

• Monday, January 30th 2012 - 06:40 UTC

  American Airlines increases flights to seven major Brazilian cities

  

  American Airlines announced changes to its coming spring and summer schedule that will expand the airline’s presence in Brazil. Next December, American’s route between Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Sao Paulo (GRU) will be operating with the new state-of-the-art Boeing 777-300ER, making Brazil the first market for the new aircraft.

• Monday, January 30th 2012 - 06:36 UTC

  Raul Castro’s political reforms remain an announcement

  

  President Raul Castro defended Cuba's one-party political system as a bulwark against US imperialism and said it would remain as it is in a speech on Sunday to a Communist Party conference.

• Saturday, January 28th 2012 - 10:02 UTC

  Mexico inaugurates Latam’s second supercomputer by size and speed

  

  Mexican scientists inaugurated Latin America's No. 2 supercomputer by size and speed, with the ability to process 24.9 trillion operations per second, authorities said.

• Friday, January 27th 2012 - 11:39 UTC

  Rousseff signals clear difference with Lula da Silva in coming visit to Cuba

  

  Brazil issued a tourist visa to a dissident Cuban blogger a few days before President Dilma Rousseff is scheduled to travel to the Castro family island in a visit being dominated by human rights concerns.

• Friday, January 27th 2012 - 11:05 UTC

  Moody’s raises Uruguay’s credit rating to Ba1, one level below investment grade

  

  Uruguay’s credit-rating outlook was raised on Thursday to positive by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the government’s commitment to keeping its budget deficit in check.