Latin America

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 04:25 UTC

  Mujica consolidates close trade and energy links with Venezuela

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered Wednesday to help Uruguay expand a refinery and supply it with crude oil. Chavez and visiting Uruguayan President Jose Mujica signed several accords pledging to deepen trade and energy ties between the two nations.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 04:10 UTC

  Chavez announce rainfall in central Venezuela will help reverse energy crisis

  

  Heavy downpours that have swept away two people and flooded homes in central Venezuela were hailed by President Hugo Chavez as an early start to the rainy season that may mark the end of an extended electricity crisis.

• Thursday, April 8th 2010 - 01:22 UTC

  Ford will invest 250 million USD in Argentina targeting Mercosur

  

  Ford Motor said it will spend 250 million US dollars on its operations in Argentina, where it will start production of a new vehicle for the Mercosur market. President and Chief Executive Alan Mulally announced the plan Wednesday during a meeting in Buenos Aires with Argentina President Cristina Fernandez.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 23:29 UTC

  Chavez hikes basic food prices, including milk, 30% on average

  

  Venezuela raised this week government-set price caps on milk and dairy products as much as 30% in an attempt to boost benefits for producers and head off shortages of basic goods.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 22:50 UTC

  First cholera case in twelve years diagnosed in Chile

  

  The Chilean Antofagasta regional hospital diagnosed an 18-month old infant girl with cholera on Monday. Dr. Antonio Cárdenas, Chief of Paediatrics, told a local paper in Antofagasta that the infant had a virus called Vibrio Cholera.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 22:44 UTC

  Venezuela and Argentina have riskiest sovereign credit, says default-swap monitor

  

  Venezuela is catalogued to be the world's riskiest sovereign credit, followed by Argentina, in the table of countries whose debt is the costliest to insure, credit default swap monitor CDS DataVision said this week.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 22:34 UTC

  Vatican State Secretary visits Chile in support of quake victims

  

  The secretary of Vatican State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone arrived in Chile this week for an extended visit which includes a meeting with President Sebastian Piñera.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 22:19 UTC

  Cash-strapped Cuba cuts US food imports drastically

  

  United States agricultural exports to Cuba declined by more than 180 million USD in 2009, down from a record 715 million USD in exports set in 2008, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service economist.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 21:12 UTC

  Uribe said WEF in Cartagena confirms success of “democratic security” policy

  

  The significant and numerous attendances to the World Economic Forum, Latin American chapter, taking place in Cartagena, Colombia, shows that “the Democratic Security policy has gained back confidence in Colombia” said Colombian President Álvaro Uribe during a radio interview.

• Wednesday, April 7th 2010 - 21:05 UTC

  Chilean fisheries exports and domestic sales down 46% in first quarter

  

  Fishing production in Chile’s central south BioBio region (Region VIII) is still reeling in the aftermath of the Feb. 27 earthquake and tsunami.