Latin America

• Saturday, July 10th 2010 - 07:05 UTC

  Raul Castro blasts provincial leaders and praises press for exposing them

  

  Cuban president Raul Castro criticized the attitudes of national and provincial leaders who he said “lacked the moral courage to admit their shortcomings”. The remarks follow on an article from the official newspaper Granma referred to the still non concluded rehabilitation of Santiago de Cuba’s aqueduct, which Raul Castro said reveals “the lack of planning to carry out effective work that is every Cuban’s duty to the community and the revolution”.

• Thursday, July 8th 2010 - 08:06 UTC

  Oil and gas finds in the Magellan basin, extreme south of Chile

  

  Latin American oil and gas exploration and production company GeoPark Holdings (AIM: GPK) revealed this week new gas and oil finds on the Fell block in the extreme south of Chile.

• Thursday, July 8th 2010 - 07:24 UTC

  Chile Transparency Council orders transgenic seeds’ information be made public

  

  The debate is finally over: early this month Chile’s Transparency Council unanimously ruled that the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG) has 15 days to publicize the names and locations of transgenic seed growers in Chile.

• Thursday, July 8th 2010 - 01:44 UTC

  Cuba promises to the Catholic Church the liberation of 52 political prisoners

  

  Cuba is to liberate 52 political prisoners, of the group of 75 that were condemned in 2003, who would be able to leave the country, the Cuban Catholic Church informed Wednesday in an official communiqué.

• Thursday, July 8th 2010 - 01:37 UTC

  “Democratic clause” to be included in Unasur constitution, said Kirchner

  

  The Union of South American Nations, (UNASUR), Secretary General Nestor Kirchner ended Wednesday a two-day visit to Chile where he met with President Sebastian Piñera and congressional leaders to lobby for the approval of the regional group’s charter.

• Thursday, July 8th 2010 - 01:34 UTC

  Correa and Chavez friendlier towards Colombian president-elect Santos

  

  Colombian President-elect Juan Manuel Santos has invited Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez to attend his inauguration in August, local media reported in a possible sign of warming ties between the neighbours.

• Wednesday, July 7th 2010 - 07:07 UTC

  Argentina downplays protest involving Chilean students Falklands’ visit

  

  The Argentine consul in Punta Arenas downplayed the alleged repercussions of the recent trip of eight Chilean students to the Falkland Islands allegedly in the framework of a “written understanding” between the extreme south Chilean city council and Falklands authorities.

• Wednesday, July 7th 2010 - 06:42 UTC

  Moreno re-elected president of the Inter American Development Bank

  

  Luis Alberto Moreno was re-elected president of the Inter-American Development Bank today during a special meeting of the IDB Board of Governors at the Bank’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

• Wednesday, July 7th 2010 - 06:38 UTC

  Unasur will be the “political complement which is missing with Mercosur”

  

  Unasur (Union of South American Nations) Secretary General Nestor Kirchner said on Tuesday that the regional block will become “the political complement which is missing with Mercosur”.

• Wednesday, July 7th 2010 - 06:19 UTC

  Argentina, Brazil, Spain leaders offer to mediate in Middle East conflict

  

  The European Union and Latinamerica could play a crucial role in helping solve the Middle East conflict said Syrian president Bashar al-Assad following an offer from Spanish president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to mediate in a Damascus-Israel dialogue.