Latin America

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 23:03 UTC

  Piñera promised to keep the Army displayed in areas worst hit by the quake

  

  Chilean President elect Sebastián Piñera announced that once he takes office, the military forces displayed in the areas worst hit by the February 27 earthquake will be retained. He also anticipated that the “state of catastrophe” in a very selective manner will be enforced in all those areas which are in need.

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 20:33 UTC

  Violence and crime eroding the popularity of President Chavez

  

  It has been several years now since the Venezuelan government published official statistics on violence but according to a NGO that keeps records of crimes, last year 16.047 people were killed, compared to 14.800 in 2008 and 4.500 in 1998.

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 19:57 UTC

  Falklands’ government donates £ 5.000 to Chile Earthquake Appeal Fund

  

  The Falkland Islands Government donated £ 5.000 to the Chile Earthquake Appeal Fund, which was opened by Chilean residents in the Islands to help victims of the earthquake that devastated central Chile.

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 19:03 UTC

  Immediate infrastructure reconstruction cost for Chile, 1.2 billion USD

  

  Chilean Public Works Minister Sergio Bitar estimated that the reconstruction and reparation of sidewalks, airports, canals, and other infrastructure works will cost around 1.2 billion US dollars, after the earthquake that devastated the nation. The quake was an 8.8 on the Richter scale.

• Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 07:22 UTC

  Massive Chilean quake shifted whole cities including Santiago and Buenos Aires

  

  The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the west coast of Chile last month moved the entire city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west, and shifted other parts of South America as far apart as the Falkland Islands and Fortaleza, Brazil according to a publication from the University of Ohio.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 10:46 UTC

  Chile Telethon Raises US$58 Million For Disaster Victims

  

  Around 10,000 volunteers in 400 locations across Chile united to raise funds for the earthquake stricken country over the weekend.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 09:22 UTC

  Latinamerica forecasted to expand 3% or more, this year

  

  The Latinamerican economy is poised to expand 3% or more in 2010, the year that will signal the beginning of recovery for the region according to the Inter American Development Bank, (IDB), President Luis Alberto Moreno.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 09:09 UTC

  Chavez incorporates ousted Zelaya to his payroll through Petrocaribe

  

  Ousted former Honduras President Manuel Zelaya has been appointed Head of a “Political Council” of Venezuelan energy consortium Petrocaribe which allows Caribbean and Central American nations to buy oil at a discount from Venezuela.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 07:29 UTC

  Chileans say government responded “late and inefficiently” to earthquake

  

  Most Chileans are unhappy with their government's response to the catastrophic earthquake and squarely blame President Michelle Bachelet for shortcomings, according to a poll published over the weekend.

• Monday, March 8th 2010 - 07:18 UTC

  Latam conservative parties encouraged with recent electoral victories

  

  Latinamerican conservative political parties meeting in Central America said there has been a set back for the left wing in the region following on the recent conservative electoral victories in Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama.