
Latinamerican and Caribbean nations are to set up a new regional bloc of all the countries in the Americas, with the exception of the United States and Canada. The decision was formalized Tuesday at a regional summit of the so called Rio Group in the Mexican resort of Cancun.

The new Latin American and Caribbean bloc planned without regional neighbours Canada and the United States are consistent with US goals for the region, a State Department spokesman said Tuesday

Latin American leaders will work to diffuse tensions between Colombia and Venezuela after presidents Alvaro Uribe and Hugo Chavez, got into a shouting match and exchange of insults at the Rio Group summit in Mexico.

United States currently has no interest in having US troops stationed and with access to military bases belonging to other Latinamerican countries, such is the case with Colombia said a top Pentagon official during a visit to Nicaragua.

Latin American oil and gas firm GeoPark Holdings Ltd announced this week it had successfully tested two new oil wells on the Fell Block, Springfield formation, Magallanes basin in the extreme south of Chile, bordering Argentina and the Atlantic access of the Magellan Strait.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner said on Monday Latin American and Caribbean leaders backed her objections to oil exploration in the disputed Falkland Islands as drilling of the first well began on Monday.

Cuba criticized US diplomats Saturday for meeting with political opponents after bilateral talks on immigration in Havana, accusing the diplomats of promoting subversion.

The new Latinamerican and Caribbean organization that would not include the United States, Canada and Spain could formally be launched on 5 July 2011, during a summit in Venezuela once the statute is drafted and approved, according to the ministerial meeting previous to the Rio Group two-day summit scheduled to begin Monday.

Ecuador's inclusion on an international list of nations accused of lagging in the fight against money laundering is a hypocritical punishment for its relations with Iran, Ecuador's president said during his weekly television address.

Brazil that is still holding back on its recognition of Honduras president Porfirio Lobo government is inching closer and said it would be “important” for the Central American country to return to the Organization of American States, OAS, once reconciliation measures become effective, according to a spokesperson from the Planalto Palace.