Latin America

• Tuesday, May 26th 2009 - 18:29 UTC

  Santiago residents have increasing number of firearms for protection

  

  According to the latest study on citizen security, families in the Talagante borough of the Santiago de Chile Metropolitan Region have the highest number of firearms for protection.

• Tuesday, May 26th 2009 - 12:54 UTC

  Latinamerica foreign trade forecasted to contract 9 to 11% in 2009

  

  The main impact for Latinamerica of the global financial crisis and economic slowdown has been the contraction of trade, so far in the range of 9 to 11%, revealed Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, Cepal.

• Tuesday, May 26th 2009 - 12:35 UTC

  Cuba is desperate to promote agriculture.

  

  Measures to promote the “attachment to farms” and discourage the exodus of peasants to the cities thus helping Cuba achieve self sufficiency in food production, was demanded in Sunday’s edition of the official newspaper from the Union of Communist Youths, Juventud Rebelde.

• Tuesday, May 26th 2009 - 12:25 UTC

  Latinamerican Liberals hold congress in “Bolivarian” Venezuela

  

  Liberal political parties and thinkers from Latinamerica are holding their annual congress this week in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. The event is in the framework of the 25th anniversary of the local branch Cedice-Libertad and will promote debates on liberal policies to address poverty and the current global slowdown.

• Tuesday, May 26th 2009 - 12:05 UTC

  Government tells Cubans: austerity or blackouts

  

  The Cuban government reduced from 6 to 2% the projected growth of the economy for 2009. The announcement was made by Cabinet vice president and Economy Minister Marino Murillo during a meeting at which “exceptional measures” were announced starting June first to reduce energy consumption, the official daily Juventud Rebelde said Saturday.

• Tuesday, May 26th 2009 - 05:35 UTC

  Chavez, Correa promise to protect their peoples from “unethical” media

  

  Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa announced they intend to create international bodies within the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) to protect both governments and peoples against the unethical behaviour of some news media.

• Tuesday, May 26th 2009 - 05:19 UTC

  Chile has fastest growing immigrant population in South America

  

  Chile's immigrant population has grown more than any other country in South America since 2000. Chile has fewer total immigrants than Argentina, Venezuela and Brazil, the proportional increase is greater. Immigration into Chile has increased in the past decade, while it has decreased in those other countries.

• Monday, May 25th 2009 - 17:39 UTC

  Latinamerica’s bicentennial independence festivities begin in Bolivia

  

  Bolivia’s commemoration on Monday May 25th of the 200th anniversary of the first uprising in Latinamerica against the Spanish colonial empire will also mark the beginning of similar independence celebrations along the continent which will peak in 2010.

• Monday, May 25th 2009 - 17:34 UTC

  Ecuador’s Correa promises radical measures to implement “citizens’ revolution”

  

  Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, flanked by his Venezuelan and Bolivian counterparts, Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales, on Sunday commemorated the 187th anniversary of the Battle Pichincha, whereby Ecuador assured its independence, and said that he will take even more radical measures to implement his “citizen’s revolution.” Correa also reiterated his commitment to Latinamerican integration.

• Saturday, May 23rd 2009 - 15:37 UTC

  Influenza virus “inter mingling” strong warning to Southern Hemisphere

  

  The director-general of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, closed Friday the agency's annual conference with a warning that nations, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere with the winter season on, must remain vigilant and be prepared for a possible swine influenza A-H1N1 virus pandemic.