Latin America

• Saturday, December 26th 2009 - 12:44 UTC

  Hectic Chile: newborns given single names, forget the saint’s day

  

  Breaking from Chile’s tradition of giving babies a compound name - i.e. Juan Pablo, Maria Isabel - more and more parents are opting for single names.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:57 UTC

  Venezuela imposes power cuts and announces network of “Socialist” shops

  

  Venezuela has imposed sweeping power cuts on industry and businesses in order to save its limited energy resources and avoid mass blackouts. The government said the cuts were because of falling water levels at the Guri Hydroelectric dam, which supplies much of the country's power.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:52 UTC

  Father Christmas arrives for Lan Chile with contract for 30 Airbus A 320

  

  Chilean flag carrier LAN Airlines and its subsidiaries, one of the leading airlines in Latin America, announced Wednesday that the Company signed a contract for the purchase of 30 Airbus A320 family aircraft to be delivered between 2011 and 2016.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:49 UTC

  Another austerity year ahead for Cubans announced Raul Castro

  

  The Cuban economy grew by only 1.4% in 2009, far from an initial forecast of 6%, Economy and Planning minister told parliament this week. Marino Murillo said that Cuba’s exports fell by 22.9% this year, while imports were down 37.4%. Prospects for 2010 are modest: 1.7% growth.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:18 UTC

  Tribunal admits only 49% of registered Hondurans voted on November 29th

  

  Over half of Honduras registered voters in Honduras did not participate in the controversial presidential election last November 29th, held under the de facto regime, according to figures released by the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:14 UTC

  Bolivian Tribunal confirms Evo Morales’ sweeping electoral victory

  

  Bolivia’s re-elected president Evo Morales ratified his sweeping victory on December 6 general election when he was supported by 64.2% of the vote, according to the final vote count from the country’s Electoral Court.

• Thursday, December 24th 2009 - 09:03 UTC

  EU, US and OAS condemn killing of Colombian governor attributed to FARC

  

  The European Union, United States and the Organization of American States condemned the killing of Colombian governor Luis Francisco Cuellar, which has been attributed to the Marxist-inspired, drugs-funded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, the oldest guerrilla grouping operating in the country.

• Wednesday, December 23rd 2009 - 15:52 UTC

  Kidnapped Colombian governor found dead with slit throat

  

  The body of Luis Francisco Cuellar Carvajal, governor of the Colombian department of Caqueta, was discovered Tuesday not far from where he was kidnapped the night before, government spokesperson Wilmer Rua said.

• Wednesday, December 23rd 2009 - 09:54 UTC

  Uribe offers reward for info leading to kidnapped Colombian governor

  

  Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is offering the equivalent of almost half a million US dollars reward for information leading to the rescue of a governor snatched from his home Monday night by a guerrilla commando unit dressed in army uniforms. He also asked for the recovery of 24 military, captives of the guerrilla.

• Wednesday, December 23rd 2009 - 09:26 UTC

  Highlanders stationed in Falklands triumph in Chilean war game competition

  

  An elite team of British soldiers beat Special Forces from around the world to win a grueling competition in the driest place on Earth, repots Daily Record.co.uk. The eight-man unit from the Highlanders (4 Scots) picked up the gold medal in the Chilean Patrol Competition before their recent deployment to the Falkland Islands.