Latin America

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 09:30 UTC

  Venezuelan economy forecasted to contract strongly in 2009

  

  Venezuela's economy contracted 4.5% in the third quarter, far more than expected, and the second straight quarterly contraction this year after a drop in oil income affected public and consumer spending, the Central Bank said Tuesday.

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 09:28 UTC

  Chile in select group of eleven countries with insignificant mad-cow risk

  

  Beginning Tuesday Chile belongs to the select group of eleven countries who have insignificant risk of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. This places Chile among the nations with the best sanitary conditions on the planet.

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 08:23 UTC

  Official media invites Cubans to open their minds and “disagree”

  

  The Cuban Official ruling Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma called on Cubans to open their minds and “disagree”, adding that it was “erroneous to coincide with all opinions” in a community that has been forged on the basis of “commitment and consensus”.

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 08:14 UTC

  Argentina protests world-map circulating in Bolivia with the Malvinas as British

  

  The Argentine embassy in Bolivia officially protested, and demanded the immediate withdrawal of a National Geographic world-map circulating among the Bolivian Chamber of Customs agents and where the Malvinas Islands figure “with a colour different to that identifying Argentina”.

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 07:24 UTC

  Che Guevara, “the worst that could have happened to Cuba” says Juanita Castro

  

  The presence of Ernesto Che Guevara in Cuba was “the worst that could have happened to my country” said Juanita Castro, sister of the ruling brothers of Cuba, (Fidel and Raúl Castro) and fellow fighters with the Argentine-born doctor in the Caribbean island revolution half a century ago

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 07:23 UTC

  Influential US Congress members call for an end to Cuba travel ban

  

  Two key United States lawmakers say that Washington should allow its citizens to travel to Cuba to help promote 'democratic reforms' in that country. Veteran Republican Senator Richard Lugar and Democratic Congressman Howard Berman insist that the Cuba travel ban has been obsolete and should be discarded as a foreign policy measure.

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 03:17 UTC

  “Generous” contributions to US lawmakers to uphold embargo of Cuba

  

  Since the United States 2004 election cycle, a network of Cuban-American donors and political action committees (PACs) has donated in excess of 10 million US dollars to more than 300 US federal candidates in order to thwart any changes in the US embargo of Cuba, claims Public Campaign, a US citizens group working for “clean money, clean elections”

• Wednesday, November 18th 2009 - 03:04 UTC

  Zelaya claims US and Micheletti are involved in “laundering” the coup

  

  Honduran ousted president Manuel Zelaya claims the United States in partnership with de facto leader Roberto Micheletti are involved in an operation to “launder” the coup d’etat of June 28th.

• Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 12:54 UTC

  Diplomatic row between Chile and Peru over spying accusations

  

  In separate statements this weekend, Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez and government spokesperson Carolina Toha refuted the spying accusations made by Peruvian officials late last week.
  “Chile does not spy” said the Chilean government officials.

• Tuesday, November 17th 2009 - 09:10 UTC

  Latinamerica at the heart of a climate change deal, says Miliband

  

  United Kingdom Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday a politically binding deal on climate change will only be struck with the agreement of leading South American countries.