Latin America

• Monday, February 8th 2010 - 10:05 UTC

  Costa Rica elects Chinchilla first woman president

  

  Laura Chinchilla, a protege of Nobel peace laureate President Oscar Arias, won a landslide election victory in Costa Rica on Sunday to become the country's first woman elected president.

• Monday, February 8th 2010 - 05:08 UTC

  Russia displaces the US as main supplier of arms to Latinamerica

  

  The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a British research institute focusing on international security, revealed that Russia in 2009 became the main exporter of weapons to Latin America thanks to the purchases made by Venezuela, but also to Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Colombia.

• Monday, February 8th 2010 - 04:59 UTC

  A billion US dollars to purchase Piñera’s Lan airlines shares

  

  Costa Verde Aeronautica SA, the holding company owned by Chile’s Cueto family, plans to raise 1 billion US dollars in a move analysts say will finance the purchase of Lan Airlines SA shares from President-elect Sebastian Piñera.

• Saturday, February 6th 2010 - 09:00 UTC

  All Mercosur leaders present at Mujica’s inauguration next March

  

  Mercosur presidents have confirmed attendance to the inauguration next March first of Uruguayan president-elect Jose Mujica who will be heading a second consecutive government of the catch-all centre left coalition Broad Front.

• Thursday, February 4th 2010 - 18:21 UTC

  Costa Rica elects president and renews Legislative next Sunday

  

  Costa Rica next Sunday will be electing a successor to president Oscar Arias out of nine hopefuls among which leading public opinion polls is his sponsored candidate, Laura Chinchilla, followed by Conservative Otto Guevara and Socialist Ottón Solis.

• Thursday, February 4th 2010 - 16:11 UTC

  Chile enacts bill with sweeping changes to defence policy

  

  Chilean president Michelle Bachelet promulgated this week a bill with sweeping changes in the Defence ministry and Armed Forces structure including the creation of a post equivalent to that of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

• Wednesday, February 3rd 2010 - 12:23 UTC

  Chavez former closest loyalists call for his resignation

  

  A group of one-time loyalists and close advisors of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez called on him to resign saying that after eleven years in power he had lost “the legitimacy and capacity to govern”.

• Wednesday, February 3rd 2010 - 12:02 UTC

  Washington praises political steps taken by new Honduran administration

  

  The new Honduras government is “one step” toward the country’s return to the Organization of American States and recovery of international credit lost during the seven month coup, said the US top diplomat to Latin America.

• Wednesday, February 3rd 2010 - 09:46 UTC

  Ecuador hosts Unasur meeting in support of reconstructing Haiti

  

  Six presidents will be participating in the coming Union of South American Nations, Unasur, extraordinary meeting to he hosted by Ecuador next week and which will address mainly how to better coordinate relief efforts for earthquake devastated Haiti.

• Tuesday, February 2nd 2010 - 12:41 UTC

  Outgoing presidents Bachelet and Lula da Silva with record support

  

  Two outgoing South American presidents have reached record popularity according to the latest January public opinion polls. They are Michelle Bachelet from Chile and Brazil’s Lula da Silva, both with plus eighty percentages.