Venezuela has taken formal control of its third largest bank, the previously Spanish-owned Banco de Venezuela. The first instalment of a 630 million US dollars price tag was made amid much ceremony in the capital Caracas, with nearly all the shares passing to the government.
Ousted President Manuel Zelaya has vowed to return to Honduras on Sunday, despite being threatened with arrest. The Honduran Catholic Church called on all parties to avoid a “blood bath”.
Peruvian Prime Minister Yehude Simon said on Friday he planned to “irrevocably” step down next week following heavy criticism of the government's handling of violent Amazon protests in which at least 50 people died last month.
The head of the Organisation of American States has said he found no willingness in Honduras' interim government to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Jose Miguel Insulza said that unfortunately, in Honduras the conditions are not there for Zelaya's return.
World Bank group president Robert B. Zoellick underlined that Latinamerican largest countries are better prepared to face the world crisis, based on strong budgets and primary surpluses and the development of effective social policies.
Uruguay’s main opposition party performed much better than anticipated according to official results of last Sunday’s primary elections for the nomination of presidential candidates for October’s elections.
Honduran interim president Roberto Micheletti rejected Wednesday an ultimatum from American governments to reinstate ousted leader Manuel Zelaya to the presidency. The ongoing political crisis has sparked new protests in the capital Tegucigalpa which is under military curfew.
Ricardo Martinelli, the multimillionaire owner of a supermarket chain, was inaugurated as president of Panama on Wednesday. National Assembly President Jose Luis Varela performed the swearing-in and placed the presidential sash on Martinelli, a pro-business conservative who in May defeated a candidate from the ruling center-left party.
Unemployment in Magallanes Region, extreme south of Chile surged to 6.3% in the March-May quarter which is more than double the same period a year ago, 2.6%, and higher than the previous immediate quarter, 5.8%, according to the latest release from the regional Statistics Office.
Chile’s Inter-ministry Committee of Hydro Resources thinks it has the solution for the water shortage problems facing the northern city of Copiapo (Region III).