Latin America

Monday, January 5th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
South Korea and Japan reopen markets to Chilean pork

South Korea and Japan reopened their markets to Chilean pork, according to a release in Seoul from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
Monday, January 5th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Cubans can now build their homes with own private funds

Cubans will be permitted to build their own homes using their own private funds, President Raul Castro announced on Sunday, in the latest reforms to back off the centralized economy hard-line orthodoxy of the past five decades.
Monday, January 5th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Socialist candidate abandons Chilean presidential race

The Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza announced Monday his withdrawal from the Chilean presidential elections scheduled for next December.
Friday, January 2nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Venezuela slashes US dollar quota

The Venezuelan government has cut the official number of dollars Venezuelans can spend abroad with their credit cards from $5,000 to $2,500 a year.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Damien Hirst Mexico vacation with SAS bodyguards

Damien Hirst, the British artist with a personal fortune estimated in excess of 300 million US dollars has hired four personal bodyguards who are all former members of the SAS, British special forces.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Cuba: 2008 worst year since collapse of the Soviet Union

Cuba says it has suffered one of the most difficult financial years since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Economy minister Jose Luis Rodriguez said the Cuban economy had grown by 4.3% in the past year, falling short of the 8% forecast by the government.

President Raul Castro called for austerity measures including cutbacks in official travel and bonuses.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
IDB increased outlays to Latam 25% to 12.2 billion USD

The Inter-American Development Bank Group increased loan, credit guarantee and grant approvals by about a quarter to a record 12.2 billion US dollars in 2008, in an effort to help Latin America and the Caribbean weather the global financial crisis.
Saturday, December 27th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
President Michelle Bachelet Improves in Chile

Public support for Michelle Bachelet has markedly increased in Chile, according to a poll by Ipsos. 56.8 per cent of respondents approve of the Chilean president's performance, up 9.9 points since August.
Sunday, December 21st 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Bolivia's Morales declares “free of illiteracy”

President Evo Morales declared Bolivia free of illiteracy on Saturday after a three-year project sponsored by his leftist allies Cuba and Venezuela helped about 820,000 people learn to read and write.
Sunday, December 21st 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Latam's six year sustained growth grinds to a halt

After six years of strong performance, Latin American and Caribbean economies will slow considerably next year as the global economic meltdown takes its toll on the region and unemployment rises, a United Nations agency for economic development announced last Friday.