Latin America

• 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.

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Oil prices threaten Chavez constitution reform process

  Venezuela's National Assembly has given preliminary approval for a constitutional referendum to scrap presidential term limits, which would allow President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election in 2012 and beyond.

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  LAN allowed to operate in Ecuador's domestic market

  Chile's LAN was granted a two-year concession to operate domestic flights in Ecuador, a top aviation official said on Thursday. The airline's Ecuadorean unit will be allowed to fly local routes to major cities like Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca.

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Ecuadorean bankers concern about “financial stability”

  Members of Ecuador's private banking sector expressed concern Friday that recent government financial decisions and overall policies, together with the global crisis, are putting the country's financial system in jeopardy.

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Unasur initiative not incompatible with OAS, says Rice

  United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice does not think that the creation of an organization that pools Latin American and Caribbean countries would be a threat or incompatible with for the Organization of American States (OAS).

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Russian Navy flotilla makes first visit to Cuba since Cold War

  

  Three ships from Russia's Northern Fleet arrived in Havana Bay on Friday as part of the Russian Navy's first visit to Cuba since the Cold War. On arrival the Admiral Chabanenko destroyer fired a 21-salvo “international salute,” which the country's coastal artillery returned.

• Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Unasur will consider Defence Council agenda in January

  The Union of Latinamerican Nations (UNASUR) meeting in Brazil this week agreed the creation of a South American Defence Council, which will have “a collective vision of defence”, as it was defined by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet who currently chairs the twelve-member Unasur.