Latin America

• Saturday, July 26th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Chavez visit Spain and jokes with King JuanCarlos

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez laughed and smiled his way through a hug-and-make-up visit to Spain yesterday, his first since a now-infamous exchange in which Spain's normally reserved monarch told the voluble Venezuelan leader to “shut up” at a summit in Chile last year.

• Saturday, July 26th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia to fight cocaine trade with its own funds

  

  Bolivia, the world's No. 3 cocaine producer, will fund an anti-narcotics unit for the first time next year as it seeks to reduce foreign involvement in fighting trafficking, an official said yesterday.

• Friday, July 25th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Environmentalists' concern with Chilean leg of Dakar rally

  

  Chilean environmentalists and public figures this week expressed concern about potential environmental threats posed by the Dakar off-roading rally, scheduled to be held in Chile and Argentina in January.

• Thursday, July 24th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  BHP Billiton makes huge copper discovery in Chile

  

  Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton has made a big discovery near its Escondida copper mine in Chile and has announced plans to spend 327 million US dollars to shore up the resource and two others nearby as it looks to extend the life at the world's biggest copper mine.

• Wednesday, July 23rd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela offers Russia strategic alliance against US

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has called for a strategic alliance with Russia to protect his country from United States. Chavez call came as Moscow and Caracas agreed to extend bilateral co-operation on energy.

• Wednesday, July 23rd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile joins Latam whale and dolphin watching tourism

  

  Whales and dolphins are making the tourism market boom, particularly in Chile, where tourism is becoming a key factor of Chile's economic development strategy. More than one million tourists enjoyed viewing cetacean species in Latin America this past year, industry sources report.

• Wednesday, July 23rd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Gas from coal to fuel methanol plant in extreme south Chile

  

  Canada's Methanex, the world's main producer of methanol, is planning to convert coal into natural gas to supply its huge complex in the extreme south of Chile which has been working below capacity precisely because of insufficient gas, said the corporation's CEO Bruce Aitken.

• Tuesday, July 22nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  FARC rejects peace talks and promises to fight on

  

  Two leaders from Colombian rebel group FARC said they will continue to use violence to achieve their aims. The statement by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia commanders defies calls from presidents in the region to disarm and give up the fight.

• Tuesday, July 22nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Massive investment in Magallanes region gas exploration

  

  Chile's government owned oil and gas company ENAP is planning to invest over 300 million US dollars in the next three years to develop natural gas deposits in Magallanes Region, in the extreme south of the country.

• Monday, July 21st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Uribe clears the ground for a possible third mandate

  

  Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has scrapped his plan to rerun the 2006 election in which he won re-election, the government announced, a move that could set the stage for him to seek a third term in 2010.