Latin America

• Sunday, January 25th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Chavez, Uribe team up to face world slowdown

  The presidents of Colombia Alvaro Uribe and Venezuela Hugo Chavez pledged this weekend to invest 100 million US dollars each in a special fund in hopes of boosting cross-border trade during a meeting held in Cartagena, Colombia.

• Saturday, January 24th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Bolivia's Morales Nationalizes British Petroleum Unit

  

  Bolivian President Evo Morales on Friday nationalized BP subsidiary Chaco after no deal was reached in talks aimed at securing a majority stake for the state energy company.

• Friday, January 23rd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Fidel Castro writes about Obama, Cristina and his death

  

  Following five weeks of silence the Cuban leader Fidel Castro published on Thursday two letters or “reflections” in less than 24 hours where he addresses current issues as the new US president Barcak Obama, meeting Argentine president Cristina Kirchner and even talks about his health condition and death.

• Thursday, January 22nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile: Billiton defers copper expansion project, axes 2.000 jobs

  

  The world's largest diversified mining corporation, Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton announced on Wednesday 6.000 job cuts, 2.000 of which at operations in copper mines in Chile following the decision to defer expansion projects.

• Thursday, January 22nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  US Coast Guard conditions vessels arriving from Venezuela

  

  As of January 23 the United States Coast Guard is imposing conditions of entry on vessels arriving from Venezuela. The measures will be applied to “any type of vessels arriving from Venezuela”.

• Thursday, January 22nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Dengue emergency in Bolivia with 1.000 reported cases

  

  Bolivian officials have declared a health emergency after three deaths attributed to dengue hemorrhagic fever, the often-lethal form of a mosquito-borne disease that more than 1,000 Bolivians are thought to have contracted since November.

• Thursday, January 22nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Divided Bolivia expected to approve Morales constitution

  

  Bolivians are expected to approve a new constitution on Sunday that the first indigenous president of the country Evo Morales hopes will transform the life of millions of his fellow citizens by giving them more power.

• Wednesday, January 21st 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Chavez: “have no illusions” about new administration

  

  Venezuela's leader Hugo Chavez called Tuesday on his followers “not to have illusions” with the new US President Barack Obama and no matter who's in the White House “the Bolivarian revolution will continue to advance”.

• Wednesday, January 21st 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Cubans admit other priorities, willing to wait for changes

  

  The official newspaper from the ruling Communist party in Cuba, Gramma said on Tuesday that the moment has come to “make effective” the promises and hopes of change announced by President Barack Obama, although the world crisis and other factors could limit him.

• Tuesday, January 20th 2009 - 20:00 UTC

  Venezuela: “surplus” development funds or magic accounting?

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has announced the transfer of over 12 billion US dollars from “surplus” Central Bank international reserves to help finance government projects and keep the economy growing.