Latin America

• Monday, December 3rd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Fidel Castro readies to play the role of elder statesman

  

  Cuban leader Fidel Castro who is recovering from a long illness was nominated Sunday for a seat in the National Assembly opening the way for him to resume governing.

• Monday, December 3rd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Billiton insists in building the world's largest mining group

  

  Mining group Rio Tinto said the takeover approach of about 130 billion US dollars from BHP Billiton is “a couple of ballparks away” from its true value.

• Sunday, December 2nd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Venezuela votes on drastic political and property changes

  

  A referendum is being held in Venezuela today to decide on a constitutional amendments that would give President Hugo Chávez more power. One of the changes would make it possible for the president to be re-elected for an unlimited number of terms.

• Sunday, December 2nd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Spanish investors moderately optimistic about 2008 Latam

  

  Less growth, more inflation, tougher decisions than so far but nothing catastrophic is the 2008 forecast of Spanish businesses that have strong investments in Latinamerica and are planning to further expand their positions.

• Saturday, December 1st 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Human rights experts alarmed by Venezuelan reforms

  Three independent United Nations human rights experts on Friday voiced concern about planned constitutional reforms in Venezuela, saying the proposed changes could curb civil liberties and breach the South American country's international treaty commitments.

• Saturday, December 1st 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Desperate efforts from Chavez to ensure his victory

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Friday to interrupt oil exports to the United States if violence breaks out after a controversial and hotly contested weekend referendum.

• Friday, November 30th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  All eyes on Ecuador's reforms debate and squabbling neighbors

  

  Confronted Colombia and Venezuela presidents Alvaro Uribe and Hugo Chavez will have to act politely on Friday if they cross each other during the official inauguration of Ecuador's constitutional assembly seated in Ciudad Alfaro, 500 kilometers from the capital Quito.

• Friday, November 30th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Colombia “prudently” downplays incident with Venezuela

  

  Colombia hasn't received an official statement from Venezuela on diplomatic relations between the two nations and will act with “prudence and discretion”, Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo said on Thursday.

• Friday, November 30th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Brazil to construct Chile's largest coal fueled complex

  

  Brazil's giant EBX recently announced plans to build the largest coal-fired energy-producing complex in Chile, to be named Castilla, which will be located near the Region III city of Copiapó. Market sources indicate that the investment associated with this type of power plant would exceed 2 billion US dollars.

• Friday, November 30th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Sunken Explorer's fuel spill endangers mating penguins

  

  An estimated 2.500 penguins in Antarctica are endangered by an oil spill from the sunken cruise vessel Explorer, impeding access to their mating and nesting places. The oil spill is 1.500 meters long by 200, according to experts from the Chilean Antarctic Institute.