Latin America

• Tuesday, October 23rd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Ecuador returns to OPEC in search of experience and advice

  

  Ecuadorian Energy Minister Galo Chiriboga said on Tuesday the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had accepted Ecuador back as an active member following fifteen years of absence.

• Monday, October 22nd 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Whale sanctuary call in advance of 2008 IWC Congress

  

  Representatives from 15 Latin American non-governmental organizations specializing in cetacean research called last week upon Chile's parliament to protect whales against commercial and scientific hunting by creating a Whale Sanctuary in Chilean waters.

• Sunday, October 21st 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Climate change helps spider specimen move to Magallanes region

  

  Climate change consequences in the entomologic field have reached Magallanes Region in the far south of Chile and local authorities are cautioning about the appearance of a small spider identified as the “false black widow”, which can be lethal for people suffering different allergies.

• Sunday, October 21st 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  “Patagonia without dams” activists gather momentum

  

  One week after Chile's top environmentalists gathered in Santiago for the launch of a new book called “Patagonia Sin Represas” (Patagonia Without Dams), activists from Patagonia held a ground-level version of the event in Coyhaique, Region XI

• Saturday, October 20th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Regional autonomy dispute in Bolivia blocks busiest airport

  

  Thousands of Bolivians have taken control of the country's busiest airport as part of an ongoing power struggle between President Evo Morales and authorities in the region of Santa Cruz.

• Friday, October 19th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile responds to UK Antarctic seabed claim presentation

  

  Chile's Foreign Ministry responded cautiously Thursday evening to reported plans by the British government to claim vast areas of sea territory around Antarctica. The UK apparently will base its claim on the UN's Law of the Sea Convention in a submission to the organization's commission on the limits of the continental shelf.

• Friday, October 19th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Mexican Congress approves landing fee for cruise visitors

  Mexico will charge a 5 US dollar per capita landing fee to all foreign visitors calling in Mexican ports as of next year if President Felipe Calderon signs the bill which was approved Thursday by Congress.

• Friday, October 19th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Ozone layer hole perimeter closing in on Punta Arenas

  Since Wednesday this week Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile has been exposed to higher levels of ultra violet radiation because the perimeter of the ozone layer hole has moved over the region.

• Friday, October 19th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile's reply to UK Antarctic seabed claims was “weak”

  

  A leading Chilean member of Congress from the ruling coalition, who also sits in the Defence and Foreign Affairs committees, said that the Chilean government's reply to Britain's claims over the Antarctic seabed had been “weak”.

• Thursday, October 18th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Increased Bolivian gas exports to Argentina in doubt

  

  Bolivia may delay ramping up natural gas exports to Argentina by a year while it increases production to meet its contractual commitments, the country's energy minister announced this week.