
Representatives from indigenous communities from across Latin America will join international experts in Bariloche, in a bid to articulate their concerns over threats to their ancestral lands.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, after nationalizing oil, electricity and telecommunications this year, said private schools that fail to teach a ''socialist'' curriculum will be taken over by the state.

Several Chilean cities have offered to take in as many as 100 Palestinian refugees that are currently living in refugee camps along the Iraqi border. These include the cities of La Calera and San Felipe in Region V, and Ñuñoa in the Metropolitan Region.

Nearly 15% of Chile's work force earns a salary that is less than the legal minimum wage, according to the latest Survey of National Socioeconomic Composition (CASEN).

Argentina's president Nestor Kirchner together with the presidents of Colombia Alvaro Uribe and Mexico's Felipe Calderon rank as the top of the list of Latinamerican leaders in performance support according to Consulta Mitofsky a respected Mexican public opinion consultant.

Chile is slated to become the first country in Latin America to reach a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over 10.000 US dollars per capita, according to a recent report by Columbia University's Economist Intelligence Unit.

Bolivia confirmed this week it will require visas for Unite States tourists beginning December 1, following through on a pledge to treat visiting US citizens much like they treat Bolivians entering the United States.

One police officer was killed and 41 people injured in Chile's capital Santiago when hundreds of protesters battled with riot police through the night on the anniversary of the September 11, 1973 military coup. The Chilean government reported on Wednesday that 216 people were arrested.

Scientists from the Center of Scientific Studies of Valdivia (CECS) said this week that Chile's glaciers are melting at twice the speed observed just ten years ago. The scientists, who recently participated in a specially called international forum on glaciers, also warned that this trend could have devastating ramifications due to current plans to construct hydroelectric dams around Chile.

Bolivia announced this week foreign energy corporations have promised to invest more than 580 million US dollars in 2007, about three times more than last year. The announcement comes a month after President Evo Morales threatened the industry with ignoring contracts if they were not committed to investing in Bolivia.