Latin America

• Thursday, October 27th 2016 - 04:13 UTC

  Chinese company moves to become a “global tourism business” as its citizens flock to travel overseas

  

  Chinese Conglomerate HNA said it paid US$6.5bn for the stake previously owned by Hilton's biggest shareholder Blackstone. Chinese companies have increasingly been investing in tourism-related businesses overseas as more Chinese citizens travel abroad.

• Thursday, October 27th 2016 - 01:23 UTC

  Tierra del Fuego PC assembly industry at risk if import tariffs (35%) are lowered

  

  A new challenge for Tierra del Fuego province and its industrial promotion scheme: the Argentina government is planning to eliminate all tariffs on the import of computers and components beginning 2017, which is estimated could cost anywhere from 4.000 to 12.000 jobs.

• Monday, October 24th 2016 - 08:55 UTC

  Uruguay first league match suspended following shootings among hooligan gangs

  

  Uruguay figures among the ten best national teams in the world according to the FIFA rating and has players in some of the top European teams, but back home things are quite different: a Sunday first league match was suspended at half time following shootings among hooligan gangs in one of the stadium's toilets, according to the first official reports.

• Sunday, October 23rd 2016 - 06:50 UTC

  Rapprochement with Cuba: Four decades ago Jimmy Carter tried to come to terms with Havana

  

  Four decades ago, U.S. ex president James Carter tried to do in secret what Barack Obama finally achieved publicly and in a less adverse context: to start a process to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba. In a long article, the Cuban newspaper Granma reveals that Carter (1976/1980) had been the only US president who set in writing his intention to promote dialogue between Washington and Havana.

• Saturday, October 22nd 2016 - 10:31 UTC

  Uruguay expects a no-growth cruise season; Buenos Aires port rates discourage companies

  

  Uruguay is expecting some 150 cruise calls this coming season 2016/17 which begins next month and represents some 300.000 visitors, according to Tourism minister Liliam Kechichian who nevertheless admitted that growth prospects are somehow behind schedule because of the high costs of reaching and operating in the port of Buenos Aires.

• Saturday, October 22nd 2016 - 09:20 UTC

  Diphtheria outbreak in Venezuela; CIA “germ warfare” claims the Chavista government

  

  Diphtheria, an extremely contagious disease that has been mostly eradicated worldwide through vaccination, has reappeared in Venezuela and so far has killed four children with another twenty cases reported in just one month. The reappearance of diphtheria, a disease not seen in Venezuela in more than 20 years, is yet the worst symptom of the country's collapsed health system.

• Tuesday, October 18th 2016 - 08:31 UTC

  WikiLeaks claims Assange's internet was shut down; possible controversy over Hillary's speeches

  

  Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said on Monday that its founder Julian Assange's internet was shut down by the government of Ecuador, deflecting blame from the U.S. or British governments which have sparred with Assange for releasing sensitive material.

• Tuesday, October 18th 2016 - 07:32 UTC

  Spain asks Latin American countries support for Gibraltar's sovereignty claim

  

  Spain has, for the first time ever, asked the annual Iberian-Latin American Summit for its support on the Gibraltar sovereignty question. It has asked the Colombian Government, as the organizers of the 28/29 October event to circulate the text for the summit to adopt a resolution for the resumption of sovereignty talks over Gibraltar.

• Monday, October 17th 2016 - 09:57 UTC

  “Spoiler” Uribe replies to the NYT editorial: “an offence to the millions of Colombians who voted NO”

  

  Colombia's Democratic Center party founded by former president Alvaro Uribe criticized on Sunday The New York Times for a recent editorial accusing the ex head of government of “blocking” the peace process in the country and calling on him to act as “a true statesman”. The party said that the NYT editorial constitutes “an offence to the millions of Colombians” who voted against the terms of the peace accord between the government and the main guerrilla group, FARC.

• Saturday, October 15th 2016 - 10:48 UTC

  Russia Is Vital to Protecting Antarctica’s Ross Sea

  

  By José María Figueres (*) - The key to protecting Antarctica’s Ross Sea may well lie with Russia. On Monday the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, comprising 24 nations and the European Union, will discuss, once again, the creation of a large, marine protected area in the Southern Ocean.