Latin America

• Saturday, December 3rd 2016 - 09:27 UTC

  'Cuban' Maradona warns Macri might not make it past Christmas Day

  

  Argentine retired football player Diego Maradona, in Cuba to attend the funerals of his friend and former revolutionary leader Fidel Catro, hinted that should the people of his country choose to take to the streets, President Mauricio Macri might not be in office by Christmas.

• Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 09:59 UTC

  Chapecoense in denial Lamia was a bad choice, CONMEBOL not to blame for it either

  

  The airline “has all the requirements that Chapecoense sought for its international trips,” a spokesman for the Chapecoense football club in western Santa Catarina said Thursday. A British Aerospace 146 - RJ 85 of the Bolivian charter airline Lamia, carrying the club's team to play the first leg of the South American Cup final against Atletico Nacional, crashed Monday night on approach to Medellin's Jose Maria Cordova international airport, killing almost everybody onboard.

• Friday, December 2nd 2016 - 08:56 UTC

  Peruvian aquaculture expanding at an annual 20% rate

  

  Aquaculture activity grows at an annual average of more than 20% in Peru, ranking among the countries with the greatest increase of this activity in Latin America.“Our country is an important player in the supply of inputs for the world’s aquaculture industry, it is not foreign to the growth trends that this activity presents in the world. We changed from a production of 6,596 tons in the year 2000 to 115,271 tons in 2014,” said Vice Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Hector Soldi.

• Thursday, December 1st 2016 - 14:39 UTC

  An “ordinary” request: Correa asks all his ministers to hand in their letters of resignation

  

  Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has called for the resignation of all his ministers, “an ordinary practice” as the Executive is set to evaluate the state of things, the National Secretariat of Communication (Secom) said Wednesday.

• Thursday, December 1st 2016 - 14:13 UTC

  From dream to nightmare in seconds: Chapecoense fans cry their heroes

  

  Fans of Chapecoense, the Brazilian football club enjoying a fairy tale season until almost wiped out in a plane crash, wept outside the stadium on Tuesday. All year, the once struggling, impoverished club had delighted the people of Chapeco, a city of about 200,000 in Santa Catarina state. Now, only grief remains.

• Thursday, December 1st 2016 - 07:01 UTC

  “Out of fuel” - The Chapecoense jet could barely fly the distance

  

  As talks between pilot and control tower of the flight that crashed on approach to Medellin on Monday carrying the Brazilian football team Chapecoense became available and “we're out of fuel” can be heard easily, aviation experts agree that the British Aerospace 146 - RJ 85 has a maximum range of little more than 2900 kilometers, which is roughly the same distance between the airports of origin (Viru Viru in Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and destination (Jose Maria Cordova International in Medellin, Colombia).

• Wednesday, November 30th 2016 - 10:55 UTC

  Peruvian ex First Lady must face charges before taking job as FAO representative

  

  The United Nations has postponed the promotion of former Peruvian first lady Nadine Heredia to a key post in the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, in Geneva amid a money laundering investigation. The Judicial branch of Peru ordered Heredia to return to the country within 10 days after she left for Switzerland for several days to begin her role as the FAO's Geneva director.

• Tuesday, November 29th 2016 - 11:16 UTC

  Plane carrying Chapecoense football team crashes on approach to Medellin

  

  A Bolivian-registered airplane carrying the football players of Brazilian team Chapecoense crashed in a mountainous area as it approached Medellin's Jose Maria Cordova international airport around Monday midnight, local time. The team was due to play the first leg of the South American Cup (the second most important club continental competition) final against Libertadores Cup holders Atlético Nacional on Wednesday. Five survivors out of 81 people on board have been reported.

• Tuesday, November 29th 2016 - 09:47 UTC

  No music to mark American Airlines landing in Havana

  

  Passengers from Miami, wearing straw hats provided by American Airlines with the word “Cuba” on the back, were greeted with welcome signs in various languages, but no music as the first scheduled commercial flight from the US to Havana in more than 50 years landed Monday to the applause of passengers and a water-spraying salute from firetrucks.

• Monday, November 28th 2016 - 12:51 UTC

  Bolivia sells 14% more airplane tickets

  

  Passenger air traffic in Bolivia has increased from 1,859,456 to 2,121,437 between January and August, 2016, compared to the same part of 2015, the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) reported, which means a 14 % increase.