Latin America

• Thursday, March 19th 2015 - 08:27 UTC

  Belize representative elected OAS Assistant Secretary General

  

  The General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) elected on Wednesday the Permanent Representative of Belize, Ambassador Nestor Mendez, as the next Assistant Secretary General of the hemispheric institution.

• Thursday, March 19th 2015 - 07:26 UTC

  Uruguay's Economy minister warns about Mercosur and Brazilian situation

  

  Uruguay's Economy minister Danilo Astori warned about the new regional and international context, not so favorable to his country's interests as in recent years, and underlined that Mercosur is going through one of its worst moments since foundation in 1991.

• Wednesday, March 18th 2015 - 08:28 UTC

  Rousseff pledges talks with critics and admits government needs to show humility

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff pledged to hold talks with her growing number of critics and said her embattled government needed to show humility, after the Sunday massive protests erupted across the country.

• Tuesday, March 17th 2015 - 07:07 UTC

  Mexican star journalist sacked for revealing origin of First Lady’s mansion

  

  An influential Mexican broadcast journalist whose report about the first lady's mansion caused a scandal was sacked on Sunday, sparking anger among supporters who called her firing an affront to freedom of speech. Carmen Aristegui had been publicly feuding with her employer, MVS Radio, in recent days after two of her investigative reporters were fired by the company.

• Monday, March 16th 2015 - 10:16 UTC

  EU also interested in close relations with Cuba; top European official expected in Havana

  

  European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has announced she will visit Cuba later this month. Ms Mogherini said Cuba was facing a very interesting period and the EU wanted to build on the momentum to “take the relationship forward”.

• Wednesday, March 11th 2015 - 06:32 UTC

  Latam's low indebtedness level opens the way for anti-cyclical fiscal policies to spur economies, says ECLAC

  

  Latin America's public debt decreased in the last 25 years, according to a report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). External public debt fell from 70% to 16% of the region’s GDP highlighted the fiscal analysis of the region, rising to near 40% when domestic public debt is added to calculations.

• Wednesday, March 11th 2015 - 05:23 UTC

  Bolivia names first woman army General; daughter of the officer who captured Che Guevara

  

  Bolivia has named its first woman army general, the daughter of the military commander who led the final operation against Che Guevara, the state news agency said Monday.

• Tuesday, March 10th 2015 - 06:56 UTC

  Renewal of car quotas with Mexico reveals shortcomings of Brazilian industry

  

  Brazil and Mexico announced the renewal of vehicle quotas for four years, delaying the implementation of a free-trade agreement between the two countries. Under the new agreement, Brazil and Mexico will permit $1.56 billion of duty-free vehicle imports for the first year of the agreement. That amount will rise 3% each year until the agreement expires, in 2019, when they’ll return to a free-trade regime.

• Tuesday, March 10th 2015 - 06:46 UTC

  ECLAC estimates 28% of Latin America's population live in poverty

  

  Poverty affected 28% of Latin America’s population in 2014, revealing that its decline has stalled at around that level since 2012, while indigence rose to 12.0% from 11.3% during the same two-year period in an overall context of economic deceleration, according to the projections from a study released by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile.

• Monday, March 9th 2015 - 07:59 UTC

  Peru to withdraw ambassador from Chile because of alleged military espionage

  

  Peru said it was withdrawing its ambassador from Chile, amid an intensifying diplomatic spat that was sparked by accusations of military espionage. The Peruvian government is prosecuting two non-commissioned officers in its navy and investigating a third for allegedly spying for neighboring Chile.