Latin America

• Wednesday, August 27th 2014 - 06:24 UTC

  Former Colombian president becomes Unasur new secretary general

  

  Former Colombian president Ernesto Samper was confirmed as Unasur Secretary General following a consultation of the group's member countries presidents. The announcement had been delayed because a Union of South American Nations summit to be held in Montevideo this month was suspended.

• Wednesday, August 27th 2014 - 06:11 UTC

  Some 200 million people remain vulnerable in Latam despite lesser poverty

  

  More than 56 million people have been lifted out of poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). But despite the progress, it warned that some 200m people, or 37.8% of the population, remained vulnerable.

• Tuesday, August 26th 2014 - 07:10 UTC

  Ring of fire hits central Peru and the Napa Valley in California

  

  A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck central Peru late on Sunday, and no immediate reports have surfaced about significant damage or major injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey originally estimated the earthquake to be a magnitude 7 but has since downgraded it, according to The Weather Channel. The impact was also felt in northern Chile.

• Friday, August 22nd 2014 - 23:48 UTC

  Don't blame Columbus: TB in the Americas already was present...in seals

  

  The long-held idea that Europeans were the first to bring tuberculosis to the Americas when they arrived in the 15th Century has been thrown into doubt. Instead, a study suggests that the deadly disease was present in the area hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus made landfall.

• Wednesday, August 20th 2014 - 09:50 UTC

  Dilma admits many problems plague Brazil but refuses to talk about corruption in her party

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff acknowledged “many problems and challenges” still plague the country's woeful heath system but defended her record on the economy and education on a live 15-minute interview on the Globo television network's nightly news.

• Wednesday, August 20th 2014 - 00:15 UTC

  UN accepts extension of Uruguay's continental shelf to 350 miles; first in South America

  

  The United Nations accepted the proposition of the Uruguayan government to extend the Uruguayan territorial seabed from 200 to 350 miles. Uruguay thus becomes the first South American nation to receive the approval of the UN for such request.

• Monday, August 18th 2014 - 07:19 UTC

  US Panama Canal workers recall and celebrate the century old feat

  

  The 100th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal, hailed at the time as one of the world's great wonders, has inspired a celebration in central US state Florida to showcase the experience of the US canal workers behind the engineering feat.

• Monday, August 18th 2014 - 06:35 UTC

  Exodus: a million more Puerto Ricans on mainland US than in the island

  

  A new study has found that Puerto Rico has undergone such a dramatic population shift that there are now over a million more Puerto Ricans on the US mainland than on the US island territory. The Pew Research Center study showed that between 2010 and 2013, more people left Puerto Rico for mainland US than those who left in the 1980s or 1990s.

• Friday, August 15th 2014 - 07:13 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez will use anti-terrorism law against US company that closed its Argentine plant

  

  Argentina's government will use an anti-terrorism law for the first time to seek criminal charges against a U.S.-based international printing firm which closed its Argentine plant without warning, president Cristina Fernández said on Thursday. She linked the company to some of the hedge funds in litigation with Argentina over defaulted bonds.

• Friday, August 15th 2014 - 06:51 UTC

  Auction 21 August to settle (and possible payout) of Argentina's defaulted swaps

  

  The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) will hold an auction on August 21 to settle Argentina’s default swaps. The auction, run by Creditex and Markit, will determine the payout that holders of protection on Argentine debt (CDS) will receive as a result of the default on July 30.