Latin America

• Monday, October 21st 2013 - 07:01 UTC

  Too many summits: Ibero-American countries decide to meet every other year

  

  In a poorly attended Ibero-American summit held during two days in Panama, the heads of state and government from the Americas, plus Spain and Portugal, decided that instead of holding annual meetings they would get together every other year, starting after the 2014 summit in Veracruz, Mexico.

• Monday, October 21st 2013 - 06:21 UTC

  Venezuela clamps down on 'currency tourism' with random checks at airports

  

  The 'dollar-scarce' Venezuelan government is trying to clamp down on what it calls “currency tourism” with random checks of passengers leaving the country. The officials at the country's main airports are not guards or police but bureaucrats at state currency board Cadivi investigating whether travelers' documents match their requests for hard-to-get dollars.

• Monday, October 21st 2013 - 06:16 UTC

  Argentine economy 12 month expansion in August was 4%

  

  Argentine economic activity grew 4% in August from the same month last year, the government said on Friday, growth that far exceeded market expectations.

• Monday, October 21st 2013 - 06:03 UTC

  Inspirator of Venezuelan Socialism anticipates Maduro won't make it to April 2014

  

  The man credited with pioneering the idea of 21st Century socialism, which was championed and put into application in Venezuela under Hugo Chávez, recently made a damning condemnation of current Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

• Monday, October 21st 2013 - 05:30 UTC

  Brazil confident Paraguay will be returning to Mercosur before the end of the year

  

  Brazil trusts Paraguay will fully return to Mercosur before the end of the year, said Brazil's Executive foreign policy advisor Marco Aurelio Garcia in a Sunday edition interview with the influential Folha de Sao Paulo.

• Monday, October 21st 2013 - 05:25 UTC

  Brazil will not return Bolivian Senator who is wanted by the government of President Morales

  

  Brazil will not return opposition Senator Roger Pinto to Bolivia, who last August fled the country with the help from Brazilian diplomats, said President Dilma Rousseff advisor on foreign affairs Marco Aurelio Garcia.

• Saturday, October 19th 2013 - 17:53 UTC

  In show of Latam unity Chile is elected to the UN Security Council

  

  The United Nations General Assembly elected this week Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia to serve as non-permanent members on the Security Council for two-year terms beginning on 1 January 2014. The five countries obtained the required two-thirds majority of those Member States present and voting in the 193-member Assembly.

• Saturday, October 19th 2013 - 17:28 UTC

  Chilean students warn presidential candidates education reform is pending

  

  In an anticipation of what is waiting for whoever wins next month’s presidential election in Chile, thousands of students again took to the streets to demand education reform as they have been doing for several years now.

• Saturday, October 19th 2013 - 15:40 UTC

  Fire ravages Brazil’s main sugar terminal paralyzing operations and boosting prices to a year high

  

  A fire in Santos ravaged Copersucar's sugar terminal in Brazil, paralyzing operations of the world's biggest sugar trader and putting 10 million tons of export capacity offline for six months or more.

• Saturday, October 19th 2013 - 15:23 UTC

  Argentine business leaders ‘positive’ about Cristina Fernandez re-re-election chances fading

  

  Leaders of the Argentine business sector find “positive” that possibilities of Cristina Fernández re-re-election are fading, said FIAT Argentina CEO Cristiano Ratazzi who also questioned the so-called Kirchner development-inclusion model.