Latin America

• Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 - 07:20 UTC

  Earthquake in Chile kills five; north of the country with no power or water

  

  A strong 8.2-magnitude earthquake has struck off the northwestern coast of Chile, killing at least five people and setting off a small tsunami that prompted evacuations along the country's Pacific coast. Chilean Interior minister Rodrigo Peñalillo confirmed that five people had died, “four are men and a woman in Iquique and Alto Hospicio, caused by heart attack and crushing”.

• Tuesday, April 1st 2014 - 04:06 UTC

  Bachelet sends corporate tax bill to Congress; first step for education reform

  

  President Michelle Bachelet sent Chile's Congress a bill on Monday that would raise corporate taxes to fund a sweeping overhaul of the country's education system. The proposed reform aims to raise 8.2 billion dollars to fund tuition-free public universities, a demand that fueled massive student protests under Bachelet's conservative predecessor Sebastian Piñera.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 23:20 UTC

  Brazil remembers the 50th anniversary of the coup that led to 21 years of military rule

  

  President Dilma Rousseff remembered on Monday, 31 March, those who died or disappeared fighting for the return of democracy in Brazil on the fifitieth anniversary of the miltiary coup of 1964, which lasted until 1985 and had full political support from the United States, at the time under president Lyndon Johnson.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 19:42 UTC

  Uruguay and Peru in line for a possible upgrading, according to Moody's

  

  Uruguay and Peru are the first Latin American countries in line for a possible credit rating hike by Moody's Investors Service, at a moment when sovereign upgrades are expected to become more scarce in the region, a senior analyst with the ratings firm said.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 19:28 UTC

  Mercosur expects to exchange tariff-reduction proposals with EU next June

  

  Mercosur expects to present a joint proposal regarding tariff reductions to the European Union during a meeting next June, according to Brazil's Minister of Development, Trade and Industry, Mauro Borges who apparently convinced a reluctant Argentina to join the group.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 19:25 UTC

  Brazil/Argentina agree on deal to promote bilateral trade by guaranteeing 'dollar liquidity'

  

  Brazil and Argentina signed a deal over the weekend that seeks to guarantee importers will have enough U.S. dollars to pay for exports, a move to increase trade between both nations that has been hit hard by a sharp depreciation of the Argentine peso.

• Monday, March 31st 2014 - 16:13 UTC

  Latam forecasted to grow 3% this year, but fiscal deterioration is serious

  

  Latin America and the Caribbean’s economy as a whole will grow by 3% this year and 3.3% in 2015 thanks to “improved economic conditions in the United States and Europe”, the Inter-American Development Bank said in a report released over the weekend.

• Saturday, March 29th 2014 - 09:22 UTC

  ‘Kelpers’, helping Argentine to understand the Falklands growing nation

  

  The reaction of the Argentine public to Clarin journalist and author Natasha Niebieskikwiat's recently launched book ‘Kelpers’ has been, “less aggressive,” than she expected Natasha told Penguin News.

• Saturday, March 29th 2014 - 06:17 UTC

  Support for Rousseff faltering, but still the strongest candidate for October's election

  

  Support for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has faltered ahead of October's presidential election, a poll showed Thursday, although she remains a favorite to win a second term.

• Saturday, March 29th 2014 - 06:11 UTC

  Brazil's 2,3% growth in 2013 came as a surprise, even for Minister Mantega

  

  Brazil's economy expanded 2.3% in 2013, compared with growth of 1% the previous year, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE, said this week. The country's GDP for 2013 was estimated at 4.84 trillion Reais (some 2.05 trillion dollars), the IBGE said.