
More than 20 countries confirmed that representatives from their governments will attend the inauguration of Chilean president-elect Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday, Chilean Senate leader Jorge Pizarro announced. Leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, Suriname and El Salvador have confirmed their presence.

Colombians went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new Congress, in a vote seen as a referendum on peace talks with the FARC guerrillas and an anticipation for May's presidential election.

A team of archaeologists in Argentina has pinpointed the location of the 1765 shipwreck of a Spanish merchant ship off the southern coast, officials said over the weekend. It is the oldest wrecked ship of twelve that were identified along 200 kilometers of the windswept Tierra del Fuego coast.

British yachtsman who was trying to sail by himself non-stop around the world has been rescued by Chile’s navy and is currently in Punta Arenas. The 54-year-old Andrew Halcrow was forced to give up his second attempt to circumnavigate the globe after the mast on his yacht broke in a storm west of Cape Horn.

US Vice President Joe Biden will hold talks with Latin American leaders about protest-hit Venezuela during his trip to Chile from Sunday for the inauguration of President Michelle Bachelet scheduled for Tuesday and which is expected to convene regional leaders.

Brazil recorded its largest February trade deficit ever, deepening a trade gap this year that underscores the lack of competitiveness from local industry. The deficit reached 2.125 billion dollars the trade ministry announced.

Latin American foreign ministers and most probably presidents, will meet next week to discuss the unrest in Venezuela that has left at least 21 dead and hundreds injured and arrested following weeks of protests and clashes, according to the Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa.

The Organization of American States (OAS) Permanent Council approved late Friday night after a whole day of discussions and by an ample majority, a statement in support of peace and an end to violence in Venezuela, where street protests and clashes have left at least 22 dead and hundreds injured and arrested.

Brazil's private sector concerned with harsh times ahead, particularly with exports to Argentina and Venezuela are proposing that Mercosur trade should be done with local currencies leaving aside the US dollar. The initiative was launched by the president of the Brazil-Argentina Commerce Chamber.

The dynamic imbalance in trade negotiations is clearly evident in the case of trade negotiations of Canada and the US with the European Union, and what happens with EU/Mercosur trade talks that have been going for seventeen years, with no clear results yet, according to OAS Secretary General Miguel Insulza.