Latin America

• Thursday, December 12th 2013 - 06:47 UTC

  Brazil expects a 90 million tons soybean crop, making it the world's top producer

  

  Brazil's government food supply agency Conab forecast record soybean output of 90.03 million tons, near the top of its previous forecast of 87.9 million to 90.2 million tons, as farmers finish planting new fields.

• Thursday, December 12th 2013 - 06:39 UTC

  London conference on Pacific Alliance; UK granted observer status

  

  Over 150 representatives of British companies and businesses attended the conference on the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico) organized by the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Financial Times. The Alliance is considered one of the newest and most promising political and economic blocks is emerging from Latin America.

• Thursday, December 12th 2013 - 06:33 UTC

  Latam forecasted to expand 3.2% in 2014 after a 2.6% this year, says Eclac

  

  The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean will expand by 3.2% in 2014, which is higher than the 2.6% for 2013, according to the latest report from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, launched on Wednesday in Santiago, Chile.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 22:53 UTC

  First obstacle for Uruguay's marijuana bill: it violates international convention on drug control

  

  Uruguay's decision to legalize marijuana is in violation of an international convention on drug control, the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board, INCB, which monitors government compliance with such treaties said on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 04:31 UTC

  Uruguay becomes first country to oversee production and sale of marijuana

  

  Uruguay's Senate has approved ground-breaking legislation legalizing marijuana, becoming the first nation in the world to oversee the production and sale of the drug. After a marathon debate, the 16 senators from the ruling coalition out of 29 lawmakers voted Tuesday in favor of the legislation championed by President Jose Mujica, who must now sign it into law.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 04:09 UTC

  Alejandro Betts, technical advisor of Tierra del Fuego Malvinas Observatory

  

  The Tierra del Fuego Malvinas Question Provincial Observatory Advisory Council held its last meeting of the year at the Malvinas Foundation building and among other issues named former Falklands Islander Alejandro Betts as Technical Advisor to the Observatory.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 04:01 UTC

  Cristina Fernandez blasts police: “I don't believe in coincidence nor in contagious events”

  

  Marking the 30th anniversary of the return of democracy to Argentina, President Cristina Fernández referred to the wave of lootings across the country and police force protests, and stated that “they were no coincidence”, during a rally from the Government House in Buenos Aires on Tuesday evening.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 00:06 UTC

  Beijing virtually 'takes over' the Caribbean island of Dominica

  

  Dominica and China have signed a new 300 million dollars cooperation agreement that includes the construction of a hotel, construction of an international airport and building a new hospital. The sum involved is equivalent to a third of the small Caribbean island GDP, which could mean Beijing virtually is 'purchasing' the small territory.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 00:04 UTC

  Colombia finds new reserves; targets 1.3m bbl production by 2020

  

  Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol and Canada's Talisman Energy Inc said on Monday they had discovered an estimated 1.3 billion barrels of oil in southeastern Colombia and that about a tenth of it was likely to be recoverable. The announcement was the second in a week for Ecopetrol and an important addition to the diminishing reserves the country has been urgently trying to boost. The Andean nation also expects to eventually exploit shale oil and gas.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 00:02 UTC

  Santos says a 'cease fire' only when FARC signs the peace agreement

  

  Colombia's main leftist guerrilla group, the FARC, said today it would implement a 30-day ceasefire from December 15 while the government said it would keep pursuing the rebels after they attacked a police station killing eight.