Latin America

• Friday, May 31st 2013 - 01:28 UTC

  Call for urgent total ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship in the Americas

  

  On World No Tobacco Day, May 31, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is calling on countries throughout the Americas to ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Such bans are one of the most effective ways to reduce consumption of tobacco, which kills some 1 million people every year in this hemisphere.

• Thursday, May 30th 2013 - 02:29 UTC

  Insulza announced he will complete his term mandate as OAS head.

  

  The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, plans to finish his term as head of the organisation. In an interview with El Pais (Madrid), the Chilean socialist political veteran has said that he still has two more years as head of the OAS thus quelling rumours about his resignation.

• Thursday, May 30th 2013 - 00:10 UTC

  President Mujica to meet Pope Francis

  

  On Saturday June 1st the President of Uruguay, José Mujica, will meet Pope Francis. Mujica has been quoted as saying he does not believe in the Catholic Church but he “admires” it and that he hopes to open avenues of cooperation to advance on social issues in his country.

• Wednesday, May 29th 2013 - 23:00 UTC

  Argentina: The volcano has the last word

  

  With the imminent eruption of Copahue volcano, the governor of Neuquén, Jorge Sapag, said that, “the volcano will have the last word”, and has asked to wait 72 hours, as the specialists recommended, not to give rise to false expectations amongst the evacuees.

• Wednesday, May 29th 2013 - 20:55 UTC

  Puerto Rican Lawyer speaks at the UN Decolonisation Committee seminar

  

  At a UN Decolonisation Committee seminar, Wilma Reveron, a Puerto Rican lawyer said that the U.S. has made it clear that they do not intend to allow a true exercise of self-determination in Puerto Rico.

• Wednesday, May 29th 2013 - 20:37 UTC

  Copahue volcano eruption imminent

  

  After the Copahue volcano on the Neuquén provincial Andean border with Chile began spewing smoke due to an increase in seismic activity, a red alert was issued by Chilean authorities ordering the full evacuation of an estimated 3,000 people.

• Tuesday, May 28th 2013 - 07:01 UTC

  Biden in Colombia praises peace talks and success of bilateral trade agreement

  

  In his first visit to Colombia in more than a decade, US Vice President Joe Biden said on Monday that he is pleased security concerns can now take a back seat to trade and economic issues in talks with Washington’s long-time ally. Biden also praised President Juan Manuel Santos for helping lead Latin America toward a “middle class, democratic and secure” future.

• Tuesday, May 28th 2013 - 06:38 UTC

  Lawmakers accuse Cristina Fernandez before a federal court of falsifying stats

  

  Several Argentine lawmakers from opposition parties accused President Cristina Fernandez and Domestic Trade minister Guillermo Moreno of allegedly ‘falsifying” the figures published by the government’s official stats office Indec.

• Tuesday, May 28th 2013 - 06:27 UTC

  Further drop in Latam average regional urban unemployment, says UN agency

  

  The average regional urban unemployment rate could drop by up to 0.2 percentage points to stand between 6.4% and 6.2% in 2013, the lowest rate in recent decades, according to a new report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

• Tuesday, May 28th 2013 - 06:00 UTC

  Fearing Andes volcano eruption, Chile and Argentina order mandatory evacuation

  

  Chilean and Argentine authorities declared a red alert and ordered the mandatory evacuation of a 25-km radius around the active Copahue volcano, which straddles the border between the two Andean nations.