Latin America

• Tuesday, February 12th 2013 - 18:00 UTC

  Punta Arenas cruise business picking up; 62.000 visitors expected this season

  

  The cruise business has been picking up for the last three seasons and so far including January an estimated 31.000 visitors landed in Punta Arenas, extreme south of Chile, which represents a 7% increase over the previous season and 10% for international cruises, said the head of the Austral Port Authority, Ignacio Covacevich.

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 22:10 UTC

  Quick rescue operation for ‘Carnival Triumph’ adrift in the Gulf of Mexico

  

  Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico with more than 4,200 passengers and crew will be towed to port after a weekend engine fire left it dead in the water, a cruise line official announced. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Vigorous arrived early Monday to aid the stranded ship. The first of two tugboats is expected on the scene by midday, said Greg Magee, commander of the Vigorous.

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 22:08 UTC

  FAO January food price index shows oil and fats up, cereals down, dairy and beef unchanged

  

  FAO Food Price Index held steady at 210 points in January 2013 after three straight months of decline. Increases in oil and fats prices offset lower cereals and sugar quotations while dairy and meat values remained substantially unchanged. The pause in the Index's decline tallies with a significant upward revision in FAO latest forecast for 2012 world cereal production. This is now estimated at 2.302 million tonnes - 20 million tonnes up on December's forecast.

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 21:21 UTC

  OAS celebrates 50 years of ‘electoral observance’ which makes to democracy foundations

  

  Electoral observance “serves to build the foundations of Latin American democracy” said Organization of American States, OAS, Secretary General Jose Miguel Inuslza during opening remarks at a Roundtable entitled “International Election Observation: Progress and Challenges,” held at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC.

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 16:13 UTC

  Next Pope could be Latinamerican, admit senior Vatican officials

  

  With Pope Benedict's stunning announcement that he will resign end of the month, the time may be coming for the Roman Catholic Church to elect its first non-European leader and it could be a Latin American. The region already represents 42% of the world's 1.2 billion-strong Catholic population, the largest single block in the Church, compared to 25% in its European heartland and is has several outstanding candidates, according to Church sources.

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 02:45 UTC

  Uruguay has interests in Falklands, beyond the UK/Argentina territorial dispute

  

  Uruguayan opposition lawmakers, as from the rest of the continent will be travelling to the Falklands as observers of the referendum scheduled for next March 10/11 “to see the legitimacy of the process and results” but also because Uruguay has interests that go beyond the territorial dispute between Argentina and the UK.

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 00:56 UTC

  Brazil January inflation spike triggers concern for the government and investors

  

  Brazilian inflation in January climbed to 0.86%, the highest for the month in the last ten years, according to the country’s stats office, IBGE. Inflation in December was 0.79%, ending the twelve months of last year at 5.82% which was in the target range with a ceiling of 6.5%.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 09:32 UTC

  Venezuela devalues currency 32% to help cut 11% of GDP fiscal gap

  

  Venezuela devalued its currency for the fifth time in nine years as ailing President Hugo Chavez seeks to narrow a widening fiscal gap and reduce a shortage of dollars in the economy. The new exchange rate falls by 32% to 6.3 Bolivar per dollar starting Feb. 13, Finance Minister Jorge Giordani told reporters in Caracas.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 09:23 UTC

  Ecuador presidential election turning into a one man race

  

  Populist Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has maintained a huge lead over his nearest opposition rival in the run-up to the Feb. 17 elections, recent polls show. Correa's popularity has remained above 50% throughout his six years in office, buoyed by his personal charisma as well as his government's heavy spending on hospitals, roads and schools.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 09:16 UTC

  India signs ambitious mining agreement with Uruguay

  

  India has shown great interest in mining iron ore, granite, gold and diamond in Uruguay and has entered into a deal for exploring and encouraging investment opportunities in the mining sector, according to Indian sources visiting Uruguay.