Latin America

• Monday, May 14th 2012 - 05:21 UTC

  HSBC reports sale of affiliates in four countries to GNB Colombia for US 400m

  

  HSBC reported the sale of its affiliates in Uruguay, Colombia, Peru and Paraguay to the Colombian group Gilinski, an operation involving 400 million dollars, of which 80 million for the Montevideo assets.

• Monday, May 14th 2012 - 05:15 UTC

  Former Brazilian president wins Human Sciences Prize for lifetime achievement

  

  Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a Brazilian scholar turned president, has won the $1 million John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Human Sciences, the United States Library of Congress plans to announce Monday.

• Monday, May 14th 2012 - 04:34 UTC

  Chavez one man show to convince followers his doing fine

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez strode, sang and gave a rousing speech on Friday in a careful show of vigour after his latest cancer treatment in Cuba fanned rumours he was dying five months before an election.

• Monday, May 14th 2012 - 04:20 UTC

  Unasur defence spending one of the lowest in the world: average 0.91% of GDP

  

  Union of South American Nations (Unasur) member states released a report detailing each country’s military spending. Ministers and diplomats from the twelve nation regional bloc also pledged further military integration, proposing the creation of a Citizen Security Council.

• Monday, May 14th 2012 - 03:49 UTC

  Latam and Asia-Pacific plan closer; bilateral trade expanding 20% annually

  

  Fast-growing trade and investment between the Asia-Pacific area and Latin America and the Caribbean have transformed the two regions into powerful motors for the world economy, with two-way trade hitting 442 billion dollars last year. The time is right to deepen cooperation so as to ensure future growth and prosperity, according to a new study.

• Sunday, May 13th 2012 - 09:10 UTC

  Argentina doesn’t want to start a trade war

  

  By Jorge Argüello (*) - What defines a protectionist country nowadays? Is it when a developing country takes precautions against a flood of products with plummeting prices due to an international crisis? Or, is it when an export powerhouse delivers large subsidies exclusively for domestic production? In a world economy like today’s can protectionism be measured solely by Customs measures or those targeting imports?

• Sunday, May 13th 2012 - 09:05 UTC

  Torres del Paine reforestation: 200.000 trees to be planted annually during five years

  

  The reforestation of Chilean Patagonia world famous Torres del Paine National Park started this week when 50 volunteers arrived to plant the first round of trees after fires devastated the park in January.

• Saturday, May 12th 2012 - 09:14 UTC

  Sightings of blue whales in the south of Chile has grown significantly

  

  The number of blue whales sighted in the south of Chile increased significantly this austral summer as the cetacean approached the area to feed on the rich waters of the south Pacific according to a scientific report from the Austral University Blue Whale Centre released this week.

• Friday, May 11th 2012 - 23:46 UTC

  President Mujica is welcome at the White House whenever he wishes, says US ambassador

  

  United States ambassador Julissa Reynoso said Uruguayan president Jose Mujica is welcome to the White House whenever he wishes, and revealed that Uruguay is in the short list of countries that soon could be exempted from requiring a visa to travel to the US.

• Friday, May 11th 2012 - 23:42 UTC

  Falklands’ students spend time in Punta Arenas as part of an exchange program

  

  Students from the Falkland Islands Community School (FICS) have returned from a two week exchange visit to Punta Arenas in Chile, reports the latest edition from the Penguin News.