Latin America

• Monday, January 9th 2012 - 06:47 UTC

  Chile buries seven fire-fighters; strong suspicion of criminal intent in forest fires

  

  The home of a Mapuche Indian leader in Chile was destroyed in a suspicious blaze in an area ravaged by forest fires, which officials say may have been caused by radical indigenous activists.

• Sunday, January 8th 2012 - 05:36 UTC

  Uruguay and Argentina among the ten countries worldwide with highest inflation

  

  Inflation in Uruguay was not only far above target domestically but also figures among the ten highest in the world, and in Latam only behind Argentina and Venezuela

• Sunday, January 8th 2012 - 05:29 UTC

  Brazil celebrates having achieved 2011inflation target, but it’s highest since 2004

  

  Brazil's government just met its inflation target for 2011, which was a surprise victory forPresident Dilma Rousseff and for a central bank that struggled for most of the year with rising food and commodities prices. However it is the highest inflation since 2004.

• Sunday, January 8th 2012 - 05:27 UTC

  Jamaica loves the Queen but “it’s time to move on” and become a republic

  

  Jamaica's new Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has said she intends to make the island a republic, removing Queen Elizabeth as the head of state. In her inaugural address, Ms Simpson Miller said the time had come for Jamaica to break with the British monarchy and have its own president.

• Sunday, January 8th 2012 - 05:25 UTC

  India targets 50bn dollars trade with Latam by 2014; Latam assessing ‘China euphoria’

  

  Latin America trade with India could go up to 50 billion dollars by 2014 on the back of projected high economic growth in both the regions, said R. Viswanathan, India's ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

• Sunday, January 8th 2012 - 05:23 UTC

  IMF says Euro will survive 2012; global growth forecast lowered

  

  The Euro is likely to survive 2012 despite the debt crisis in the Euro currency zone, according to International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde.

• Sunday, January 8th 2012 - 05:22 UTC

  Chavez names Defence minister Army officer described by the US as a “drug kingpin”

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez named as Defence minister General Henry Rangel Silva, who the United States has described as a “drug kingpin” linked to cocaine smuggling from neighbouring Colombia.

• Sunday, January 8th 2012 - 05:20 UTC

  Two electronic companies increase investments in Tierra del Fuego

  

  Two companies involved in electronics announced investments of 450 million Argentine Pesos (over 100 million dollars) in Tierra del Fuego for the production of electrical appliances.

• Sunday, January 8th 2012 - 05:18 UTC

  Obama calls on US companies to ‘in-source’ jobs; unemployment falls to 8.5%

  

  President Barack Obama kicked off an effort to encourage US businesses to keep jobs at home instead of outsourcing them overseas, as he rolled out a new election-year theme aimed at courting middle-class voters.

• Sunday, January 8th 2012 - 05:12 UTC

  Chilean artist illustrator and storyteller of Disney’s Donald Duck dies

  

  Chilean artist and storyteller Victor Arriagada died last week following a long struggle with leukaemia. He leaves behind a legacy of characters, stories and artwork which will continue to thrill readers for decades to come.