Latin America

• Wednesday, December 7th 2011 - 06:00 UTC

  Colombia takes to the streets to demand “Freedom and NO more FARC”

  

  Thousands of Colombians on Tuesday joined demonstrations demanding that the country's oldest guerrilla group, the FARC, free all its hostages, ten days after rebels murdered four men who had been held for more than a decade.The FARC responded with a promise, posted on its webpage, to release hostages.

• Tuesday, December 6th 2011 - 23:50 UTC

  “It’s a good joke…I’m hoping for a tie for Christmas” from Benetton

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez laughed off a Benetton advertisement that showed him kissing his ideological adversary and US counterpart Barack Obama, admitting that it was a “good joke.”

• Tuesday, December 6th 2011 - 19:04 UTC

  Chilean education system tends to “exclusion and discrimination” says UNESCO

  

  The Chilean education system promotes inequality and exclusion according to a report from UNESCO regional office released in Santiago, based on comparing education legislation from Argentina, Uruguay and Finland.

• Tuesday, December 6th 2011 - 18:51 UTC

  Forum to promote trade and investment relations Latam-India

  

  The potential of India for Latinamerican exports and investment opportunities was underscored during the presentation of a report “India and Latin America and the Caribbean, opportunities and challenges in trade and investment relations” sponsored by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC.

• Tuesday, December 6th 2011 - 18:21 UTC

  Repsol-YPF extracts almost 10% of Ecuador’s oil production

  

  Repsol-YPF has raised its output in Ecuador to 45.000 bpd thanks to two new wells in the Amazon region, although the Spanish oil major still is forecasting a steady decline in production in the coming years, company executives said.

• Tuesday, December 6th 2011 - 04:22 UTC

  Latam forecasted to expand 4.4% this year and 3.5% in 2012

  

  The Executive Secretary from the UN Economic Commission for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, ECLAC, Alicia Barcena said that the European crisis is beginning to be felt but nevertheless growth in the region will continue this year and in the coming twelve months at levels above 3.5%.

• Tuesday, December 6th 2011 - 04:19 UTC

  Vietnamese teaching Cubans how to grow rice efficiently

  

  Cuba plans to enlarge to 40,000 hectares a Vietnamese-aided test farm to expand production of rice, official media said on Monday.

• Monday, December 5th 2011 - 22:20 UTC

  Chilean carrier launches fourth affiliate Lan Colombia

  

  LAN Airlines, Chile’s flag carrier made the official launching of its fourth affiliate under the name of Lan Colombia, becoming the second largest airline in the country with 22 domestic destinations, including Cartagena, Cali and Medellín.

• Monday, December 5th 2011 - 20:19 UTC

  Humala sends troops to end protests against a 4.8bn dollars gold mine project

  

  Security forces fanned out across Peru's Cajamarca region on Monday to enforce emergency measures decreed by President Ollanta Humala to put an end to 11 days of protests against a 4.8 billion dollars gold mine project.

• Monday, December 5th 2011 - 06:54 UTC

  The 33-nation CELAC grants full support to Argentina in the Falklands’ dispute

  

  The members of the newly former CELAC (Community of Latinamerican and Caribbean States) unanimously approved on Saturday a document in support of Argentina’s claim over the Falklands/Malvinas and anticipated they would request the intervention of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.