Brazil has become the sixth-biggest economy in the world, the country's finance minister announced. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and other economic forecasters also said that Brazil had now overtaken the UK.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Venezuela's Hugo Chávez will return home next week from Cuba where he is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumour.
Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, who on Wednesday topped the Forbes rich list for a third consecutive year with a fortune of 69 billion dollars, invests widely as he seeks to expand his massive telecoms empire.
United States Air Force Commander, General Douglas Fraser, in charge of the US Southern Command, stated before Congress that the Department of Defence is “watchful for potential geopolitical turbulence that could impact US citizens,” and highlighted the uncertainties of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez health and economic instability.
Large capital inflows to Latin America have resumed in recent months, which may result in a threat of overheating and asset price bubbles if they continue, according to a Capital Economics report.
The apparent change in Argentine policy towards the Falkland Islands by offering three direct flights to the Islands from Buenos Aires instead of cutting the air link with Chile, as had been anticipated, was described by Chilean diplomatic sources as “an attempt to collect international support and look less mean”.
Uruguay's economy is poised to expand 4% to 4.5% this year, a moderate slowdown from the growth of just over 6% seen in 2011, the president of the central bank Mario Bergara told reporters during an IMF conference held in Punta del Este.
President Hugo Chavez said he will need radiation treatment for cancer in the run-up to Venezuela's October presidential poll though he insisted there was no metastasis after the removal of another tumour.
The Union of South American Nations, Unasur presidents have been invited by Argentina to a ceremony in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, next 2 April when the official beginning of the Malvinas war three decades ago.
Surgeons completely removed a lesion from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's pelvis and the populist leader is in good physical condition after the operation in Cuba, Venezuela's vice president said on Tuesday.