Latin America

• Thursday, October 13th 2011 - 05:50 UTC

  Obama celebrates contributions of Latinos to US culture and heritage

  

  United States President Barack Obama celebrated the contributions of Latinos to American culture and heritage Wednesday in an event that paid tribute to the US Hispanic leaders, scholars and soldiers, including those from Texas.

• Thursday, October 13th 2011 - 05:43 UTC

  Massive car crash in Chile involves 51 vehicles kills 5 and injures over 50

  

  In Chile a massive car crash involving 23 trucks, 17 smaller vehicles and 11 buses left at least five dead and many others injured Wednesday morning, local authorities report. The accident occurred just past 7 a.m. at the turnoff for Algarrobo on the eastbound side of Route 68, which connects coastal Valparaíso to Santiago.

• Thursday, October 13th 2011 - 05:40 UTC

  Chile ranks last for income and education in OECD report

  

  Chile was ranked last for income, education and the quality of environment, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD report on well-being released Oct. 12.

• Thursday, October 13th 2011 - 05:37 UTC

  US congress moves to block development loans to Argentina

  

  United States lawmakers are trying to block development loans to Argentina and seek out allies to pressure President Cristina Fernandez to settle with holders of defaulted debt in exchange for funding development banks.

• Wednesday, October 12th 2011 - 06:27 UTC

  S&P and Fitch downgrade main Spanish banks ratings on “dimmed” prospects

  

  Spanish banks including Banco Santander SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA had their ratings cut by Standard & Poor’s, which cited “dimming” growth prospects and “heightened” market turbulence.

• Wednesday, October 12th 2011 - 06:00 UTC

  Colombia supports Palestinian state, but insists negotiations with Israel are crucial

  

  Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas left Colombia empty-handed Tuesday after failing to secure support from President Juan Manuel Santos for his bid to gain state recognition at the United Nations.

• Wednesday, October 12th 2011 - 05:56 UTC

  Great moment for Latin America but “beware of complacency”

  

  Latin America is going through a “great moment” but can’t be complacent when the European Union and the US are facing major challenges, and the region must definitively address the large integration challenges, warned Enrique García, head of the Andean Promotion Corporation, CAF.

• Wednesday, October 12th 2011 - 05:54 UTC

  Mapuche Indians mourn the day Columbus set foot in the Americas

  

  More than then thousand people marched in the Chilean capital Santiago in support of the indigenous Mapuche people. The protest marked the 519th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, the start of the Spanish conquest.

• Tuesday, October 11th 2011 - 08:36 UTC

  Peruvian president purges the Police and promotes fresh generation in Armed Forces

  

  President Ollanta Humala has fired two-thirds of all generals in Peru's police force in an unprecedented purge to stamp out systemic corruption, the government said on Monday. In the Armed Forces there was also a renewal with the promotion of 48 officers.

• Tuesday, October 11th 2011 - 08:22 UTC

  Indigenous Bolivians retake protest march against Brazil financed reservation road

  

  Hundreds of indigenous people protesting the construction of a road in Bolivia's Amazon basin region are again marching toward the capital, La Paz, their leaders said.