Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated Wednesday his twelfth anniversary in power saying he is ready to battle for six more years in elections next year. Chavez said in a televised speech that the battle has begun for his 2012 re-election.
Spain’s Cervantes Institute to promote Spanish language and culture is marking its 20th anniversary with more than 6,500 activities at the 77 centres is has opened in 44 countries and among this year’s plans is the inauguration of a centre in Gibraltar.
Venezuela holds 297 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, most of it in tar sands but sufficient to be ahead of Saudi Arabia considered by world experts the number one country in reserves.
The Republic of Suriname on Tuesday became the latest South American country to officially recognize a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, Palestinian Authority Foreign Affairs Minister Riad Al-Malki said.
Switzerland has moved to confiscate frozen assets linked to former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. The Swiss cabinet asked Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf to begin proceedings to seize around 6.2 million US dollars that has been frozen in Swiss bank accounts since 1986, with a view to returning the funds to the Haitian people.
A Mexican brewery has launched the first beer targeted to the gay community with a slight honey flavour and with plans to market the product in Mexico, Colombia and Japan among other interested countries.
President Raul Castro called on the Cuban government to eliminate waste and provide more efficient and improved quality services while keeping “feet and ears on the ground” to closely listen to Cubans concerns regarding the economic reforms recently put into practice.
Inter-region Latinamerican trade soared 24.6% to 133 billion US dollars during 2010 according to the latest report from ALADI (Latinamerican Integration Association) released Tuesday in Montevideo. This signals a significant recovery from the late 2008 financial crisis but still is short of that year’s record of 146 billion USD.
Mina Invierno, a major coal mine project to be located in Chilean Patagonia, has sparked new controversy in the Magallanes Region. The coal mine will be located on Isla Riesco, Chile’s fourth biggest island, just 80 miles from the region’s capital of Punta Arenas.
New rules in Chile have shifted ownership of the telephone number from telephone companies to individuals for the first time ever. The legal change will enable customers to switch their service provider while retaining their number.