Latin America

• Friday, May 13th 2011 - 14:53 UTC

  Police with clubs is not the answer to Chile’s HidroAysén debate

  

  Following Monday’s questionable approval of Chile’s major HidroAysén dam project - a jerry-rigged vote if there ever was one - the administration of President Sebastian Piñera turned police loose on thousands of demonstrators protesting the Patagonia dam project later that evening.

• Friday, May 13th 2011 - 05:22 UTC

  Correa heading for referendum victory but with a lesser margin than expected

  

  Vote count in Ecuador showed President Rafael Correa heading for a referendum victory on Thursday after he accused electoral officials of delaying the tally in pro-government regions.

• Friday, May 13th 2011 - 05:18 UTC

  IMF warns Latam economic boom ‘could end in tears’ if spending is not trimmed

  

  Latin America's economic boom could end in a “full-blown” crisis unless the region's governments properly manage the situation, the International Monetary Fund's top regional official said in an unusually stark warning to both policymakers and investors.

• Friday, May 13th 2011 - 05:15 UTC

  Power outage knocks out Venezuelan refinery complex, one of the world’s largest

  

  A power fault hit Venezuela's main refinery centre on Thursday, stopping the 310,000 barrel-per-day Cardon facility and partially halting the 645,000-bpd Amuay installation, a source at state oil company PDVSA said.

• Friday, May 13th 2011 - 04:42 UTC

  Mid sized Chilean farms going broke because of rising costs and cheap US dollar

  

  The Chilean Federation of Fruit Producers (Fedefruta) will join with the Association of Exporters (Asoex) and nearly 50 other exportation and agricultural associations across Chile to present proposals to, and demand aid from, the government next Friday, May 20. They will convene in Requínoa, in Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins Region.

• Friday, May 13th 2011 - 01:01 UTC

  US trade deals with Colombia, Panama and Korea could be approved ‘by August’

  

  The United States free trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea will pass through Congress by August if Republicans renew funding for the retraining of displaced workers, the chief U.S. trade official said Thursday.

• Thursday, May 12th 2011 - 06:52 UTC

  Controversial questions on Ecuadorian referendum falling short of approval

  

  The latest official data from Ecuador's referendum vote shows a slim margin in favor of the 'No' vote on two of the most controversial questions which relate to the judicial system and the media. Critics say the questions seek to curb press freedom and judicial independence.

• Thursday, May 12th 2011 - 06:28 UTC

  Cuban blacks and mulattos the main victims of Raul Castro’s reforms

  

  Cuban blacks and mulattos will suffer the most with the elimination of a million government jobs, which could easily become a racial problem, consequence of the radical reforms imposed, and ‘must be addressed as a priority’, points out a report from Cuban academic Esteban Morales.

• Thursday, May 12th 2011 - 06:04 UTC

  South America experienced a 15% jump in tourist arrivals in 2010

  

  South America and South Asia saw the greatest jump, 15%, in international tourist arrivals during the first months of 2011 in an overall positive global scenario according to the April interim update of the UN World Tourism Organization, World Tourism Barometer.

• Wednesday, May 11th 2011 - 08:10 UTC

  IISS: cross-border sanctuaries have been key for the survival of Colombia’s FARC

  

  The ability of Colombia’s largest insurgent group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC), to rely on cross-border sanctuaries has long been key to its survival, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.