Latin America

• Monday, October 25th 2010 - 03:18 UTC

  Haiti: A devastated country in the time of cholera

  

  With few signs of recovery nine months after Haiti’s earthquake, the country’s government and its main foreign-aid donors were forced to tout a rather underwhelming achievement—the absence of water-borne diseases like typhoid, diphtheria and cholera—as evidence of progress.

• Monday, October 25th 2010 - 02:39 UTC

  Controversy in Bolivia about the country’s proven gas reserves

  

  According to a recent audit commissioned by the Bolivian government and conducted by US-based consulting firm Ryder Scott allegedly shows that the country has only 8.3 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, sharply lower than the range of 12.8 trillion to 26.7 trillion that has appeared in contradictory official versions.

• Sunday, October 24th 2010 - 02:36 UTC

  Rum sales overtake pisco in Chile. Beer tops the list of beverages

  

  For the first time, Chilean household purchases and supermarket sales of rum have surpassed those of pisco, according to Nielsen Chile data.

• Sunday, October 24th 2010 - 02:12 UTC

  Cuba outlines taxes to be paid by the growing number of self-employed workers

  

  Cuban government has outlined the taxes that will have to be paid by the country's growing number of self-employed workers. It is the latest stage of President Raul Castro's reforms to move Cuba away from a solely state-run economy.

• Sunday, October 24th 2010 - 02:07 UTC

  Chile promotes eco-tourism in bio-diverse Patagonia

  

  Chile's Patagonian region is home to one of the most incredibly vast expanses of virtually untouched ecosystems on the planet. Within this ecological haven lies a region known as the Aisén Region, a sprawling epicentre of glacial waterways and biodiversity, soon to be subject of a new ecotourism operation run by the Centre for Ecosystem Research in Patagonia (CIEP).

• Sunday, October 24th 2010 - 02:03 UTC

  Bolivia plans to buys vessels to operate from its Ilo port facilities

  

  Bolivian president Evo Morales is considering the purchase of naval vessels to operate from the port of Ilo on the South Pacific coast helping the country to develop for the first time in 130 years its maritime resources.

• Saturday, October 23rd 2010 - 04:38 UTC

  Latam shoe industry calls for “united front” against China’s disloyal practices

  

  Latin America’s foot-wear industry are proposing a “united front” against what they describe as “disloyal trade practices” from China, as part of the Asian giant’s foreign trade policies.

• Saturday, October 23rd 2010 - 04:17 UTC

  Bolivian navy to have access to the Pacific for the first time in 130 years

  

  For the first time in more than 130 years, the Bolivian Navy will have access to the Pacific Ocean, after the heads of state of Bolivia and Peru signed an agreement to grant Bolivia access to the sea near the Peruvian port of Ilo.

• Saturday, October 23rd 2010 - 03:29 UTC

  Russia Gazprom joins France’s Total in Bolivian gas joint venture

  

  Russian energy company Gazprom has plans to take a 20% stake in natural gas projects in Bolivia, the gas monopoly said. Gazprom said it could take the stake under the terms of a September deal with French energy company Total for the Ipati and Aquio gas blocks in Bolivia.

• Friday, October 22nd 2010 - 05:42 UTC

  Chile cuts customs’ red tape to help exporters face stronger peso

  

  Chile will cut red tape on customs to help exporters hit by a strong peso as one measure to ease the effects of the currency's rapid appreciation, Finance Minister Felipe Larrain said on Thursday.