India could become a fast-growing market for Latin American and Caribbean commodities but governments in this region must foster closer ties with the 1.1 billion population giant and reduce trade costs to tap into that opportunity, according to a new study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
OPEC member Ecuador says it will start renegotiating contracts with private oil companies as it moves to increase state control over the sector. Under the new hydrocarbons law, the current production-sharing agreements will be replaced by a flat fee.
Unasur (Union of South American Nations) chairman Nestor Kirchner confirmed Monday ongoing contacts at different levels to try and defuse the Colombia/Venezuela conflict.
Colombia, Chile and Peru are increasingly the platform for South American trade with China, according to official statistics. The three countries have China as one of the largest and most dynamic trade partners and are working on a common strategy for further liberalization of trade.
The Cuban leadership on the 57th anniversary of the revolution said that economic reforms will take place “step by step, at the pace we determine” and certainly not “by campaigns from the foreign press”.
Chileans will have a chance to see U2 in concert, as the popular Irish rock band, headed by singer Bono, plans to perform in Santiago in March 2011 as a part of its 360 Tour. It will be the band’s third show in Chile.
Chilean Public Works Minister Hernán de Solminihac recently inaugurated a new 9.6 million US dollars highway - Route 9 - connecting Puerto Natales to Villa Cerro Castillo, in the region of the Torres del Paine National Park, extreme south of the country.
Brazil’s Executive foreign affairs advisor said that the breaking of relations between Venezuela and Colombia “weakens” South America and negotiations to bring both sides together should not be seen as a confrontation between Unasur (Union of South American Nations) and OAS (Organization of American States).
In an attempt to take distance from the Colombian guerrilla following claims of his alleged links with the rebels presented by Bogotá before the Organization of American States, OAS, President Hugo Chavez said that “Colombian armed groups must reconsider their armed strategy”.
Secretary-general of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) Néstor Kirchner who this week begins a round of contacts indicated that it hurts that two Latin American countries like Venezuela and Colombia have this level of confrontation and promised “to work from Unasur so that we can bring the two nations together and not affect the close relationship between their peoples.”