Chilean senators Juan Pablo Letelier and Guido Girardi met this week with the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Fernando Schmidt, to plead the removal of Chilean Cristián Maquieira from his position as chairman of the International Whaling Commission.
Cuban Catholic church said this week that it expects the government of Raul Castro to make more gestures favouring political prisoners, although it added that in that “process” no fixed dates have been set for particular actions.
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera has announced plans to invest 15 billion US dollars in Codelco, the state-owned copper company. Speaking to an audience of workers, managers and executives at a mine in Calama earlier this week, Piñera said the investment would bring about “a renaissance and a new youth to Codelco”.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suspended a national electricity rationing plan, saying that the grid had been strengthened by new investments in thermoelectric plants and heavy rains that filled up reservoirs. He also wants Venezuelans to watch the World Cup in South Africa.
Argentina ratified this week the adhesion to the South American Nations Union (Unasur) Treaty, following a unanimous vote in the Lower House of Congress. The Senate had already approved the initiative.
A Venezuelan historian and academic presented the book ‘I saw him cry’ in which he affirms that President Hugo Chavez was crying, fearful and pleading to be sent to Cuba on April 11, 2002 during the coup that had him out of office for several days. He also insists there was no plan to have Chavez shot by a firing squad as the ‘official version” of events has since turned into epic days.
Though Chilean ski resorts were ready to begin the winter season more than a week ago, the slopes cannot be opened due to lack of snow. A lack of rain in the region has been blamed. The central and southern region of Chile has had a low level of rain this year, causing opening delays for some centres.
The widow of (deceased) former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, Lucia Hiriart; the dictator’s private secretary, Monica Ananias; and his executor, Oscar Aitken, were summoned this week to a Santiago criminal court pursuant to a warrant from the Southern District Court of Florida, United States.
The Bolivian Lower House dominated by President Evo Morales party approved this week the Judiciary Bill which contemplates “native or indigenous justice” which has been strongly criticized since it opened the door to the lynching of policemen in two different incidents.
Cuban coffee production tumbled 90% in the last few years forcing the government of President Raul Castro to spend 50 million US dollars annually in importing the beans to ensure domestic consumption revealed the official weekly Trabajadores.