Latin America

• Thursday, January 6th 2011 - 12:19 UTC

  Magallanes has the lowest unemployment rate in Chile

  

  Magallanes in the extreme south of Chile became the region with the lowest unemployment in the country during the September-November quarter. According to the official Chilean statistics office the jobless rate in Magallanes dropped to 4.1% compared to the national 7.1%.

• Thursday, January 6th 2011 - 12:09 UTC

  Magallanes region declare UV radiation exposure emergency first week of 2011

  

  Magallanes Region in the extreme south of Chile has declared an UV radiation emergency for the first weekend of 2011. According to the UV scale radiation or solar exposition is forecasted to reach 9 which is described as “very high and extreme”.

• Thursday, January 6th 2011 - 12:05 UTC

  Record prices for copper plummet the US dollar to new lows against Chilean Peso

  

  The US dollar ended 2010 at a record low vis-à-vis the Chilean peso which has soared on the strong global demand for copper, the country’s main export. On Friday December 31st the US dollar was operating at 467.30 and 467.80 in Santiago’s money markets, which is the lowest since May 19, 3008 with 467.40.

• Thursday, January 6th 2011 - 11:48 UTC

  Cuban reforms on the move: soap and toothpaste eliminated from monthly ration

  

  Cuba’s government, trying to save money and eliminate subsidies announced this week it will remove soap, toothpaste and detergent from the monthly ration of food and consumer products it has handed out since the early days of the Cuban revolution.

• Wednesday, January 5th 2011 - 09:09 UTC

  Brazil and Chile Battle Rising Currencies

  

  Brazil on Tuesday threatened tougher capital controls and other measures to keep its currency from rising against the dollar, a day after Chile's central bank unveiled its own $12 billion plan to buy greenbacks.

• Wednesday, January 5th 2011 - 08:55 UTC

  New agreement between LAN and Jetstar

  

  Chile's LAN has announced an agreement with the Australian budget airline, Jetstar, owned by Quantas airways.

• Wednesday, January 5th 2011 - 08:34 UTC

  A Latin American View: Not Heard At The G-20

  

  International economic coordination is as necessary as it is elusive. During the global financial crisis, the G-20 became the primary forum to agree on basic principles in areas such as the fiscal-policy response and the role of the International Monetary Fund.

• Monday, January 3rd 2011 - 20:40 UTC

  Ecuador: Decline in tuna landings due to 'La Niña'

  

  Between January and October 2010, 402,868 tonnes of tuna was caught in the eastern Pacific, 16 per cent less than the 478,633 tonnes landed in the same period in 2009, according to figures from the Association of Tuna Companies from Ecuador (Atunec).

• Monday, January 3rd 2011 - 20:17 UTC

  Chile: Police continue evictions of occupied land on Easter Islands

  

  More than 100 Police Special Forces violently evicted Rapa Nui indigenous groups from the Government Plaza in the center of Hanga Roa over the holidays, causing injuries to at least nine people, three of them serious.

• Monday, January 3rd 2011 - 05:11 UTC

  Venezuelan currency devalued again

  

  Venezuelan government devalued its bolivar currency for the second time in 12 months on Thursday, abolishing the lowest exchange rate as the Opec member fights to revive its economy. Intended to spur local production in the largely import-dependent nation, the announcement followed a central bank estimate that the economy contracted 1.9 percent during 2010 - Venezuela's second straight year of recession.