Latin America

• Monday, August 30th 2010 - 07:10 UTC

  Venezuela, only Latin American economy (together with Haiti) to contract in 2010

  

  Venezuela's economy shrank 3.5% during the first half of 2010 compared to the same period a year earlier, the Central Bank said in a report that revealed a deep recession in the oil rich country ahead of September legislative elections.

• Monday, August 30th 2010 - 06:31 UTC

  Rare freshwater pink dolphins rescued in several days’ operation

  

  A total of 19 pink freshwater dolphins belonging to an extremely rare species living in the east of landlocked Bolivia have been rescued from a river covered in mud and deforestation residue, reported the Santa Cruz province governors’ office.

• Saturday, August 28th 2010 - 07:15 UTC

  Soaring profits in first half of 2010 for the Chilean mining industry

  

  The Chilean mining industry has ridden the wave of rising copper prices to record major profit increases in the first half of 2010, with three important mining conglomerates showing profits of US$4 billion in that time period.

• Saturday, August 28th 2010 - 06:46 UTC

  Indictments related to the killing of Anglo Chilean priest in 1973 total 33

  

  Chilean Justice indicted on Friday fourteen former members of Carabineros (militarized police and Navy) for the kidnapping and killing of Anglo-Chilean Catholic priest Miguel Woodward.

• Saturday, August 28th 2010 - 06:28 UTC

  Bolivia confiscates 115.000 hectares of land to distribute among peasants

  

  Bolivia confiscated 115.000 hectares of allegedly fallow or ill-gotten land as part of President Evo Morales' drive to redistribute land to the poor, reported the National Agrarian Reform Institute (INRA).

• Saturday, August 28th 2010 - 06:23 UTC

  South Korea and Bolivia sign agreement for cooperation in lithium development

  

  South Korea and Bolivia agreed to deepen discussions for a possible joint venture on developing lithium deposits in the South American nation.

• Saturday, August 28th 2010 - 06:16 UTC

  Unusually low temperatures empties Bolivian rivers of fish

  

  With high Andean peaks and a humid tropical forest, Bolivia is a country of ecological extremes. But during the Southern Hemisphere's recent winter, unusually low temperatures in part of the country's tropical region hit freshwater species hard, killing an estimated 6 million fish and thousands of alligators, turtles and river dolphins.

• Friday, August 27th 2010 - 16:30 UTC

  Chile Looks to Relax Casino Laws to Cater Cruise Ship Tourism

  

  The Ministry of the Economy is planning to send a bill to Chile’s Congress that would allow cruise ships to operate their casinos while in Chilean waters. This would repeal a section of the 2005 Casinos Act that requires all cruise ships to shut down their casinos when they pass within 13.8 miles of Chile's shoreline.

• Friday, August 27th 2010 - 08:18 UTC

  Mexico to impose strict limits on cash transactions to fight organized crime

  

  Following the discovery of 72 bodies in northern Mexico, allegedly illegal immigrants heading for United States killed by one of the country’s main drug-cartels, Mexican President Felipe Calderon proposed Thursday a new package of measures against money laundering to help fight organized crime.

• Friday, August 27th 2010 - 08:13 UTC

  Cuba promotes luxury golf courses by giving state-land for 99 years

  

  The cash-strapped Cuban government will allow foreign investors to use state-owned land for up to 99 years in a change that is likely to bring developments of luxury golf courses to the communist island.