Latin America

• Saturday, July 31st 2010 - 19:10 UTC

  Chile first South American country with cities Google Earth 3D

  

  Internet users all over the globe will soon be able to better understand what cities like Santiago and Valparaíso look like. Chile is set to become the first South American country to have buildings in some of its cities rendered in 3-D through Google Earth.

• Saturday, July 31st 2010 - 19:06 UTC

  Chile re-establishes relations with Honduras; recognized President Lobo

  

  Chile is re-establishing diplomatic relations with Honduras more than a year after a coup sent the Central American country into political crisis, Chile's foreign ministry announced Friday.

• Saturday, July 31st 2010 - 05:42 UTC

  Following repeated blackouts Chile announces major overhaul of power control

  

  In light of recent problems with Chile’s electrical system Energy Minister Ricardo Raineri announced this week plans to overhaul the control centre of the interconnected power grid, on which the majority of Chile’s electricity is run.

• Saturday, July 31st 2010 - 05:08 UTC

  Chile ahead in the region as recipient of direct foreign investment

  

  A report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) puts Chile ahead of Brazil in terms of direct foreign investment so far this year. Brazil had been the regional leader since 2007.

• Friday, July 30th 2010 - 06:29 UTC

  Venezuela/Colombia rift: UNASUR unable to reach consensus calls for summit

  

  The UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) Foreign Affairs ministerial meeting concluded Thursday night in Quito without an agreement on how to solve the diplomatic rift between Venezuela and Colombia.

• Friday, July 30th 2010 - 06:16 UTC

  Colombia claims Venezuela at last moment walked out from consensus document

  

  Colombian Foreign Affairs minister Jaime Bermudez claimed Venezuela impeded reaching a consensus on a cooperation mechanism preventing the presence of Colombian guerrillas in other countries, during the Unasur ministerial meeting Thursday in Ecuador.

• Friday, July 30th 2010 - 06:10 UTC

  Earthquake forces Chilean fishermen to move: old port too shallow to operate

  

  Chilean fishermen are still feeling the effects of the Feb. 27 earthquake. Infrastructure damage from the earthquake has forced more than 200 fishermen to relocate from the city of Lebu near Concepcion to the port of Coquimbo, a city to the north.

• Friday, July 30th 2010 - 03:27 UTC

  Employment picks up in Chile boosted by construction and social services

  

  A survey in June by the Economics department at the Universidad de Chile reported a 3 percentage point decline in unemployment in Santiago to 8.9%, from 11.9% in June 2009 – the largest decline since December 1991.

• Friday, July 30th 2010 - 03:18 UTC

  Uribe criticizes Lula da Silva for his approach to Colombia/Venezuela conflict

  

  Outgoing Colombian president Alvaro Uribe deplored Thursday statements from the Brazilian leader Lula da Silva related to Venezuela’s decision to severe relations with Bogotá, according to a brief release from Palacio Nariño, seat of the Executive.

• Thursday, July 29th 2010 - 05:59 UTC

  Colombia-Venezuela diplomatic rift will test effectiveness of Unasur

  

  The extraordinary meeting of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) foreign affairs ministers convened by Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa for this Thursday should help to search for ‘solutions’ to the diplomatic rift between Venezuela and Colombia.