It was to be a grand celebration, the conservatives had defeated the left leaning ruling coalition that has dominated Chilean politics since 1990 and they would be returning to office after more than half a century. But the party was not to be.
A total of 36 Latinamericans figure in the Forbes list of men with fortunes greater than a billion dollars, like the Mexican Carlos Slim, the new Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, and the Brazilian Eike Batista, as well as drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, El Chapo, informed Forbes magazine.
Magallanes region in the extreme south of Chile has a new provincial governor, Liliana Kusanovic Marusic, a well known tourism entrepreneur in Punta Arenas who last year was distinguished among the top 100 “Women Leaders” of Chile.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez faces a major power shortage that could severely damage the country’s economy and plunge his popularity, but he is confident sufficient rainfall is on the way to fill the lake of a crucial dam because “God is Bolivarian”.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday strongly condemning the avoidable and cruel death of Cuban political prisoner Orlando Zapata and voicing its concern at the alarming state of another prisoner, Guillermo Fariñas.
Chilean president elect Sebastián Piñera who takes office Thursday said the moment has come “to dry tears” and face the emergency in reference to the quake and tsunami follow-up which last Saturday devastated central Chile.
Brazilian president Lula da Silva has become entangled in a controversy for having compared Cuban political prisoners with jailed criminals and was even severely criticized by members of his own party.
The ruling party of President Evo Morales, Movement towards Socialism, MAS, is set to win the coming April regional elections with victories in six of the nine departments (provinces) in which the country is divided, according to the latest public opinion poll published by La Paz main daily La Razon.
British Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant visits Chile for the inauguration of President-elect Sebastian Piñera, Thursday March 11 and to see areas of Chile affected by the recent earthquake.
The interim between Chile’s January 17th election and the inauguration of its victor, Sebastian Piñera, on March 11th, provides a useful opportunity to reflect on the course of recent U.S.-Chile relations, and the future prospects for cooperation, given the stand-pat tendencies of both governments.