Latin America

Sunday, December 5th 2010 - 19:29 UTC
Business deals “above 600 million USD” in Chile’s naval and maritime expo

The recent Exponaval 2010 and Transport 2010 exhibit held in the Chilean port of Valparaíso was described as a complete success by the organizers of the event that convened over 150 exhibitors, 34 foreign navies’ delegations and totalling business deals “above 600 million US dollars”.
Saturday, December 4th 2010 - 06:58 UTC
Unasur secretary general nomination could be delayed until mid December

The nomination of a secretary general for Unasur, Union of South American Nations, could be delayed until mid December since discussions on the sidelines of the XXth Ibero-American summit in Mar del Plata, Argentina, are currently stalled and time is running short, according to political analysts.
Saturday, December 4th 2010 - 01:31 UTC
Lula da Silva and Obama, best evaluated leaders in Western Hemisphere

Brazil’s Lula da Silva and US Barack Obama are the Western hemisphere leaders best evaluated and most respected, according to a paper based on a public opinion poll and which was released Friday by the NGO Latinobarometro.
Saturday, December 4th 2010 - 01:26 UTC
GeoPark Chile raises 113 million USD for further oil exploration in Magallanes

The Latin American oil and gas explorer and producer GeoPark which has been successfully drilling for oil and gas in the extreme south of Chile has made a private placement of 133 million US dollars to invest in expanding activities.
Friday, December 3rd 2010 - 06:24 UTC
Mexican top officials admit loosing control of parts of the country to drug cartels

Several top Mexican officials admitted the government was in danger of losing control of parts of the country to powerful drug cartels, according to U.S. State Department documents made public by WikiLeaks.
Friday, December 3rd 2010 - 06:21 UTC
Havana launches debate on neo-capitalism and “the future of the Cuban Nation”

Cuba began this week a public debate over landmark plans to lift the island's struggling economy and “preserve the revolution’s victories” by liberalizing some private enterprise, admitting small farmers private property, streamlining the vast state bureaucracy by leaving redundant a half-million workers.
Friday, December 3rd 2010 - 06:18 UTC
IMF chiefs rules out double-dip recession, praises South American countries

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn ruled out any possibility of an impending double-dip recession even as he warned against downward risks posing the countries while they were recuperating, albeit languidly.
Friday, December 3rd 2010 - 06:10 UTC
Mercosur economies forecasted to grow between 7.5% and 10.1% this year

Spanish bank BBVA Studies Group increased its 2010 growth forecast for Latinamerica to 5.8% (from 5.2%) mainly because of the strong showing of domestic economies boosted by stimuli packages. The report also praised the performance of all four Mercosur full members (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) with their economies expanding over 7.5%.
Thursday, December 2nd 2010 - 21:40 UTC
Santiago airport capacity 40% expansion will handle 14 million annually

Santiago de Chile’s airport is about to be expanded to accommodate millions of more travellers. The crowds of people in the airport have been steadily growing, adding hours of travel time to passengers arriving to and leaving from Chile.
Thursday, December 2nd 2010 - 21:25 UTC
Uruguay praises Unasur; no agreement yet on next secretary general

Unasur has been a fundamental factor of stability, democracy and peace for the region said Uruguay’s Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro, following on Uruguay’s Parliament’s ratification of the group’s founding charter and constitution. However Almagro admitted consensus on a name for Secretary General of Unasur is still pending.