Latin America

• 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.

• Thursday, July 29th 2010 - 05:55 UTC

  President-elect Santos ratifies “democratic security” policy of Colombia’s Uribe

  

  Colombian President-elect Juan Manuel Santos named former Senator Rodrigo Rivera as his defense minister in an apparent bid to maintain the outgoing government’s pressure on guerrillas.

• Thursday, July 29th 2010 - 05:48 UTC

  Galapagos Islands removed from list of endangered sites

  

  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee (WHC) Wednesday removed the Galapagos Islands (belonging to Ecuador) from its list of endangered sites, reported the organization currently holding its 34th session in Brazil.

• Thursday, July 29th 2010 - 01:24 UTC

  Chile and Bolivia jointly celebrate mine-clearance in border areas

  

  Chile and Bolivian Defence ministers and Army commanders will be meeting Thursday to sign documents declaring Fields free of mines, the border areas of Tambo Quemado 1 and Tambo Quemado 2 along their common border which until only recently were planted with thousands of mines.

• Wednesday, July 28th 2010 - 17:54 UTC

  Chilean fruit industry compensates smaller shipments with higher global prices

  

  Despite sharp declines in the volume of exported fruits during the 2009-2010 season Chile’s fruit industry managed to offset those losses because of higher prices paid in foreign markets.