Latin America

• Saturday, March 27th 2010 - 06:38 UTC

  Gap between rich and poor in Latinamerica is largest in the world, says UN

  

  The gap between the rich and poor in Latinamerica has not ceased to increase in the last decades and currently 20% of the wealthiest hold 56.9% of resources, while the region’s main cities host 127 million people, according to the latest report from United Nations-Habitat.

• Friday, March 26th 2010 - 21:37 UTC

  Chavez adds 3 days to Easter holiday (completing a week) to save energy

  

  President Hugo Chavez has added three days to Venezuela's Easter holiday to deal with a growing energy crisis. The move which will close government and public offices means most Venezuelans will have a seven-day break starting on 1 April.

• Friday, March 26th 2010 - 21:34 UTC

  Quake destroyed ports limit Chilean grape industry exports

  

  Chile’s fresh fruit business has been whip-lashed the past weeks by the 8.8 earthquake which struck February 27, at the height of the fresh fruit export season. Large shipments of table grapes - roughly four million cases - and other fruit had to be stored while authorities worked over time to get port facilities operating again.

• Friday, March 26th 2010 - 00:59 UTC

  Chilean government announces biggest fuel price hike in months

  

  Chile’s government has decided to “un-freeze” the increase of the gasoline prices considering that the value of both oil and the US dollar is growing all around the world.
  By law, on March 25 the transitory price reduction to the specific oil tax must come to an end. The decree was passed last year to help the local economy given the financial crisis that affected many countries.

• Friday, March 26th 2010 - 00:46 UTC

  Bolivia: not the moment to pressure Chile for ocean access

  

  Bolivian President Evo Morales, along with the Bolivian Army and Navy, celebrated Sea Day this week, an annual holiday mourning Bolivia’s loss of ocean access to Chile following the Pacific War 131 years ago.

• Friday, March 26th 2010 - 00:37 UTC

  Uruguay outperformed other regional economies, expanding 2.9% in 2009

  

  Uruguay outperformed all other Latinamerican countries last year, according to the latest available data on 2009 economic growth. The data shows the Uruguayan economy expanded 2.9% in 2009, compared to 1.2% for Peru and 0.9% in Argentina.

• Thursday, March 25th 2010 - 05:47 UTC

  Former Spanish president warns on China’s growing influence in Latinamerica

  

  Former Spanish president Felipe González and several experts in economics and politics warned about the growing influence of China in Latin America, which nevertheless could also help to balance the international scenario according to a forum held in New York University sponsored by the Euro-America Foundation.

• Thursday, March 25th 2010 - 03:20 UTC

  Latinamerica, “winning region of the financial crisis”, says optimistic IDB

  

  Latin American countries' banking and financial officials were optimistic Tuesday about their future development, saying most economies in the region were strengthened after the global financial crisis.

• Thursday, March 25th 2010 - 03:13 UTC

  Chilean navy clears of mines the most extreme south of islands

  

  The Chilean Navy celebrated this week the destruction of the 200th antipersonnel mine in the extreme south Horno Island, thus eliminating Field 113 from the list of territories that were planted with mines in 1982.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 22:30 UTC

  Obama congratulates Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico on bicentennial

  

  United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton congratulated Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico on the bicentennial of their independence to be celebrated in the course of 2010 and said she was hopeful the anniversary would also celebrate a future of “greater cooperation in the hemisphere”.