Latin America

Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 06:49 UTC
Venezuela facilitates travel to Mercosur and associate members’ citizens

Citizens from Mercosur full members and some associate countries will be allowed to travel to Venezuela with no need of a passport, simply with their national ID, as of next Thursday announced Venezuela’s Identification and Foreigners office.
Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 06:46 UTC
Officially recession is over but Mexico’s economy contracted 6.5% in 2009

Mexico’s GDP shrank by 6.5% last year amid the global recession, greater than the 6.2% of 1995 but the less severe end of the range of 6.5 percent to 7.5% decline forecast by the Mexican central bank.
Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 06:30 UTC
Mexico gives birth to the Community of Latinamerican and Caribbean States

Latinamerican and Caribbean nations are to set up a new regional bloc of all the countries in the Americas, with the exception of the United States and Canada. The decision was formalized Tuesday at a regional summit of the so called Rio Group in the Mexican resort of Cancun.
Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 06:22 UTC
New Latam block “consistent with US goals for the hemisphere”

The new Latin American and Caribbean bloc planned without regional neighbours Canada and the United States are consistent with US goals for the region, a State Department spokesman said Tuesday
Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 06:10 UTC
Group of Rio members to help Colombia/Venezuela diffuse tensions

Latin American leaders will work to diffuse tensions between Colombia and Venezuela after presidents Alvaro Uribe and Hugo Chavez, got into a shouting match and exchange of insults at the Rio Group summit in Mexico.
Wednesday, February 24th 2010 - 02:22 UTC
US not interested in military outposts in Latinamerica, for the moment

United States currently has no interest in having US troops stationed and with access to military bases belonging to other Latinamerican countries, such is the case with Colombia said a top Pentagon official during a visit to Nicaragua.
Tuesday, February 23rd 2010 - 22:21 UTC
Successful testing and marketing of new oil wells in extreme south of Chile

Latin American oil and gas firm GeoPark Holdings Ltd announced this week it had successfully tested two new oil wells on the Fell Block, Springfield formation, Magallanes basin in the extreme south of Chile, bordering Argentina and the Atlantic access of the Magellan Strait.
Tuesday, February 23rd 2010 - 03:22 UTC
Falklands: full support for Argentina from Latinamerican and Caribbean leaders

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner said on Monday Latin American and Caribbean leaders backed her objections to oil exploration in the disputed Falkland Islands as drilling of the first well began on Monday.
Monday, February 22nd 2010 - 05:56 UTC
US/Cuba dialogue to continue in spite of incident with “dissidents”

Cuba criticized US diplomats Saturday for meeting with political opponents after bilateral talks on immigration in Havana, accusing the diplomats of “promoting subversion.”
Monday, February 22nd 2010 - 05:48 UTC
Latinamerica agrees on new regional organization without US and Canada

The new Latinamerican and Caribbean organization that would not include the United States, Canada and Spain could formally be launched on 5 July 2011, during a summit in Venezuela once the statute is drafted and approved, according to the ministerial meeting previous to the Rio Group two-day summit scheduled to begin Monday.