Latin America

• 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”.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 22:15 UTC

  Insulza voted by acclamation for a second OAS five year term

  

  Chile’s Jose Miguel Insulza was re-elected Wednesday as secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) for another five-year term (2010/2015). Insulza, 66, the only candidate, was elected by acclamation at the OAS general assembly with Paraguay’s Hector Lacognata acting as president.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 21:56 UTC

  President Piñera opens world leading air and space fair in Santiago

  

  Chilean President Sebastían Piñera officially inaugurated this week the biannual International Air and Space Fair, FIDAE, which this year marks the 30th anniversary of the successful air show and the 80th anniversary of the Chilean Air Force.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 05:15 UTC

  Dakar rally 2011 edition to be again shared by Argentina and Chile

  

  After two editions in South America, the organizers of the Dakar announced from Paris that the world’s leading rally-raid will take place again in Argentina and Chile in 2011.

• Wednesday, March 24th 2010 - 02:09 UTC

  Argentina apologizes to Peru and anticipates closer political links

  

  Argentina and Peru put an end this week to sixteen years of “cold relations” with official apologies and a historic reparation from visiting President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner who also signed with her peer Alan García a Strategic Association bilateral agreement.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 22:52 UTC

  Chile creates Emergency Jobs Program to counter massive layoffs

  

  With many Chilean companies using the ‘Fuerza Mayor’ clause to terminate contracts with their workers in the wake of the February 27 earthquake, Chile’s government this week announced creation of 13,000 new emergency jobs for the most devastated zones and the creation of special loans for the most damaged companies.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 14:32 UTC

  Hillary Clinton announces US support for Insulza’s OAS re-election

  

  The United States will support Chile’s Jose Miguel Insulza in his bid for another five years as head of the Organization of American States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday in a letter to the OAS secretary-general.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:13 UTC

  Drug abuse among teenagers in several South American countries

  

  The Organization of American States (OAS), through its Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), and the United Nations (UN), through its Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), presented in Vienna the latest joint study on drug consumption among student populations in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.

• Tuesday, March 23rd 2010 - 03:03 UTC

  Cuban farmers pushing for greater autonomy to produce and sell crops

  

  Cuban farmers are pressing for greater autonomy to produce and sell their crops, blaming government inefficiency for Cuba’s falling food output despite agricultural reforms introduced by President Raúl Castro.