Latin America

• Wednesday, January 27th 2010 - 15:00 UTC

  Rains and mudslides strand 1.900 tourists in Machu Picchu

  

  Flooding and mudslides near Peru's Machu Picchu archaeological citadel have killed at least seven people and stranded 1900 tourists. An operation to airlift the foreigners out of the south-eastern disaster zone was suspended because of heavy rain after just 75 were flown out by helicopter.

• Wednesday, January 27th 2010 - 14:51 UTC

  New chapter for Honduras: Lobo takes office, Zelaya off to Dominican Republic

  

  Honduras president elect Porfirio Lobo takes office on Wednesday the same day deposed Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya finally leave the Brazilian embassy where he has been holed up for more than four months.

• Wednesday, January 27th 2010 - 14:44 UTC

  Former Guatemalan president accused of money laundering is arrested

  

  Ex-Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo, facing money-laundering charges in the United States was captured Tuesday on a farm on the Guatemalan coast, that country's attorney general said.

• Tuesday, January 26th 2010 - 08:50 UTC

  Haiti’s aid and reconstruction plan main challenge: a legacy of failures

  

  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaking at the International Conference on Haiti taking place in Montreal conceded Monday that countries are in for a decade of “hard work” to rebuild earthquake-shattered Haiti.

• Monday, January 25th 2010 - 15:03 UTC

  Women make up half of the new Bolivian ministerial cabinet

  

  Bolivia’s president Evo Morales began his second mandate with a cabinet reshuffle removing most ministers and complying with the gender parity. The announcement was done over the weekend following his second consecutive inauguration ceremony last Friday.

• Monday, January 25th 2010 - 14:58 UTC

  Venezuela could hold world’s largest oil reserves, says US Geological Survey

  

  A new US assessment of Venezuela's oil reserves could give the country double the supplies of Saudi Arabia. Scientists working for the US Geological Survey say Venezuela's Orinoco belt region holds twice as much petroleum as previously thought.
  The geologists estimate the area could yield more than 500 billion barrels of crude oil.

• Monday, January 25th 2010 - 14:52 UTC

  Brazil and Argentina, first countries president elect Piñera will visit

  

  Brazil and Argentina are the first countries to be visited by Chilean president-elect Sebastián Piñera, who added he will accept invitations from Spain and France and anticipated one of his first actions would be to de-freeze relations with neighbouring Peru.

• Monday, January 25th 2010 - 14:49 UTC

  Chile and Argentina consolidate bilateral integration and cooperation

  

  Chile announced that the “Integration and Cooperation” agreement with Argentina, which was stamped by Presidents Cristina Kirchner and Michelle Bachelet last October 30, became effective as of Friday January 22nd.

• Monday, January 25th 2010 - 14:39 UTC

  Hope for Haiti Now telethon raises 58 million US dollars

  

  More than 58 million US dollars have been raised through the all-star Hope for Haiti Now telethon, according to organizers.

• Monday, January 25th 2010 - 14:38 UTC

  Chavez forces television stations off the air for not broadcasting his speeches

  Six television stations including opposition RCTV (Radio Caracas TeleVision) were forced off the air on Sunday for not broadcasting President Hugo Chavez' speeches. The new rules passed in December require stations to air Chavez's speeches, among other mandates.