Defence ministers from the twelve countries which make up the United Nations of South America, Unasur begin this Monday in Santiago de Chile a round of talks including the launching of the South American Defence Council geared to increase cooperation and dialogue among its members.
Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla arrived in Chile Sunday afternoon the first stop of a South American tour that also includes Brazil and Ecuador which is seen as an opportunity for the heir of the throne to emphasize on one of his passions, climate change. The three days visit to Chile begins officially on Monday when the couple will have an audience with President Michelle Bachelet.
Two of Cuba's most prominent politicians have resigned from their Communist party and government posts after they were sacked from the cabinet, according to letters published by the Cuban media.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he has authorized Brazil's leader to raise the subject of Venezuela in talks with President Barack Obama this month. Despite the change of government, Washington/Caracas relations remain strained.
Venezuela does not plan to take over additional assets of US food giant Cargill after announcing the seizure of its rice unit said the Agriculture minister Elias Jaua on Thursday.
Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has seized one food company and threatened to nationalise another as he demands that the industry produce cheaper rice.
With Europe and America struggling to address the ongoing global economic crisis, the forces of economic nationalism are on the march. Industry representatives and trade unions are busy lobbying the halls of power in Washington, Brussels, Paris, and London. They are seeking subsidies, tariff protection from foreign competition, restrictions on foreign labor, and even measures that pressure Europeans and Americans into buying domestically-made products.
Argentine and Chilean members of the Congressional Foreign Relations Committees will hold symbolic meetings in Antarctica on Thursday to underline bilateral links and the two countries commitment to the Antarctic Treaty and the Environment Protection protocol.
An assessment mission from the Paris seated International Epizooties Organization (OIE) is currently organizing the monitoring of the High Vigilance Zone, (ZAV) in the heart of South America, where foot and mouth disease is recurrent.
GeoPark Holdings has announced the successful drilling and testing of a new gas well - Yagan 1 - on the Fell Block in the extreme south of Chile at an initial production test rate exceeding 10 million cubic feet per day (mmcfpd) of gas.