Latin America

• Saturday, December 19th 2009 - 03:57 UTC

  Uruguay will retain close relations with Venezuela, “but no ALBA”

  

  Uruguay’s next Foreign Affairs minister Ambassador Luis Almagro said that president elect Jose Mujica’s administration will sustain “an important relation” with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez because it is the country’s main supplier of oil and one of ten leading trade partners.

• Saturday, December 19th 2009 - 03:49 UTC

  Record temperatures and low precipitation forecasted in Chile until March

  

  Wednesday was a record hot day for Santiago de Chile - 94 degrees Fahrenheit – and the weatherman says higher than normal temperatures are not going away anytime soon.

• Friday, December 18th 2009 - 12:01 UTC

  President Obama envoy met with Mujica and today visits Paraguay

  

  Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo A. Valenzuela visited Uruguay on Thursday where he met with president elect Jose Mujica and Vice-president Danilo Astori.

• Friday, December 18th 2009 - 11:48 UTC

  UV radiation alert in the Bolivian highlands

  

  The Ultra Violet radiation index in the Bolivian highlands reached from five to seven out of eleven, which is considered extremely high. Experts have recommended the population to avoid being exposed to sunlight from 10 am to 3 pm, and encourage the use of long-sleeved shirts, hats and sunglasses.

• Thursday, December 17th 2009 - 03:08 UTC

  Honduras considers political amnesty for all those involved in June coup

  

  The Honduras congress and president-elect Porfirio Lobo agreed to consider extending a political amnesty to all those involved in the June 28th coup against ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

• Wednesday, December 16th 2009 - 23:29 UTC

  Socialist El Salvador president rejects XXI century Socialism

  

  El Salvador president Mauricio Funes said his country will not take a single step towards the incorporation of his country to ALBA or the XXI century Socialism promoted by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and defended close relations with United States.

• Wednesday, December 16th 2009 - 04:48 UTC

  Proposed trans-Andes tunnel, crucial link for Pacific-Atlantic highway

  

  A proposed 916 million US dollars road tunnel linking Chile and Argentina was endorsed last week by the Coquimbo (Region IV) regional government. The approval gives a green light to the proposed 14-km tunnel linking Chile’s Coquimbo province with the Argentine province of San Juan.

• Wednesday, December 16th 2009 - 04:13 UTC

  Lula da Silva has a new declared admirer: Chile’s Piñera

  

  Conservative Sebastián Piñera, winner of Chile’s first presidential round last Sunday said his development model for Chile is on the lines of those applied by Brazil, Mexico and Peru, but distant from those under Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez or Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega.

• Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 14:20 UTC

  Brazil, Peru plan to build five hydroelectric dams in the Amazon

  

  Brazil expects to reach an accord with Peru by March on a 5 billion US dollars power project to secure energy supplies for both countries, according to Energy minister Edison Lobao. The two governments plan to build five hydroelectric plants in Peru that will produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity

• Tuesday, December 15th 2009 - 14:07 UTC

  S&P lowers Mexico’s foreign currency debt rating to BBB

  

  Mexico’s credit rating was cut one level by Standard & Poor’s after tumbling oil output and the worst recession since the 1930s swelled the budget deficit.