Latin America

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 15:27 UTC

  Frei and Piñera expected to face-off in Chilean presidential run off

  

  With only a month remaining before Chileans cast their votes Dec. 13 to elect their next president, one of the nation’s most important polls showed the race tightening, but with the two front-runners -rightist billionaire Sebastian Piñera and centrist Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei - holding on to their leads.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 08:18 UTC

  Buenos Aires “picket-city”: 340 street protests per month

  

  Since September last year the government of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has faced 7.658 street protests and blocked routes, which is 68% more than the 4.451which took place during the four years mandate of her predecessor in the job and husband, Nestor Kirchner. This works out at an average 340 monthly street protests since Mrs. Kirchner took office in December 2007.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 04:55 UTC

  Mexican tycoon and drug-lord make it to Forbes most powerful list

  

  Mexico made it to the Forbes list of the 67 most powerful in the world with two names: one of them a legitimate businessman linked to telecommunication with an international reputation, the other a notorious drug lord with a reward on his head.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 04:35 UTC

  Colombia takes Chavez “war threats” to the UN Security Council

  

  Colombia has taken its case with threats of war from neighbouring Venezuela to the United Nations Security Council after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told his army to get ready to fight.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 01:23 UTC

  Cuba drastically slashes “farm bureaucracy” to boost food production

  

  One of the major ills of Cuba’s state-run agricultural enterprises is “the excess of non-productive personnel,” Communist Party daily Granma said this week. The newspaper estimated the number of redundant employees in the state farming sector at 89,000, or 26% of the total.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 01:02 UTC

  Honduras US Supreme Court deliberates on Zelaya’s reinstatement

  

  The Honduras Supreme Court begun to consider late Wednesday if ousted President Manuel Zelaya should or should not be reinstated, a crucial step in the process to help overcome the four-month political crisis that has virtually paralyzed the Central American country.

• Friday, November 13th 2009 - 01:01 UTC

  Five-day ozone UV radiation alert in Punta Arenas

  

  The Ozone Laboratory from the University of Magallanes in Punta Arenas, extreme south of Chile has been recording the highest ultra violet indexes of the season and warned this week about exposure to sun light.

• Thursday, November 12th 2009 - 13:23 UTC

  Chilean gold production expected to triple by 2015

  

  A study conducted by Chile's National Copper Commission (COCHILCO) reports that the country will most likely triple its gold production within the next five years.
  The opening of new mines in Chile's north will take production from an annual level of 39 tons to nearly 110 tons, said the report.
  This would make Chile one of the world’s 10 largest producers.

• Thursday, November 12th 2009 - 07:26 UTC

  Uruguay’s cruise season moves to Punta del Este fuelled by regional demand

  

  Uruguay’s 2009/2010 cruise season is scheduled to begin next November 20th in Montevideo with the arrival of “Minerva” and four days later in Punta del Este with “MSC Musica”.

• Thursday, November 12th 2009 - 05:53 UTC

  First foreign cruise of the season arrives in Punta Arenas; business down 27%

  

  The first international cruise called this week in Punta Arenas, extreme south of Chile, signalling the official beginning of the 2009/10 season which local tourist operators are anticipating is going to suffer a significant fall from the previous.