Latin America

• Tuesday, March 3rd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Scientists studying invasive insects in Sub Antarctica islands

  

  French scientists have spent summer months in the extreme south of Chile collecting samples of insects with the purpose of trying to determine their geographic distribution process along Sub Antarctic insular territories which includes the Kerguelen in the Pacific, the South Atlantic Falklands and South Georgia and Patagonia.

• Tuesday, March 3rd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Chilean salmon production forecasted to drop 40% this year

  

  With Chile's farmed salmon production expected to drop between 40 and 50% this year, Chilean producers can only hope that the price of the fish – as it has in recent months – continues to rise.

• Tuesday, March 3rd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Venezuela to slash oil industry suppliers costs by 40%

  

  Venezuela's government owned oil company PDVSA plans to slash costs by 40% as it struggles with low crude prices amid the global financial crisis, according to the president of the corporation.

• Tuesday, March 3rd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Bolivia dengue cases could reach 50.000 by end of March

  

  Bolivia revealed Tuesday that 35.500 people have contracted the benign strain of the mosquito transmitted dengue disease while 20 have died from the deadly haemorrhagic variant. There are also fears that before the rainy season is over 50.000 people could be infected.

• Monday, March 2nd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Fidel had his first stroll through Havana, says Chavez

  

  Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, though still convalescing from the illness that sidelined him in July 2006, recently “went for a walk on the streets of Havana” said Venezuelan President Hugo Ch?vez over the weekend.

• Monday, March 2nd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Peru invites Chile to coordinate copper sales globally

  

  Peruvian president Alan Garcia has suggested Peru and Chile should coordinate copper exploitation policies so as to have better control over international prices. The initiative occurs twenty years after the dissolution of the last copper cartel in the world.

• Monday, March 2nd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Latam expansion forecast 0.7%, but recovery late 2010

  Latinamerican economies are forecasted to expand 0.7% this year, well below the 4.2% of 2008, but a surprising performance, if proved right, when all major economies face negative estimates.

• Monday, March 2nd 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Cuban cabinet surprise reshuffle leaves out top figures

  

  In a surprise move Cuban radio and television announced Monday a cabinet restructuring which included the removal of some of its most visible and political top officials, including Vice President Carlos Lage and Foreign Minister Felipe P?rez Roque.

• Sunday, March 1st 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Venezuela's Chavez sends soldiers to take over rice mills

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent troops on Saturday to temporarily take over rice processing plants. Chavez accused some firms of overcharging by refusing to produce rice at prices set by the government and warned some companies could be nationalised if they tried to interfere with supplies of the grain.

• Sunday, March 1st 2009 - 23:00 UTC

  Mexico's oil company Pemex reports massive loss in 2008

  Mexico's government owned oil and gas company Pemex reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 115 billion pesos (8.3 billion US dollars) on Friday, 254% more than in the year-ago period on declining crude exports, low oil prices and currency losses.