Latin-American countries moved quickly this week to face the global financial crisis and came out with a battery of measures pumping billions of US dollars to try and contain the threat of recession.
Puerto Williams in Chilean Tierra del Fuego will have its airstrip expanded and facilities improved to allow commercial flights thus helping to increase opportunities for the regional tourism industry.
The 2008 ozone hole over Antarctica is larger both in size and ozone loss than 2007 but is not as large as 2006, according to the European Space Agency.
Latinamerican markets finished sharply lower on Tuesday under pressure from the slide on Wall Street, falling commodity prices and uncertainty about the future. Growth forecasts have also been downgraded.
Latin American economies are facing an awkward combination of slowing activity, more difficult external conditions, and still-high inflation. After four years of strong output growth, the pace eased in most economies of the region during the first half of 2008, largely because of moderating exports, according to the IMF World Economic Outlook.
Latin American stocks and currencies fell during another day of volatile trading on Wednesday on fears of a global slowdown. Several central banks had to intervene to cool the demand for US dollars.
Argentina and Chilean presidents will lead peace and reconciliation celebrations next December in Punta Arenas on the thirtieth anniversary of the papal intervention which prevented a full fledged war over the Beagle channel between the neighbouring countries back in 1978.
The Chilean economy experienced an unexpected trade deficit in September, the first negative month in six years according to the latest release from the Central Bank. The misbalance was 318 million US dollars; a year ago it was a surplus of 1.37 billion US dollars.
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez announced he would not be leaving government until after 2021, in spite of the fact his mandate ends in 2013 and the current constitution does not allow for a new re-election.
A scandal over alleged oil kickbacks has forced out Peru's Energy minister and two top state oil company executives and led the government to void five oil contracts with Norway's Discover Petroleum, officials said Monday.