Latin America

• Monday, March 17th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Maradona slams altitude ban after playing in Bolivia

  

  Diego Maradona criticised a ban on international matches at high altitude on Monday after playing a charity game in Bolivia's national stadium at 3,600 metres above sea level.

• Friday, March 14th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Uribe's tough hand on FARC issue balloons his popularity, 82%

  

  In a clear support of his tough handling of the guerrilla issue Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's popularity rose to a record 82%, the highest since he took office in 2002according to a Gallup pole published on Thursday, thanks to his handling of a recent diplomatic spat with Ecuador and Venezuela.

• Friday, March 14th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Ecuador challenges Bush to send US troops or “shut up”

  

  Ecuador's president challenged US President George W. Bush to send troops to the Andean nation's border with Colombia “or shut your mouth” following on further claims that his country is a sanctuary for the cocaine funded Colombian rebel group FARC.

• Thursday, March 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Petrobras diversifies LNG provision; signs accord with Shell

  

  Brazil's government managed oil corporation Petrobras and Shell have signed a liquefied natural gas (LNG) “firm” supply agreement to furnish the Pecém (Ceará) and Baía de Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro) re-gasification terminals.

• Thursday, March 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Foreign investment in Chile doubles to 15 billion in 2007

  The Chile Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) reported Wednesday that foreign investment in Chile almost doubled to 15 billion US dollars in 2007. Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI) grew almost 94%, compared to 2006.

• Thursday, March 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Rice visits Brazil and Chile but leaves out Argentina

  

  United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Brazil on Thursday for a two-day visit to South America which also includes Chile but leaves out Argentina in spite of the fact President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in her inaugural December speech promised to improve relations with Washington.

• Thursday, March 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile re-opens base and reaffirms rights over Antarctica

  

  Chilean President Michelle Bachelet officially re-opened on Wednesday the Arturo Prat base in Antarctica which was the first to be established by the Chilean Navy in 1947 but was later closed in 2004.

• Thursday, March 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Airbus 380 lands in Chile at the end of March for air show

  

  The world's largest passenger aircraft, Airbus 380 will be landing in Chile at the end of the month to participate in the International Air and Space Fair, FIDE.

• Wednesday, March 12th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Central banks try again to roof-patch housing-credit crunch

  

  The world's largest central banks have launched their latest coordinated action to calm jittery credit markets. The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and central banks in the UK, Canada and Switzerland will inject billions of dollars into money markets.

• Wednesday, March 12th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Ecuador's Correa Support to Chile in Peru Border Dispute

  

  Ecuador's President Rafael Correa wished Chile well in its maritime-border dispute with Peru that both countries have agreed will be resolved by an international court.