Latin America

• Monday, February 4th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Colombians protest for end to FARC rebellion

  

  Millions of Colombians dressed in white marched throughout the country and in major cities worldwide today to express outrage at 40 years of violence and kidnapping by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

• Sunday, February 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Help for Chilean exporters to counter US dollar meltdown

  

  Chile announced several measures to prop the competitiveness of Chilean exports that have been particularly affected by the international collapse of the US dollar and which has motivated reiterated claims from the industry.

• Sunday, February 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  FARC promises more liberations on eve of world protest

  

  Colombia's FARC rebels pledged Sunday, on the eve of worldwide protests against the cocaine funded radical guerrilla group, to release three hostages in poor health after seven years of captivity in the jungle.

• Sunday, February 3rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Passengers survive plane crash in Bolivia

  

  A plane carrying more than 150 people crash-landed in a bog in eastern Bolivia last Friday after fierce storms turned it away from its destination and it tried to reach another airport hundreds of miles away, according to officials and news reports. All on board survived.

• Saturday, February 2nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Chavez devalued and out of tune on his ninth anniversary

  Controversial Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is celebrating this Saturday his ninth year in office but the outspoken, histrionic leader has lost much of his revolutionary élan following his first electoral defeat last December and surrounded by growing problems of internal security, inflation and shortages of food and home supplies.

• Thursday, January 31st 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Castro brothers softly consolidating transition in Cuba

  

  The younger brother of ailing long time Cuban leader Fidel Castro, acting President Raúl Castro was the top vote-getter in Cuban parliamentary elections, according to official results released Wednesday.

• Wednesday, January 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Chinese company buys into copper and gold mines in Peru

  China's largest metal trader announced this week it had received approval to take control of two Peruvian mines in an operation involving 453 million US dollars.

• Wednesday, January 30th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Oil corporations will overhaul contracts with Ecuador

  The five foreign hydrocarbons corporations operating in Ecuador said they are willing to overhaul their contracts with the government. President Rafael Correa who is seeking to increase control over the country's key sector said he wants oil firms to strike an agreement in 45 days.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Record visitors to Torres del Paine park in south Chile

  

  Visitors to Chile's world famous Torres del Paine national park in Patagonia reached a new record in 2007 and in the current summer season an average of over a thousand tourists cross the park's checkpoints daily.

• Tuesday, January 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Unemployment in Santiago is up, first time since 2005

  

  Unemployment in Chile's capital Santiago reached 8.9% in December 2007, according to a report compiled by the Department of Economy at the University of Chile.