Latin America

• Wednesday, April 11th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia “shifts strategy” and attacks coca growing stronghold

  

  Bolivia opened a new front this week in its fight to reduce illegal coca production, sending United States backed eradication teams into a traditional coca-growing region in the Andean foothills long avoided by previous governments.

• Wednesday, April 11th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Emergency plan to preserve Ecuador's Galapagos islands

  

  Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa ordered his cabinet ministers to urgently discuss ways of preventing environmental degradation in Ecuador's famed Galapagos Islands. Correa's suggestions include restricting tourist and residency permits as well as flights to the islands.

• Monday, April 9th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Peru does not discard The Hague over Chile maritime border issue

  Following the thwarted nationalist march that took place close to the border between Chile and Peru last week, Peruvian President Alan García gave the first clear signal this weekend that Peru will take the long-standing maritime border issue to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

• Monday, April 9th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  LAN announces plan to invest US$ 2.6 billion in new planes

  

  LAN airlines will buy 52 new airplanes over the next five year, increasing their air fleet by 83%. The airline will invest approximately US$ 2.6 billion from 2007 to 2011 to improve services and purchase the new planes. By 2011, LAN will operate 115 planes — 102 passenger planes and 13 cargo planes.

• Sunday, April 8th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  “Veggie-fueled vehicle” links Alaska with Ushuaia

  

  In a fire engine fuelled by Chilean chip fat, Mexican lard, Colombian palm oil, Argentine soybean and corn oil Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt completed last week the longest journey made without diesel or petrol.

• Saturday, April 7th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela, assuming chair of OAS Permanent Council

  

  Venezuela's Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador Jorge Valero, assumed the chairmanship of the Permanent Council and talked about the need for deeper conceptual and institutional change within the hemispheric organization.

• Friday, April 6th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile and Canada celebrate 10th FTA anniversary

  

  Chilean and Canadian authorities celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries on Wednesday in Santiago.

• Friday, April 6th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Morales: Following Chavez or own path?

  

  Rewrite the constitution: check. Redistribute idle land: check. Rail against U.S. imperialism: check. Nationalize the phone company: check.

• Wednesday, April 4th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Cuba and Spain become friend again

  

  Spain has promised to resume development aid to Cuba in return for Havana's pledge to open dialogue on human rights. Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos held talks with Cuba's acting president; Raul Castro late on Tuesday. It was the first visit by a European Union minister since 2003.

• Wednesday, April 4th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Urges Peru protest suspension over land mine

  

  Peruvian nationalists are scheduled to illegally cross into Chile Wednesday in protest of a historic border dispute. But if the event goes as planned, Chile's Interior Minister Belisario Velasco warned Tuesday that the protest could turn deadly.