Latin America

• Friday, October 12th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Seven companies tender for Magallanes oil blocks

  

  Seven corporations from United States, Canada, New Zealand, Egypt and Russia presented tenders for the oil and gas exploration blocks in Magallanes Region, extreme south of Chile.

• Friday, October 12th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Colombia gas-links with Venezuela and joins Bank of the South

  

  Colombia formally requested to join the regional multilateral development bank known as the Bank of the South. President Alvaro Uribe made the announcement on Friday during the inauguration of a gas pipeline which links Guajira in northern Colombia with Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo area.

• Friday, October 12th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  US dollar in Chilean market keeps sliding and closer to $ 490

  

  With the US dollar operating in the Chilean Money exchange market below the 500 pesos benchmark, and still sliding, the Chilean Central Bank decision to leave the basic rate unchanged came as a relief.

• Friday, October 12th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chavez bans Spanish pop singer from government stadium

  

  A popular Spanish singer has been banned from performing in a Caracas stadium over remarks he made about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Higher Education Minister Luis Acuña accused Alejandro Sanz of criticizing Chavez three years ago while touring Venezuela.

• Friday, October 12th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Nine million children in Latinamerica malnourished

  

  FAO called Friday on Latinamerican governments to fight infant malnutrition in the region which affects nine million children in the region which are born condemned to exclusion,

• Thursday, October 11th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile plans to invest 17 billion US dollars in mining industry

  

  Chile's Mining Minister Karen Poniachik disclosed Monday that Chile is anticipating 17 billion US dollars on new gold and copper mining investment in the next five years. Poniachik said the new cash infusion is needed to replace existing mines whose reserves are running out and to bolster output.

• Thursday, October 11th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuelans to pay price of president's moral crusade

  

  President Hugo Chávez has announced sharp tax increases on tobacco and alcoholic beverages, amid a raft of other measures aimed at curbing luxury imports and instilling the new morality of his ''21st Century Socialism.''

• Wednesday, October 10th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  600,000 Skiers on Chile's slopes this season

  

  This past winter's unusually cold weather in Chile's central valley had at least one benefit – the mountains were covered in snow, attracting some 600,000 skiers and snowboarders. This figure represents an 11 percent increase compared to the previous season when 522,000 visitors hit the slopes.

• Tuesday, October 9th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Copper at its highest in 41 years and keeps rising

  

  Current boom copper demand has catapulted the value of the metal to its highest price in more than 40 years. The Chilean Copper Commission reported that the average copper price through September this reached 3.27 US dollar per pound, highest average price since 1966, when the commodity averaged US$3.63 for the year.

• Tuesday, October 9th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  UN court awards Honduras sovereignty of disputes cays

  

  The United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded Honduras sovereignty over four cays in the Caribbean Sea and delineated its maritime boundary with Nicaragua as part of a ruling on the long-running border dispute between the two Central American countries.