Latin America

Sunday, April 29th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
Chavez hopes to gradually sell off refineries in US

President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Venezuela hopes to gradually sell off its refineries in the United States and build a new network of refineries in Latin America, part of a plan to offer his leftist allies in the region a stable oil supply
Sunday, April 29th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
Chile Google Earth moves a village to Argentina

The Chilean government wants Google to fix its Earth geographical search program that places a village named after Chilean independence hero Bernardo O'Higgins in Argentina.
Saturday, April 28th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
Ecuador leader sides with Indians against oil giant

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa went deep into the Amazon jungle to show his disdain for Chevron Corp., which is on trial in Ecuador for allegedly failing to clean up billions of gallons of toxic wastewater.
Saturday, April 28th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
IMF concerned with “social gaps” and “populist” governments

Latin American governments should increase social spending while maintaining sound fiscal policies to reduce poverty and growing political dissatisfaction in the region, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato said at a conference in Boston.
Saturday, April 28th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
Chavez and allies open alternative ALBA meeting

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is hosting this weekend in Barquisimeto his closest regional allies at the summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), an integration bloc he and Cuban ruler Fidel Castro founded in 2004 to counter the “Washington-based free trade model” better known as the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Friday, April 27th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
Santiago Consensus calls for integration and education investment

Chile's Michelle Bachelet and Brazil's Lula da Silva called for deeper regional integration and increased investment in education, two priorities that mirrored a consensus among the 400 business, government and civil society leaders from 28 countries participating in the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Santiago.
Thursday, April 26th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
Shannon: “Ecuador is looking for a way to perfect its democracy”

United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas A. Shannon spoke on a wide range of Latin American issues Wednesday during a round-table discussion with journalists at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago.
Thursday, April 26th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
Chile: unemployment drops to 6.7%; Punta Arenas 2.7%

Unemployment in Chile during the first quarter of 2007 was 6.7%, which is higher than the previous quarter, 6.4%, but considerably less than a year ago, 8.35%, according to the latest release from the Statistics Institute, INE. Punta Arenas in the extreme south of the country has one of the lowest rates with 2.7%.
Wednesday, April 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
Chile: Govt orders fish farms to evacuate quake region

One way or another the salmon farms currently operating in the Aysén Fjord (Region XI) must be relocated, President Michelle Bachelet told reporters on Tuesday, three days after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the area, killing at least 10 people ÃÂ¢€” several of them salmon farm workers.
Wednesday, April 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC
Lan cheaper rates increased 30% summer traffic to Punta Arenas

Lan's new air rates policy has increased passenger traffic between Punta Arenas and Santiago in the last five months by 30.000, of which almost half had never boarded an airplane according to company officials.