Latin America

• Tuesday, June 26th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia takes control of the country's two refineries

  

  Bolivia took control Tuesday of two refineries it bought back from Brazil's Petrobras following a long dispute over the final price and insurance policy reported the Bolivian news agency.

• Monday, June 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Freezing temperatures strain Santiago's energy resources

  

  Santiago natural gas supplier Metrogas put its emergency plan into action on Monday, following last weekend's record high natural gas consumption in the Metropolitan Region.
  The cold front currently affecting Chile has caused the unusually high energy demand; the months of May and June have been the coldest the country has seen for the past 20 years.

• Monday, June 25th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Dramatic drop in Magallanes Region poverty levels

  

  Although Magallanes Region in the extreme south of Chile has witnessed a significant drop in poverty and indigence rates, there are still some worrisome pockets, according to the latest Socioeconomic Characterization Poll, CASEN, released last week.

• Sunday, June 24th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Evolution of minimum wages in Latam: Argentina leads

  

  Chile saw a 16% real increase in its minimum wage over the past 7 years, putting it in 5th place among Latin American countries. Argentina came in first, doubling its minimum wage since 2000, followed by Uruguay, which increased by 50%. Brazil and Ecuador took 4th and 5th place.

• Thursday, June 21st 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia considers selling gas to Chile

  Bolivian President Evo Morales created a political stir in Chile when he hinted Sunday that his country is considering selling natural gas to Chile, even while admitting that his cabinet is divided over the issue.

• Thursday, June 21st 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Research plan to repopulate Chilean Patagonia with llamas

  

  Chilean investigators are working with Brigham Young University to genetically select the best and most productive characteristics of Chile's llama population. Their aim is to ultimately repopulated Chile's southern Patagonia with llamas, which could become an economic resource for the region and also contribute to halting the erosion of Patagonia's fragile soil, which llama hooves do not wear down.

• Thursday, June 21st 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Glacial Lake disappearance in Chile baffles scientists

  

  A glacial lake in Chile's southern Andes has disappeared, and scientists want to know why. The disappearance of the five-acre lake in the Huemules National Park was discovered in late May by park rangers.

• Wednesday, June 20th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela interested in a “new Mercosur”, if not forget it

  

  Venezuela is interested in becoming a member of a “new Mercosur” but if there's no clear change willingness “we're not interested in the old Mercosur”, said President Hugo Chavez in an interview with the Spanish government agency EFE.

• Monday, June 18th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Canada/Chile trade quintuples in the last five years

  Trade between Chile and Canada has quintupled in the past five years, with a whopping 1.45 billion US dollars in goods now exchanged, reports Chile's International Economic Relations Directorate (DIRECON),

• Sunday, June 17th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chavez thanks OAS for not intervening in the RCTV case

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez thanked all Organization of American States, (OAS) country members for not supporting a United States proposal to “intervene” regarding the non license renewal for Radio Caracas Television, one of the country?s main opposition television stations.