Latin America

• Friday, June 1st 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Alternative route to Torres del Paine Park cuts distance by half

  

  A new alternative route linking Puerto Natales with the renowned Torres del Paine National Park, cutting in half the distance from 140 to 70 kilometres, was opened this week in Magallanes Region in the extreme south of Chile.

• Friday, June 1st 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Diplomatic incident brewing between Brazil and Venezuela

  Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon Venezuela's ambassador Julio Garcia Montoya “for the indispensable clarification” of President Hugo Chavez' reference to the Brazilian Senate as “a parrot that repeats whatever Washington says” adding that the Brazilian Congress was “controlled by the right wing”.

• Thursday, May 31st 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Shipments to Chile resumed

  Argentina resumed shipments of crucial natural gas to Chile's populous central region yesterday, Chilean energy officials said, easing fears that an acute energy shortage could worsen.

• Wednesday, May 30th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile to double financing of Antarctic scientific research

  Chile is planning to double Antarctic scientific research funds this coming season 2007/08 revealed this week in Punta Arenas Jose Retamales, director of the Chilean Antarctic Institute.

• Tuesday, May 29th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile's gas crisis intensifies

  Chile is looking to acquire Uruguay's unused natural gas permits with Argentina in order to secure a steady supply of gas for Santiago. This proposal comes on the heels of an intensifying energy crisis, with the country's capital city facing possible residential and commercial gas cuts.

• Tuesday, May 29th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuelans protest as TV station shuts

  

  Venezuelan police fired tear gas and plastic bullets Monday into a crowd of thousands protesting a decision by President Hugo Chavez that forced a television station critical of his leftist government off the air.

• Tuesday, May 29th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chavez threatens to sanction another television network

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez threatened Tuesday to sanction Globovision television station if they continue “to incite a murder attempt on his life” and insisted that the students' rioting allegedly to protest the taking out of the air of another network was part of a “de-stabilization plan”.

• Monday, May 28th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Bachelet travels to Northern European Nations

  President Michelle Bachelet left Chile late Sunday evening for a state visit to northern European nations where she will meet with Finnish President Tarja Halonen, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stotltenberg and Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey. Bachelet will return to Chile on June 4.

• Monday, May 28th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuelan TV Station Goes Off the Air

  

  Venezuela's oldest private television station went off the air just before midnight Sunday as thousands banged on pots and pans in protest against a decision by President Hugo Chavez that did away with a popular opposition-aligned channel.

• Sunday, May 27th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Paraguayan general elections scheduled for April 2008

  

  Paraguay will be going to the polls to elect the successor of President Nicanor Duarte Flores on April 20 next year, confirmed this week the country's Electoral Tribunal.