
Four years are needed to clear the five minefields planted by the Chilean Army in northern Tierra del Fuego, although one of them will be officially certified as de-mined at the end of 2008 according to Chilean Defence ministry sources, reports La Prensa Austral from Punta Arenas.

France warned on Thursday that French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt may have only weeks to live, after fellow captives released by Colombia's FARC guerrillas said her health was failing rapidly.
Venezuela has said it is ready to recover four hostages held by Colombian rebels, in the second release deal brokered by the government of Hugo Chavez this year.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone met with newly-affirmed Cuban leader Raul Castro just two days after the ageing dictator Fidel Castro relinquished power.
With United States Senator Barack Obama leading in the number of delegates for the nomination of presidential candidate for the Democrats, some Latinamerican experts are looking into his knowledge of the region and trying to guess what awaits this region.

Cuban lawmakers will meet to name a new head of state for the first time in nearly a half-century on Sunday, just five days after an ailing, 81-year-old Fidel Castro said he would not accept another term as president.

In spite of the smiles and pictures the Buenos Aires presidential summit of leaders from Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia could not agree on a way out to the energy and distribution situation that threatens the three countries this coming winter and apparently could only be solved in the mid term.

Raul Castro was unanimously selected Sunday by Cuba's National Assembly as president succeeding his ailing brother Fidel who stepped down last week after nearly half a century in charge.

Fidel Castro strongly criticized United States calls for change in Cuba, following his resignation earlier this week as president more than 49 years after seizing power. In a column published Friday Castro rejects US President Bush's assertion that the resignation could put Cuba on the path to democracy.

In a declaration spanning energy, transport and space satellite cooperation, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and visiting Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, instructed their governments to begin negotiations over the next 120 days toward creating the binational commission.