Latin America

• Monday, January 14th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Peru en route to become regional natural gas power

  

  Spain's Repsol announced the discovery of a new gas deposit at block 57 in Peru's Cuzco department that holds 56.6 billion cubic meters. The discovery was made at exploratory well Kinteroni X1 where initial production tests have reached 1Mm3/d of gas and 198m3 of associated liquid hydrocarbons.

• Monday, January 14th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Guatemalan president promises democracy with “Mayan face”

  

  Guatemala's Alvaro Colom was sworn in as president Monday, vowing to fight violent crime and empower the impoverished indigenous population in a social democracy with a “Mayan face”. With a population of 13 million, 45% ethnic Mayan, more than six million Guatemalans live below the poverty line of one US dollar per day.

• Sunday, January 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Ecuador's Tungurahua Volcano Spews Rocks, Ash

  

  Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano on Saturday hurled fiery rocks and sent a column of ash and steam 1 1/2 miles above its crater. Experts have warned that Tungurahua is poised for a major eruption within a matter of days or weeks.

• Sunday, January 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Western Antarctica ice sheet shrinking at accelerated pace

  

  Western Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula have lost billons of tons of the continent's ice mass which means the Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking and at a rate that has increased dramatically between 1996 and 2006 according to a report published in the latest edition of Nature Geoscience.

• Sunday, January 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile becoming UK's fastest growing wine supplier

  

  Chile became in 2007 Britain's sixth supplier of wines and ahead of Spain for the first time according to the market analysis agency AC Nielsen.

• Sunday, January 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Soaring commodities pulverized inflation targets in Latam

  

  Peru, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay are the Latinamerican countries expected to have the best economic performance in the region during 2008, according to the latest edition of World Economic Prospects from the World Bank.

• Saturday, January 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile backs proposal for Dakar Rally in South America

  The Chilean government will back a proposal to bring the Dakar Rally to South America after terrorist threats forced the cancellation of the off-road endurance race traditionally staged across the Sahara desert.

• Saturday, January 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Bird flu: US/Chile coordinate detection in Tierra del Fuego

  

  A United States delegation from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (Department of Agriculture) visited Punta Arenas and Tierra del Fuego to coordinate efforts with their Chilean counterparts in preventing the appearance of invasive pathologies, particularly avian influenza (H5N1 strain) or bird flu.

• Saturday, January 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Chavez lobbying for Colombia's FARC stirs new controversy

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has stirred up controversy by calling on United States and European governments to stop treating the cocaine funded Colombian rebel groups, which are holding hundreds of hostages, as terrorists.

• Saturday, January 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Chile expects 700.000 foreign tourists in Jan/February

  Chile expects 700.000 foreign and overseas Chileans tourists this summer, up 10% over the same period a year ago, which are expected to inject 400 million US dollars to the economy, according to estimates from the National Tourism Office, Sernatur.