Latin America

• Tuesday, September 11th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Rate of melting glaciers has doubled in ten years

  

  Scientists from the Center of Scientific Studies of Valdivia (CECS) said this week that Chile's glaciers are melting at twice the speed observed just ten years ago. The scientists, who recently participated in a specially called international forum on glaciers, also warned that this trend could have devastating ramifications due to current plans to construct hydroelectric dams around Chile.

• Tuesday, September 11th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Oil corporations and Bolivia agree on investment program

  

  Bolivia announced this week foreign energy corporations have promised to invest more than 580 million US dollars in 2007, about three times more than last year. The announcement comes a month after President Evo Morales threatened the industry with ignoring contracts if they were not committed to investing in Bolivia.

• Tuesday, September 11th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Russian Foreign Affairs minister on South American tour

  

  Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov and a delegation of businessmen arrived Tuesday in Peru for an official one day visit to hold talks with President Alan García and sign several cooperation agreements.

• Monday, September 10th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Guatemala Needs Electoral Runoff

  

  A center-left businessman and a conservative former general face a November runoff for Guatemala's presidency, according to election returns Monday that showed a Nobel Peace Prize winner finishing a distant sixth.

• Saturday, September 8th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Guatemala ready for Sunday Presidential Election

  

  In spite of violence that claimed some 50 lives, officials in Guatemala say they are prepared to carry out an efficient and secure electoral process on Sunday when voters go to the polls to elect a new president.

• Friday, September 7th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  President Bachelet discusses Free Trade in Australia

  

  Chilean President Michelle Bachelet met Thursday with Australian Prime Minister John Howard to discuss further rounds of negotiations concerning an eventual Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Central America: Two hurricanes in one day make history

  

  Hurricanes swept ashore in Nicaragua and Mexico within hours of each other Tuesday, the first time Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes have made landfall on the same day since the National Hurricane Center began keeping records in the 1940s.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Wines of Chile reports a 37 percent of wine exports

  Although many of Chile's agro-industrial sectors have suffered this year due to labor conflicts and an exceptionally cold winter, its wine industry is thriving

• Wednesday, September 5th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Argentine gas cuts limit Punta Arenas methanol plant

  

  Canada's Methanex Corporation said Wednesday that the provision of Argentine natural gas for its methanol plants in the extreme south of Chile remains limited in spite of the fact that the “technical problems” alleged by suppliers have been solved.

• Tuesday, September 4th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Bachelet signs free trade pact with Japan in Tokyo

  

  On the first day of Chilean President Michelle Bachelet's trip to Japan, she and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which came into effect immediately. That accord is expected to create 50,000 new jobs and significantly increase Chile's exports to Japan.