Latin America

• Monday, July 2nd 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Colombian guerrilla accused of killing 11 lawmakers

  

  Colombia's guerrilla movement FARC (Colombian revolutionary armed forces) are the “main culprits” for the death of the eleven local Deputies which they held captive, but so is Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, said on Sunday Melanie Betancourt, daughter of Ingrid Betancourt held at ransom by the Marxist oriented guerrillas.

• Saturday, June 30th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  President Hugo Chavez calls for Belarus partnership

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for a strategic partnership with Belarus Friday, calling his Belarusian counterpart a &quotbrother-in-arms&quot and lamenting the pressure he said the United States was putting on Minsk and Caracas

• Saturday, June 30th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  If Brazilian right is stronger, we'll quit Mercosur, said Chavez

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said he's willing to withdraw his country's request to become full member of Mercosur because in his own words it's a mechanism “marked by capitalism and ferocious competence”, according to an official news release.

• Friday, June 29th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Severe air pollution plagues Chilean cities

  

  Cold winter conditions and the lack of wind are exacerbating air-quality problems in Santiago and Chillán; pollution in both cities has reached extreme levels.

• Friday, June 29th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  IMF and World Bank cooperating “unconditionally” with Bolivia

  

  The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are cooperating “unconditionally” with Bolivia's government after months of frosty relations, said President Evo Morales during his visit to Zurich, Switzerland.

• Wednesday, June 27th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Oil World forecasts fall in global 2007/08 soybean harvest

  

  The global 2007-08 soybean harvest is likely to fall by eight million tons on the season to 227.61 million tons, according to forecasts from Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World.
  This would be below the 2007/08 global forecast consumption of 237.90 million tons, up from an estimated 227.36 million tons in 2006-07.

• Tuesday, June 26th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Bolivia proposes sovereignty-free access to the Pacific Ocean

  Bolivian ambassador to Chile Roberto Finot proposed Sunday that Bolivia rent a small strip of coastal Chile to allow the landlocked nation access to the Pacific Ocean. The 50-year “sovereignty-free” port concession would not force Chile to cede any portion of its territory or sovereignty.

• Tuesday, June 26th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  U.N. declares Ecuador's Galapagos Islands in danger

  

  The Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and Senegal's Niokolo-Koba National Park have been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announced today.

• 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.