Latin America

Wednesday, January 16th 2013 - 05:57 UTC
Chilean government in contacts with Mapuches to find solution to the conflict

The Chilean government started contacts in an attempt to ease tension and find solutions to the escalating conflict with the indigenous Mapuche in the southern province of La Araucania which has seen killings and properties torched.
Wednesday, January 16th 2013 - 05:54 UTC
Record tourist arrivals in Chile during 2012: 3.5million. Target for this year: 4m

Chile received a total of 3.5 million foreign tourists in 2012, a 13% hike over the year before and an all-time record. The 13% gain far outpaced the 6% increase that Latin America scored as a whole last year, Chile's deputy secretary for tourism, Jacqueline Plass, said.
Wednesday, January 16th 2013 - 03:52 UTC
Statement on Falklands expected from South Atlantic peace zone meeting

Representatives from 21 African and South American countries are debating in Uruguay the consolidation of the South Atlantic as a zone free of massive destruction arms and its “improper militarization”, as a result of the growing tension between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 22:00 UTC
Cuba admits 51 cholera cases in Havana; travel warnings from UK and US

Cuba's Public Health Ministry on Tuesday acknowledged 51 new cases of cholera in the capital Havana amid growing concerns about the illness' spread and disappointment in the diplomatic community over the government's lack of transparency.
Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 06:53 UTC
US waiting for Venezuela situation to ‘clear up’; insists constitution must be complied

United States and other Latinamerican countries wish the situation in Venezuela ‘clears up’, said Roberta S. Jacobson Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, currently in Spain as part of a visit that also includes the UK and Belgium.
Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 06:51 UTC
Chavez followers and opposition plan to take streets of Caracas on the same day

Venezuela’s ruling party said on Monday that the ‘high command’ is receiving instructions from President Hugo Chavez in Havana while its grass roots leaders are organizing a massive rally next week which happens to coincide with a similar march on the same day but to protest and organized by the opposition.
Tuesday, January 15th 2013 - 02:03 UTC
Colombia wants to step up peace negotiations but FARC dragging their feet

Representatives of the Colombian government and Marxist-led FARC rebels reconvened in Havana Monday for a third round of peace talks that the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos says need to start moving faster.
Monday, January 14th 2013 - 06:58 UTC
Chavez health ‘improving’; top Venezuelan officials meet in Havana with Raul Castro

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's lung infection has been controlled and his medical state is improving, the government announced on Sunday while four of the most powerful figures gathered in Havana allegedly to report to the cancer-stricken leader and meet with Cuban allies.
Monday, January 14th 2013 - 06:38 UTC
Major victory for President Morales: UN accepts “coca leaf chewing” in Bolivia

Bolivia will again belong to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs after its bid to rejoin with a reservation that it does not accept the treaty’s requirement that “coca leaf chewing must be banned” was successful Friday. Opponents needed one-third of the 184 signatory countries to object, but fell far, far short despite objections by the US and the International Narcotics Control Board.
Monday, January 14th 2013 - 03:53 UTC
“Where is the reconstruction money?” asks Haiti on third anniversary of devastating quake

Three years after a massive earthquake ravaged Haiti, President Michel Martelly said on Saturday his country was slowly rebuilding, despite the ongoing day-to-day misery of many survivors and the still to be honoured promises of international aid and donations.