Latin America

Monday, February 11th 2013 - 16:13 UTC
Next Pope could be Latinamerican, admit senior Vatican officials

With Pope Benedict's stunning announcement that he will resign end of the month, the time may be coming for the Roman Catholic Church to elect its first non-European leader and it could be a Latin American. The region already represents 42% of the world's 1.2 billion-strong Catholic population, the largest single block in the Church, compared to 25% in its European heartland and is has several outstanding candidates, according to Church sources.
Monday, February 11th 2013 - 02:45 UTC
Uruguay has interests in Falklands, beyond the UK/Argentina territorial dispute

Uruguayan opposition lawmakers, as from the rest of the continent will be travelling to the Falklands as observers of the referendum scheduled for next March 10/11 “to see the legitimacy of the process and results” but also because Uruguay has interests that go beyond the territorial dispute between Argentina and the UK.
Monday, February 11th 2013 - 00:56 UTC
Brazil January inflation spike triggers concern for the government and investors

Brazilian inflation in January climbed to 0.86%, the highest for the month in the last ten years, according to the country’s stats office, IBGE. Inflation in December was 0.79%, ending the twelve months of last year at 5.82% which was in the target range with a ceiling of 6.5%.
Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 09:32 UTC
Venezuela devalues currency 32% to help cut 11% of GDP fiscal gap

Venezuela devalued its currency for the fifth time in nine years as ailing President Hugo Chavez seeks to narrow a widening fiscal gap and reduce a shortage of dollars in the economy. The new exchange rate falls by 32% to 6.3 Bolivar per dollar starting Feb. 13, Finance Minister Jorge Giordani told reporters in Caracas.
Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 09:23 UTC
Ecuador presidential election turning into a one man race

Populist Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has maintained a huge lead over his nearest opposition rival in the run-up to the Feb. 17 elections, recent polls show. Correa's popularity has remained above 50% throughout his six years in office, buoyed by his personal charisma as well as his government's heavy spending on hospitals, roads and schools.
Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 09:16 UTC
India signs ambitious mining agreement with Uruguay

India has shown great interest in mining iron ore, granite, gold and diamond in Uruguay and has entered into a deal for exploring and encouraging investment opportunities in the mining sector, according to Indian sources visiting Uruguay.
Friday, February 8th 2013 - 06:51 UTC
“No big deal with inflation, I grew up in a country with 70%/80% inflation”

Two contrasting views have surfaced in the Uruguayan government regarding inflation which has been steadily climbing and seems so far immune to monetary tools, but is now the second highest in the region behind Argentina.
Friday, February 8th 2013 - 05:13 UTC
Economic activity in Chile expanded 4.7% in December and 5.5% in the twelve months

Economic activity in Chile grew 4.7% in December from the year earlier on gains in the service and retail industries, and ended the twelve months of 2012 with an expansion of 5.5% over the previous year according to Central bank data.
Wednesday, February 6th 2013 - 21:53 UTC
Uruguay promotes a free trade agreement of Mercosur with Canada

Foreign minister Luis Almagro announced that Uruguay will work for a free trade agreement between Mercosur and Canada during the first half of the year when Uruguay holds the chair of the South American group that also includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela.
Tuesday, February 5th 2013 - 20:51 UTC
Colombia reaches sustained production of over a million barrels of oil per day

Colombia announced that it produced an average of 1.01 million barrels of oil per day in January, marking the first time that average crude output for a month surpassed the one million-barrel mark that the government had set as a target for the country's oil industry.