Latin America

• Thursday, October 20th 2011 - 21:36 UTC

  Brazil lowers basic rate half a point for a second time running to 11.5%

  

  Brazil’s central bank cut borrowing costs by half a point for a second straight meeting. The bank’s board, led by President Alexandre Tombini, voted unanimously to reduce the benchmark Selic rate to 11.5% from 12% percent.

• Thursday, October 20th 2011 - 21:16 UTC

  Chavez declares he’s free of cancer; makes pilgrimage to Catholic miraculous shrine

  

  Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez self-declared he was cancer-free on Thursday four months after surgery to remove a cancerous tumour that shook the oil rich country ahead of a 2012 presidential vote.

• Thursday, October 20th 2011 - 06:55 UTC

  Amazon Indians reach La Paz rattling Morales grip over government

  

  Hundreds of members from indigenous tribes opposing a jungle highway financed by Brazil and that they say will spoil their lands in Bolivia's Amazon drew cheers Wednesday when they paraded into the capital La Paz after a 63-day protest march.

• Thursday, October 20th 2011 - 06:51 UTC

  Cuba to lease larger plots to private farmers hoping to increase food production

  

  Cuba will greatly expand the amount of land granted to private farmers, an agriculture official said on Wednesday, as the country struggles to boost food production.

• Thursday, October 20th 2011 - 06:48 UTC

  Repsol invites US to check its oil rig standards before drilling in Cuban waters

  

  Repsol YPF SA, which is scheduled to begin exploratory drilling in Cuban waters, has offered US agencies an opportunity to inspect the vessel and its equipment before it arrives at the well site, US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Michael R. Bromwich said.

• Thursday, October 20th 2011 - 04:21 UTC

  ‘The role of the State’ to be discusses in the Ibero-American summit

  

  “State reform and development” will be driving force of the coming Ibero-American summit to take place next week, October 28/29 in Paraguay and already has the attendance confirmation of eighteen presidents, according to the organizers.

• Thursday, October 20th 2011 - 04:13 UTC

  Mexican group organizing round of conferences on the Falklands/Malvinas war

  

  The Solidarity with Malvinas Islands Group in Mexico is organizing a round of conferences next April/June in coincidence with the 30th anniversary of the Falklands/Malvinas war to which will be invited academics both from Argentina and the UK.

• Thursday, October 20th 2011 - 00:10 UTC

  Argentina, Brazil and Mexico attempt to harmonize positions ahead of G20

  

  Argentina, Brazil and Mexico meeting in Uruguay ahead of the G-20 summit in France next November, agreed to demand a greater role for the region in global affairs and in helping to resolve the global economic crisis.

• Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 23:17 UTC

  Piñera looses support from business sector in the conflict over education reform

  

  Following on the examples of their German, French and some US peers, Chilean business leaders have asked for an increase in taxes they pay to help finance social demands in spite of the strong opposition of President Sebastián Piñera administration.

• Wednesday, October 19th 2011 - 15:16 UTC

  The Economist: Latin American universities far from excellence in higher education

  

  The Economist has an interesting article, and comments, on the quality of higher education in Latin America based on the latest ratings from UK, US and Chinese education consultancies.