Latin America

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 17:39 UTC

  Chile purchasing an 11.300 tons amphibious assault ship from the French navy

  

  France and Chile are in the last stages of the transfer of the amphibious assault ship ‘Foudre’ to replace the decommissioned multipurpose ‘Valdivia’ that was extensively used for the transport of troops and military equipment, reported the Chilean navy.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 17:24 UTC

  Pirelli to invest 500m in Argentina factory to recover Mercosur tyre market

  

  Facing losing market shares in the Mercosur region, Italy’s Pirelli is to build a new radial truck tyre factory in Argentina involving an investment of 500 million dollars. Construction will begin in 2012, with first-phase capacity on stream in 2014.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 17:05 UTC

  Paraguay holds the chair of Unasur as of next October 29

  

  Paraguay will be receiving the pro-tempore chair of Unasur (Union of South American Nations) from Guyana next October 29 during the Ibero-American summit which will be taking place in Asuncion.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 06:56 UTC

  Primary ballot results indicate Bolivians have turned their backs on Morales

  

  Most Bolivians who voted in Sunday's election to choose the country's top judges cast invalid ballots in what would be a stinging rebuke for President Evo Morales, according to unofficial partial results.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 06:51 UTC

  Venezuela’s Chavez returns to Cuba for ‘fourth and final’ cancer treatment

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to Cuba on Sunday to undergo a series of medical tests to evaluate his cancer treatment. Chavez, who finished what he described as his fourth and final round of chemotherapy in Cuba last month, said he will be undergoing what he described as “rigorous examinations”.

• Monday, October 17th 2011 - 03:57 UTC

  Volcanic ash forces flights’ suspension at Argentina and Uruguay main airports

  

  Argentina and Uruguay suspended flights at major airports Sunday due to dangerous ash from neighbouring Chile's Puyehue volcano, which has disrupted global travel since it erupted earlier this year.

• Saturday, October 15th 2011 - 18:38 UTC

  Leading Cuban dissident and founder of Ladies in White dies

  

  Laura Pollán, one of the founders of the Cuban dissident group Ladies in White, has died in a Havana hospital at the age of 63, fellow dissidents on Friday.

• Friday, October 14th 2011 - 08:03 UTC

  Argos raises prospective resource by 182% to 2.1 billion barrels of oil

  

  Argos Resources Limited (AIM: ARG.L), the Falkland Islands based exploration company focused on the North Falkland Basin, is pleased to issue a new Competent Persons Report (“CPR”) prepared by Senergy (GB) Ltd (“Senergy”).

• Friday, October 14th 2011 - 04:08 UTC

  The 33 Chilean rescued miners: from glory to the gray everyday life

  

  On October 13, 2010, the 33 trapped Chilean miners looked upon the blazing sunshine of the Atacama Desert for the first time in over two months. It was remarkable they had survived at all, but their successful rescue after so long underground was positively incredible.

• Friday, October 14th 2011 - 03:12 UTC

  Uruguay forecasted to expand 5.5% this year and 4.5% in 2012

  

  The Uruguayan economy is forecasted to expand 5.5% this year generating 40.000 new jobs, and 4.5% in 2012, according to “Prospects and Tendencies” announced Thursday by the Economy Institute from the Economics Faculty.