Latin America

• Wednesday, August 24th 2011 - 07:26 UTC

  Impatient Raul Castro calls on Cubans “to clear our heads of ideological rigidity”

  

  Cuban President Raul Castro is increasingly impatient with the slow implementation of his economic reforms, which he publicly blames mostly on bureaucratic sloth and resistance to change.

• Tuesday, August 23rd 2011 - 00:36 UTC

  Unasur Foreign Affairs ministers meet in Buenos Aires to address global crisis

  

  The Union of South American Nations, (Unasur) Foreign Affairs ministers’ council will be holding on Wednesday an extraordinary summit in Buenos Aires to address several issues related to last week’s meeting of Unasur Finance ministers.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 20:59 UTC

  Chavez supporters shave their heads in solidarity with the Venezuelan leader

  

  Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez shaved their heads in solidarity with their leader's struggle against cancer. Barbers shaved off the hair of several men and at least one woman while the crowd swayed to a religious song on Sunday as hundreds prayed and sang at a televised event.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:49 UTC

  Argentina and Chile jointly promoting tourism to attract more Aussies

  

  Argentina and Chile are jointly promoting their countries in a round of events in Australia with the purpose of drawing more Aussie tourists. The promotion coincides with the recent announcement of Australia’s flag carrier Qantas direct flights to Santiago de Chile.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:22 UTC

  Chavez health and ‘arbitrary laws’ make S&P downgrade Venezuela’s rating

  

  US ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Venezuela's foreign and local currency sovereign ratings by one notch Friday, citing the country's political risk as a credit weakness.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 07:10 UTC

  Venezuela has requested 99 tons of gold holdings from the Bank of England

  

  Venezuela’s central bank has requested its 99 tons of gold holdings from the Bank of England, according to a bank statement sent by e-mail, citing the institution’s president Nelson Merentes.

• Monday, August 22nd 2011 - 06:55 UTC

  Uruguay and Colombia have best ‘business climate’ in Latin America

  

  Business climate remained stable in Latin America during the second quarter of the year in spite of signs of the incipient global financial crisis, according to the Brazilian Foundation and think-tank Getulio Vargas. Uruguay and Colombia led the pack of the most pro-business countries in the region.

• Saturday, August 20th 2011 - 06:52 UTC

  Latam markets follow world trend but fall less than the US and EU

  

  Latin American stocks fell on Friday as deepening fears of a US recession and a wider financial crisis that could result from Europe's debt troubles kept investors cautious.

• Saturday, August 20th 2011 - 06:43 UTC

  Peru halts coca plants eradication and works to redesign new anti-drugs program

  

  Peru has temporarily halted the eradication of coca plants used to make cocaine as it works to redesign its anti-drug programs, the country's interior ministry announced this week.

• Saturday, August 20th 2011 - 06:37 UTC

  Feisty Uruguay wins respect from neighbours and investors

  

  The following feature piece from Reuters written by Hillary Burke and Malena Castaldi gives an idea of Uruguay’s international standing.