Latin America

• Wednesday, January 4th 2012 - 05:47 UTC

  Piñera announces partial reopening of Torres del Paine Park under strict controls

  

  Chilean President Sebastián Piñera assured on Tuesday that several forest fires in Torres del Paine, Chilean Patagonia, were “under control” and announced that the national park will partially reopen as of Wednesday. It has remained closed since last Friday when the fire went out of control.

• Tuesday, January 3rd 2012 - 03:04 UTC

  Venezuela cuts Exxon-Mobil compensation payment from 908m to 255m dollars

  

  Venezuela's PDVSA said on Monday it will pay Exxon Mobil Corp 255 million dollars in compensation for nationalized assets, which is less than a third of what the US oil giant said it was awarded by an arbitration panel.

• Tuesday, January 3rd 2012 - 00:52 UTC

  Piñera says Torres del Paine fire under control; 12.795 hectares lost to the blaze

  

  The fire that broke out in the Chilean Patagonia Torres del Paine national park forest is under control due to the effort of hundreds of fire-fighters and improved climatic conditions, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera announced Monday afternoon.
  The Israeli citizen accused of having caused the fire denied his involvement.

• Monday, January 2nd 2012 - 21:44 UTC

  Venezuelan economy expands 4% in 2010 and inflation reaches 27.6%

  

  Inflation in Venezuela during last year reached 27.6%, which is 0.7 percentage points more than in 2010, according to a preliminary report from Venezuela’s central bank. President Nelson Merentes said that the consumer prices index “was associated to the upwards pressure generated on wholesale prices by a greater dynamism from domestic aggregate demand”.

• Monday, January 2nd 2012 - 21:01 UTC

  Peru’s fish meal anchovy finds a new successful outlet in the burger market

  

  Peruvians now have a choice of good food thanks to a hamburger produced by TASA that is made with anchovy pulp: Omegaburger Kontiki, innovative product rich in protein, minerals, vitamins and Omega 3 fatty acids.

• Monday, January 2nd 2012 - 03:56 UTC

  Peruvian fish exports soar in volume and income: 2.8bn dollars in ten months

  

  Peruvian fish exports generated during last October generated 206.2 million dollars which represents 42.1% more than in the same month of 2010 (145.1 million), while export volume jumped 42.8% from 89.200 to 127.400 tons, the Ministry of Production reported. The increases were primarily due to higher sales of fishmeal.

• Monday, January 2nd 2012 - 03:46 UTC

  Victory for Chavez in arbitration with Exxon Mobil over assets’ nationalization

  

  An international arbitration panel has awarded US oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp 908 million dollars in compensation for Venezuela's 2007 nationalization of assets, less than 10% of what it sought in a dispute that pitted a top global oil company against one of the world's largest oil exporters.

• Saturday, December 31st 2011 - 18:50 UTC

  The grueling three-country Dakar Rally takes off from Mar del Plata to Lima

  

  The 33 edition of the Dakar Rally got off to a symbolic start on Saturday ahead of a 15-day race that will take 466 registered competitors from Argentina through Chile to a finish in Lima, Peru.

• Friday, December 30th 2011 - 21:17 UTC

  Forest fire in Torres del Pain out of control because of the strong winds

  

  Chile declared on Friday “catastrophe zone” the extreme south province of Ultima Esperanza where a forest fire, so far out of control, has ravaged over 9.000 hectares of pristine flora from the Torres del Paine national park.

• Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 23:29 UTC

  Venezuela has highest murder rate of South America, worse than Colombia

  

  President Hugo Chavez Venezuela is on track to set a new record for murders and to remain South America's most violent country, according to data released by a crime watchdog. The Venezuela Violence Monitor (OVV) said this week that 19 336 people had been murdered in 2011, an average of 53 per day in a country of 29 million.