Latin America

• Thursday, August 25th 2011 - 06:42 UTC

  Thousands of tons of undistributed food had to be destroyed in Venezuela

  

  Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Neidy Rosal claimed before the country’s Prosecutors Office that an estimated 160.000 tons of food, in decomposing conditions, were being destroyed by the government’s Food Production and Distribution Office, Pvdal, in the state of Carabobo.

• Thursday, August 25th 2011 - 06:01 UTC

  World’s largest camera to survey 300 galaxies from an observatory in north Chile

  

  “The camera that we built is really very similar to the digital cameras you can buy at Walmart or wherever” Brenna Flaughter told US National Public Radio. “But this camera is big — its guts fill a shiny cylinder that's about the size of a car engine”.

• Wednesday, August 24th 2011 - 22:56 UTC

  Major earthquake rocks Amazon region of Peru, next to Brazil, felt in Lima

  

  A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck a remote Amazon region of Peru on Wednesday, shaking office buildings far away in the capital and in neighbouring Brazil although no injuries or damage were reported immediately.

• Wednesday, August 24th 2011 - 22:15 UTC

  Two-day strike takes off in Chile with Piñera increasingly debilitated

  

  The Chilean capital Santiago was witnessing another tumultuous day on Wednesday as protests started to sweep the nation’s capital and unions called for a two day nationwide shutdown to protest the educational system.

• 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.