Latin America

• Friday, April 22nd 2011 - 05:13 UTC

  Chilean Army clearing antitank and antipersonnel mine fields in Tierra del Fuego

  

  The Chilean Army is currently clearing four fields planted with anti-personnel mines in Tierra del Fuego and will move to another four once the job is finalized, reported the Commander Gonzalo Echeverria, from the 5th Engineers Battalion seated in Punta Arenas.

• Friday, April 22nd 2011 - 05:05 UTC

  Mercosur and South America, remain top priorities of Brazilian diplomacy

  

  South American countries, particularly Mercosur members remain as top priority of Brazil’s foreign policy confirmed this week President Dilma Rousseff.

• Friday, April 22nd 2011 - 04:59 UTC

  Humpback whales return to Chilean waters; Punta Arenas planning watch-posts

  

  Humpback whales, once hunted nearly to extinction, started returning to Chilean seas in the 1990s. By 2003 so many had appeared that Chile created a protected coastal area, Francisco Coloane with marine park in it to assure the whales would have the nutrients they need to thrive.

• Friday, April 22nd 2011 - 04:51 UTC

  Piñera accused of conflict of interest in Patagonian coal mine approval

  

  Leading figures in Chile’s government were caught up in conflict of interest charges this week, with opposition Dep. Enrique Accorsi accusing President Sebastián Piñera and several of his cabinet ministers of “serious conflicts of interest” when they gave a green light to the Mina Invierno coal mine on Isla Riesco.

• Thursday, April 21st 2011 - 06:59 UTC

  Where’s the new blood? Cuban reforms to be implemented by the old guard

  

  Cuba's Communist Party selected President Raúl Castro and hard-liners from the old guard to steer wide-ranging reforms of the island's crumbling economy. As expected, Raúl Castro, 79, was chosen at a four-day party congress to replace his older brother Fidel Castro as first secretary of the ruling party's Central Committee.

• Thursday, April 21st 2011 - 06:28 UTC

  Chile and Argentina working to complement their power grids

  

  Chile is studying supplying neighbouring Argentina with electricity during the southern hemisphere's summer, when demand spikes, daily newspaper La Tercera reported Wednesday.

• Thursday, April 21st 2011 - 03:20 UTC

  Chile looking for a new icebreaker to strengthen presence in Antarctica

  

  The Chilean Navy icebreaker is scheduled to be decommissioned in four years time so “we are in the task of considering a replacement” revealed Third Naval Zone Commander Rear Admiral Rafael Gonzalez during a press conference in Punta Arenas to review results of the last Antarctic season.

• Wednesday, April 20th 2011 - 05:14 UTC

  Oil exploration in extreme south of Chile attracts 400 million USD in three years

  

  In the coming three years hydrocarbons exploration and exploitation in the extreme south of Chile will receive investment equivalent to over 400 million US dollars making Punta Arenas a hub for the regional oil industry.

• Wednesday, April 20th 2011 - 05:01 UTC

  Mexican cruise operator takes off with full evacuation of ‘Ocean Star Pacific’

  

  The 1050 passenger MV ‘Ocean Star Pacific’ was stranded six miles off the Mexican coast at Huatulco by a generator fire, forcing the evacuation of 522 passengers and 226 crew members on Saturday.

• Wednesday, April 20th 2011 - 02:49 UTC

  Latin America rapidly becoming a middle-class continent, according to ECLAC

  

  Latin America’s middle class increased by 56 million since 1999 with a direct consequence on consumption patterns and demand for government policies, according to a report in the latest edition of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean, ECLAC Review.