Latin America

• Monday, March 5th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile and Japan ready to sign FTA at end of March

  

  The Chilean and Japanese governments will sign a free trade agreement (FTA) on March 27, which constitutes a step forward in reinforcing Chile's presence in Asia, where it currently holds agreements with China (2005) and South Korea. The new convention is similar to others agreed to by the European Union (EU) and the United States.

• Monday, March 5th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Dramatic change of Bush policy towards Latinamerica

  United States President George Bush who next Thursday begins an eight days five countries trip to Latinamerica dramatically changed his administration's speech acknowledging that U.S.-backed economic policies and free-trade agreements have failed to lift millions of Latin Americans from poverty

• Sunday, March 4th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile's meteorologists on alert for La Niña

  Meteorologists in the U.S. forecast Thursday an increase in hurricanes for the coming year. They lay the blame on “La Niña” – El Niño's ”sister” phenomenon - which produces a cooling effect on the surface water of the Pacific Ocean and can drastically alter weather patterns as far as Africa.

• Sunday, March 4th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Rio Group supports Argentina in Falklands/Malvinas dispute

  Heads of State at the XIXth Rio Group summit in Guyana over the weekend approved a resolution backing “Argentina's legitimate rights over the Malvinas”, regarding the sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom.

• Sunday, March 4th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Rio Group committed to “revitalization” and less summits

  The Rio Group will be revitalized with fewer summits and more action in the form of mutual consultations aimed at reacting quickly to international crises, the presidents of the regional association agreed Saturday in Guyana.

• Friday, March 2nd 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Bush administration upgrades Latinamerica and democracy

  

  United States President Bush will use his visit to Latin America to highlight his vision of building positive new partnerships in the Americas, a senior State Department official said in congressional testimony.

• Thursday, March 1st 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chilean scientists to record blue whales “conversations”

  

  Marine Biologists from Chile's Blue Whale Center (CBA) have embarked on a new project to record the noises made by endangered blue whales off the coast of southern Chile. They hope to use their recordings to identify individual whales and learn more about how whales communicate with each other.

• Wednesday, February 28th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile announces plans to research nuclear energy

  

  Energy Minister Karen Poniachik announced Tuesday that her ministry would begin technical studies into the potential use of nuclear energy in Chile. Facing criticism from both the governing Concertación coalition and opposition Alliance for delays in the government-mandated studies, Poniachik said the ministry would present a plan to assess the implementation of nuclear energy in March.

• Wednesday, February 28th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  Venezuela takes control of foreign oil projects

  President Hugo Chavez's announced takeover of Venezuela's most promising oil-producing operations will likely increase strain on the country's heavily burdened state-run oil company and pressure production at the world's eighth-largest oil exporter.

• Wednesday, February 28th 2007 - 21:00 UTC

  New constitution for the British Virgin Islands

  

  The successful conclusion this week of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) constitutional talks was praised by Foreign Office Minister Lord Triestman.