Latin America

• Thursday, February 24th 2011 - 18:31 UTC

  Falklands welcomes Chilean port fees decision

  

  THE decision by Chile to reduce the costs of port access and docking operations was welcomed by the Falkland Islands Tourist Board today.

• Thursday, February 24th 2011 - 06:55 UTC

  Mining companies increase investments in Chile in spite of rising costs

  

  Two major mining companies, Barrick Gold and Collahuasi, both plan to dramatically increase investments in their northern Chile gold and copper operations despite rising inflation and increased production costs.

• Thursday, February 24th 2011 - 06:51 UTC

  Iran ambassador and Palestinians in Chile ‘monitored’ with Israel collaboration

  

  Israeli special defence forces – concerned about what they saw as an increased Iranian presence in South America – collaborated with Chile’s government to monitor “unusual activity” within the Iranian and Palestinian communities, a newly released cable from Wikileaks has shown.

• Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 19:04 UTC

  Chile slashes port operating costs for the cruise industry

  

  Chile announced Wednesday that cruise vessels operating in Chilean waters will benefit from significant rebates in port access and docking operations with the implementation of recent modifications to the ruling on rates and charges from the Maritime Transport and Merchant Navy Department.

• Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 07:09 UTC

  Santander selling insurance business in Latam to Swiss company

  

  Switzerland’s largest insurer, Zurich Financial Services, has agreed to pay as much as 2.1 billion US dollars for 51% of Banco Santander’s insurance business in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

• Tuesday, February 22nd 2011 - 00:58 UTC

  Toledo set to repeat in Peru, but ex mayor Castañeda can still give surprise

  

  Former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo continues to lead public opinion polls for the April 10 presidential election followed in a tight race by Congress member Keiko Fujimori and the ex mayor of Lima, Luis Castañeda.

• Monday, February 21st 2011 - 16:39 UTC

  Weak dollar, strong peso batters Chilean tourism industry

  

  The tourism industry in Chile is going through a very bad moment with a notorious drop in the number of visitors in recent months claim the private sector and local councillors from the city of Viña del Mar, one of the country’s main sea resorts.

• Friday, February 18th 2011 - 19:18 UTC

  Chilean vineyards face shortage of field workers; most migrate to construction

  

  Chile’s white wine grapes slated for harvest at the end of the month may not find enough hands to pick them. The grape harvest is the most labour-intensive period of the year for vineyards, but this year, vineyards having trouble tracking down temporary workers to work the harvest season.

• Friday, February 18th 2011 - 15:45 UTC

  Chile hikes rates but faces dilemma of imbalances and Peso appreciation

  

  The Central Bank of Chile (CBC) hiked interest rates by 25bps to 3.5% on Thursday night targeting growing economic imbalances and the threat of higher inflation, reports Capital Economics latest update.

• Friday, February 18th 2011 - 14:42 UTC

  Expanded access facilities planned for Santiago’s international airport

  

  Chile’s Public Works Ministry (MOP) will invest 9.1 million US dollars to remodel infrastructure surrounding Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in order to reduce traffic and improve experiences for air travellers.