Latin America

• Friday, February 11th 2011 - 06:19 UTC

  Major brawl in Venezuelan congress between pro and anti Chavez lawmakers

  

  Venezuelan lawmakers exchanged punches in parliament on Thursday when a fight erupted between members of President Hugo Chavez's socialist party and rivals, in a sign of the country’s political polarization.

• Friday, February 11th 2011 - 06:10 UTC

  Colombian rebels release hostage but at the same time kidnap two contractors

  

  Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos blasted Thursday the “double moral” of the FARC guerrilla that kidnapped two workers while preparing for the release of several hostages held for years and revealed he was tempted to suspend the liberation operation.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 23:20 UTC

  Easter Island Rapa Niu peoples’ land claims’ turns international

  

  The Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR), a body within the Organization of American States, has issued Precautionary Measures to protect the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 22:53 UTC

  Unasur becomes fully in force March 11, following on Uruguay’s ratification vote

  

  The Uruguayan government officially delivered this week the formal ratification of the UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) founding charter thus turning the political project into juridical reality.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 10:53 UTC

  Chile prepares for energy rationing; insufficient rainfall caused by La Niña

  

  The strongest La Niña weather cycle in 35 years has reduced rainfall by up to 46% in some areas of Chile. The dry season began last March and is expected to continue through May.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 00:58 UTC

  South America/Arab countries business summit in Peru next April

  

  The South American/Arab countries III Business Summit will take place April 19 and 20 in Peru confirmed the organizers of the event that was to be held parallel to the suspended South America/Arab leaders’ summit (ASPA) this month in Lima.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 00:54 UTC

  Chile extends foreign exchange market intervention program to tame strong peso

  

  The Chilean central bank announced Tuesday it would maintain the pace of a 12 billion US dollars foreign exchange intervention to tame the strong peso between Feb. 9 and March 8, and continue to buy 50 million of US currency daily.

• Thursday, February 10th 2011 - 00:50 UTC

  Venezuela’s homicide rate exposes vulnerable flank of President Chavez

  

  Venezuelan authorities say they recorded 48 homicides for every 100,000 inhabitants last year, making it one of the most dangerous places in South America. Venezuela has a population of 28 million and a report for United Nations last year put the homicide rate for South America as a whole around 20 per 100.000 people.

• Wednesday, February 9th 2011 - 23:20 UTC

  Riding on commodities boom, Peruvian exports reached 35 billion USD in 2010

  

  Peruvian exports in 2010 reached 35 billion US dollars, up 30% from 2009, said Foreign Trade and Tourism minister Enrique Ferreyros. He also pointed out in nine years the number of Peruvian companies involved in exporting jumped from 4.086 to 7.200 and markets from 155 to 178 markets.

• Tuesday, February 8th 2011 - 17:49 UTC

  Rate hikes expected in Brazil and Chile as global commodity prices drive inflation

  

  Global commodity prices continue to be the main driver of inflation in both Brazil and Chile, according to the latest Latin America update report from Capital Economics.