Latin America

• Saturday, February 5th 2011 - 08:34 UTC

  Former president leads vote intention for April Peruvian general elections

  

  A former president, an ex mayor and the daughter of an ousted president lead the public opinion polls for Peru’s presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for April 10th.

• Saturday, February 5th 2011 - 03:29 UTC

  Piñera reaffirms Chile’s commitment to Antarctica, the continent of the future

  

  President Sebastian Piñera described Antarctica as the continent of the future and confirmed Chile’s commitment to the values of peace and environment conservation represented by the southern pole mass.

• Thursday, February 3rd 2011 - 06:35 UTC

  Chavez celebrates 12 years in office and anticipates six more

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez celebrated Wednesday his twelfth anniversary in power saying he is ready to battle for six more years in elections next year. Chavez said in a televised speech that “the battle has begun” for his 2012 re-election.

• Thursday, February 3rd 2011 - 01:50 UTC

  Spain celebrates 20th anniversary of Cervantes Institute in 44 countries

  

  Spain’s Cervantes Institute to promote Spanish language and culture is marking its 20th anniversary with more than 6,500 activities at the 77 centres is has opened in 44 countries and among this year’s plans is the inauguration of a centre in Gibraltar.

• Wednesday, February 2nd 2011 - 18:06 UTC

  In spite of 100 years of production, Venezuela claims world’s largest proven oil reserves

  

  Venezuela holds 297 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, most of it in tar sands but sufficient to be ahead of Saudi Arabia considered by world experts the number one country in reserves.

• Wednesday, February 2nd 2011 - 16:43 UTC

  Suriname recognizes a Palestinian state on 1967 borders

  

  The Republic of Suriname on Tuesday became the latest South American country to officially recognize a Palestinian state on 1967 borders, Palestinian Authority Foreign Affairs Minister Riad Al-Malki said.

• Wednesday, February 2nd 2011 - 16:39 UTC

  ‘Lex Duvalier’ enables Switzerland to confiscate and repatriate illicit dictator assets

  

  Switzerland has moved to confiscate frozen assets linked to former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. The Swiss cabinet asked Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf to begin proceedings to seize around 6.2 million US dollars that has been frozen in Swiss bank accounts since 1986, with a view to returning the funds to the Haitian people.

• Wednesday, February 2nd 2011 - 16:35 UTC

  Mexico produces first “artisan honey-ales” directed to the gay-lesbian market

  

  A Mexican brewery has launched the first beer targeted to the gay community with a slight honey flavour and with plans to market the product in Mexico, Colombia and Japan among other interested countries.

• Wednesday, February 2nd 2011 - 14:30 UTC

  Castro tells bureaucrats to end waste, improvisation and listen to people’s concerns

  

  President Raul Castro called on the Cuban government to eliminate waste and provide more efficient and improved quality services while keeping “feet and ears on the ground” to closely listen to Cubans concerns regarding the economic reforms recently put into practice.

• Wednesday, February 2nd 2011 - 06:49 UTC

  Latin America inter-region trade soared 24.6% in 2010

  

  Inter-region Latinamerican trade soared 24.6% to 133 billion US dollars during 2010 according to the latest report from ALADI (Latinamerican Integration Association) released Tuesday in Montevideo. This signals a significant recovery from the late 2008 financial crisis but still is short of that year’s record of 146 billion USD.