Latin America

• Tuesday, June 1st 2010 - 05:00 UTC

  Colombia’s Santos calls for a national unity government

  

  Colombia’s winning presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos called on Conservatives and Radicals to join in a national unity government to address the problems of poverty and terrorism.

• Tuesday, June 1st 2010 - 04:57 UTC

  Peru and Chile agree to resume confidence building in military affairs

  

  Peruvian defence minister Rafael Rey recently paid his Chilean counterpart Jaime Ravinet and Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera a visit, a meeting which showed that although the two countries continue to squabble over maritime border issues, bilateral relations are still intact.

• Tuesday, June 1st 2010 - 02:44 UTC

  IDB plans to lend 10 billion USD in 2010

  

  The Inter American Development Bank, IDB, is ready to disburse 10 billion US dollars in loans to Latinamerica during fiscal 2010, said the bank’s president Luis Moreno.

• Tuesday, June 1st 2010 - 01:39 UTC

  Latinamerica exposed to European slowdown, but not Brazil, forecast experts

  

  The United Nations Economic Committee for Latinamerica and the Caribbean, Cepal, anticipates that growth in the region will be less than in previous years because of the economic downturn in developed countries but the tendency should not influence Brazil, the region’s largest economy.

• Monday, May 31st 2010 - 03:57 UTC

  Colombian incumbent presidential candidate wins but can’t avoid run-off

  

  Colombia’s former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos won more than double the votes of his closest rival in Sunday’s presidential election though failed to secure a majority of ballots needed to avoid a runoff in three weeks.

• Saturday, May 29th 2010 - 07:17 UTC

  Chile: The new president appears to be doing pretty well

  

  By David Gallagher
  (Ed. Note: Gallagher, a columnist for the conservative daily El Mercurio, is a man of many parts. He's British and Chilean, former Oxford professor of Spanish and Russian, author of the classic Modern Latin American Literature (1973), economist, investment banker, international business consultant, and father to children living on three continents.
  (In this column he remarks that the “previous government”—that is Michelle Bachelet’s — “privileged imagery over reality.” One example: to celebrate a significant date, Bachelet cut the ribbon on a new hospital empty of equipment but filled with patients who were actually actors and who pretended to be ill for the press.)

• Saturday, May 29th 2010 - 05:19 UTC

  Montevideo, Buenos Aires, most liveable cities of South America

  

  According to the 2010 World Ranking of Mercer's Quality of Life, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Santiago are the best major cities in South America to live although they compare poorly with the top ten mostly from Europe, Canada, NZ and Australia.

• Saturday, May 29th 2010 - 05:18 UTC

  Colombians faithful to Uribe but seem ready for a “green” change

  

  Colombia goes to the polls Sunday in unusual circumstances for its recent history, with a technical tie between the top two presidential candidates who lead the pack of six contestants.

• Saturday, May 29th 2010 - 02:59 UTC

  IMF praises management of Peruvian economy; forecasts 5 to 7% growth in 2010

  

  International Monetary Fund (IMF) praised Peru as a clear example of how to enforce the right economic policies since its GDP this year is expected to grow 5 to 7%.

• Saturday, May 29th 2010 - 01:47 UTC

  Brazil calls on South America to have its own military dissuasive capacity

  

  South America must recover its military dissuasive capacity so it can say ‘no’ when necessary said Brazilian Defence minister Nelson Jobim following a meeting this week in Montevideo with his Uruguayan counterpart Luis Rosadilla.