Politics

• Monday, March 22nd 2010 - 20:53 UTC

  IDB agrees to 70 billion USD capital increase and condones Haiti’s debt

  

  The Inter American Development Bank’s (IDB) board agreed to a 70 billion US dollars capital increase, an amount that should allow the organization to lend 12 billion a year, bank President Luis Alberto Moreno said during the annual meeting in Mexico.

• Monday, March 22nd 2010 - 11:18 UTC

  US Congress passes Barack Obama's historic health care reform bill

  

  Barack Obama has convinced Democrats in the US Congress to pass his historic health care reform bill, handing the president a victory that will give nearly every American the right to health coverage and could define his time in office.

• Sunday, March 21st 2010 - 19:47 UTC

  The Dark side of Brazil’s Olympic Dreams: 2016 Olympic Host Battles Poverty, Violent Crime, and Police Brutality

  With colorful and scandalous flourishes, in a nation where the bizarre is often normal, Brazil’s Carnaval kicked off throughout the country on February 12th. The celebration is especially exotic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest city, where the samba dancers’ elaborate talents draw millions of tourists each year.

• Saturday, March 20th 2010 - 08:51 UTC

  British Airways battles cabin crew strike

  

  British Airways said it would fly more than 60 percent of passengers with flights booked for this weekend despite a three-day cabin crew strike that risks hurting the Labor government weeks before an election.

• Saturday, March 20th 2010 - 06:20 UTC

  Argentina’s most serious institutional crisis since 1983, but “could be for good”

  

  Argentina is going through the most serious institutional crisis since the return of democracy in 1983, according to respected political analyst and historian Rosendo Fraga. Never “have we seen such an intense clash among the three branches of government”.

• Saturday, March 20th 2010 - 04:18 UTC

  A clear majority of Uruguayans optimistic about President Mujica’s government

  

  A clear majority of Uruguayans, 61% is optimistic about the future and believes that the government of President Jose Mujica will “be good or very good”, according to the latest Equipos Mori public opinion poll released this week.

• Saturday, March 20th 2010 - 04:05 UTC

  Letter to Lula da Silva: “Cuba no longer a symbol, no longer a taboo”

  

  Brazil and the community of Latin American countries are the only ones with the ability to influence the Cuban government’s position on human rights and media freedom, says a letter addressed to Brazilian president Lula da Silva by Reporters Without Borders.

• Saturday, March 20th 2010 - 01:58 UTC

  Opposition leader Serra confirms he will run for Brazilian presidency

  

  Brazil’s main opposition leader and governor of the country’s biggest state of Sao Paulo Jose Serra, said Friday for the first time publicly that he will be a presidential candidate in this year's elections.

• Saturday, March 20th 2010 - 01:42 UTC

  Latinamerica left out of Denmark’s aid and development programs

  

  Denmark’s Minister of Development and Cooperation Sören Pind announced Friday that Latinamerica would be eliminated from the Danish International Development Agency economic aid programs, which in 2008 totalled almost 100 million US dollars concentrated in “vulnerable and fragile” zones.

• Saturday, March 20th 2010 - 01:27 UTC

  Gibraltar delegation at Europe-Latinamerica Liberal parties’ forum in Cadiz

  

  A delegation from the Liberal Party of Gibraltar will be in Cadiz this weekend to participate in an international political conference entitled “200 Years of a Common Liberal Identity: A Liberal Agenda for Europe-Latin America Relations”.