Politics

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 22:13 UTC

  With help from her rival, Chile's Bachelet poised to win presidential election in the first round

  

  Former president Michelle Bachelet holds a huge lead in Chile’s presidential election this year and may attract enough support to win outright in the first round, a key poll showed this week. An estimated 47% of Chileans surveyed by pollster CEP said they would vote for Bachelet if the election were held this Sunday, while 14% backed right-wing candidate Evelyn Matthei and 10% supported independent economist Franco Parisi.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 21:45 UTC

  Latam and Caribbean weather global slowdown: unemployment forecasted to end this year at 6.3%

  

  Latin American and the Caribbean are forecasted to end 2013 with an urban unemployment rate of between 6.2% and 6.3%, slightly lower than 6.4% recorded in 2012, according to the latest estimates from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 21:26 UTC

  Cartes and Rousseff confirm Mercosur with inauguration of 500 KW power plant and transmission line

  

  Paraguayan president Horacio Cartes and his peer from Brazil Dilma Rousseff inaugurated on Tuesday a 500KW power plant and line from the Itaipú hydroelectric dam to the city of Asunción which should help end endemic blackouts and supply a new industrial park.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 07:45 UTC

  Clarin loses constitutional battle, but Argentine government ordered to treat all media equally

  

  The Argentine Supreme Court on Tuesday after four years of litigation finally declared the constitutionality of the Broadcast Media Law, effective immediately, and which forces the powerful Clarin media consortium to comply with the antimonopoly legislation and sell off many of its operating licenses.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 07:40 UTC

  Pacific Alliance well ahead of Mercosur in the “Doing Business 2014” report

  

  The World Bank's “Doing business 2014” report is not very encouraging for Latin-America with Chile the best ranked in position 34 out of 189 economies surveyed, but the group of countries that make up the Pacific Alliance again figures well ahead of Mercosur.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 07:33 UTC

  Botnia/UPM conflict: Argentina retaliates against Uruguay with trade and port measures

  

  Argentina has made public its first retaliation against Uruguay over the Botnia/UPM pulp mill controversy and has banned Argentine exports from being trucked to Montevideo for shipment overseas. The resolution was published Tuesday in the Official Gazette and invokes maritime transport agreements in the framework of Mercosur.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 07:29 UTC

  Argentina expands political relationship and cooperation with the Caribbean

  

  Argentina pledged to strengthen its relationship with the Caribbean Community (Caricom) saying that it was also looking to develop new areas of integration with the Caribbean under the paradigm of south-south cooperation, reports the Jamaica Observer from Georgetown Guyana.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 07:22 UTC

  In a further step to normalize relations Paraguay names new ambassador to Venezuela

  

  Paraguay has named veteran diplomat Enrique Jara as new ambassador in Venezuela, giving a further step towards the full normalization of relations that had been interrupted since July 2012 when the two countries expelled their respective accredited staff.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 07:13 UTC

  Turkey opens railway tunnel linking the Asian and European continents

  

  A railway tunnel underneath the Bosphorus Strait has been opened in Turkey, creating a new link between the Asian and European shores of Istanbul. The Marmaray tunnel is the world's first connecting two continents, and is designed to withstand earthquakes.

• Wednesday, October 30th 2013 - 07:05 UTC

  Peru's Humala reshuffles cabinet and names fourth prime minister

  

  Peru's Prime Minister Juan Jimenez said on Tuesday he is leaving President Ollanta Humala's government and that other cabinet changes will soon be announced by his successor - a local governor and former business manager.