Politics

• Monday, April 25th 2011 - 06:59 UTC

  Chavez, with eyes on his 2012 re-election bid, hikes oil windfall tax

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hiked an oil windfall tax in a move that raises government income ahead of the 2012 presidential election, but puts a heavy load on oil companies.

• Monday, April 25th 2011 - 06:28 UTC

  Mexico antitrust commission slaps 1 billion USD fine on mobile phone operator

  

  Mexico's antitrust commission confirmed Sunday that it has fined the country's biggest mobile phone operator over 1 billion US dollars on grounds that it used its market weight and interconnection fees to displace competitors.

• Monday, April 25th 2011 - 06:14 UTC

  More protests in Syria in spite of the security forces ‘shoot to kill’ policy

  

  Security forces have reportedly shot dead at least three people and injured others in north-west Syria, days after the worst bloodshed since unrest began. Police and soldiers opened fire from rooftops in the coastal town of Jabla, though no protest was being held at the time, witnesses said.

• Sunday, April 24th 2011 - 01:30 UTC

  Venezuela formally exits Andean nations and waits for Mercosur incorporation

  

  Venezuela formally exited the Andean Community of Nations, CAN, Friday when it stopped belonging to the free trade zone which for 38 years eliminated a full range of tariffs among its members (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia), announced the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs ministry.

• Friday, April 22nd 2011 - 05:15 UTC

  Argentine lawmakers bring up ‘Malvinas issue’ at Inter-Parliamentary Union

  

  Argentine and British lawmakers held a bilateral meeting in the framework of the Inter Parliamentary Union 124th meeting which took place in Panama, according to Argentine sources.

• Friday, April 22nd 2011 - 05:13 UTC

  Chilean Army clearing antitank and antipersonnel mine fields in Tierra del Fuego

  

  The Chilean Army is currently clearing four fields planted with anti-personnel mines in Tierra del Fuego and will move to another four once the job is finalized, reported the Commander Gonzalo Echeverria, from the 5th Engineers Battalion seated in Punta Arenas.

• Friday, April 22nd 2011 - 05:05 UTC

  Mercosur and South America, remain top priorities of Brazilian diplomacy

  

  South American countries, particularly Mercosur members remain as top priority of Brazil’s foreign policy confirmed this week President Dilma Rousseff.

• Friday, April 22nd 2011 - 04:51 UTC

  Piñera accused of conflict of interest in Patagonian coal mine approval

  

  Leading figures in Chile’s government were caught up in conflict of interest charges this week, with opposition Dep. Enrique Accorsi accusing President Sebastián Piñera and several of his cabinet ministers of “serious conflicts of interest” when they gave a green light to the Mina Invierno coal mine on Isla Riesco.

• Friday, April 22nd 2011 - 04:48 UTC

  Car companies comply with Argentina’s import/export balance policy

  

  Argentina reached an agreement with the French conglomerate Peugeot-Citroen and the importers of Italy’s Alfa Romeo, to balance imports-exports value, following on Argentina’s latest regulations for the country’s auto industry.

• Thursday, April 21st 2011 - 06:59 UTC

  Where’s the new blood? Cuban reforms to be implemented by the old guard

  

  Cuba's Communist Party selected President Raúl Castro and hard-liners from the old guard to steer wide-ranging reforms of the island's crumbling economy. As expected, Raúl Castro, 79, was chosen at a four-day party congress to replace his older brother Fidel Castro as first secretary of the ruling party's Central Committee.