Politics

• Saturday, January 30th 2010 - 08:23 UTC

  Unemployment in Magallanes softens but remains double the 2008 rate

  

  Unemployment in Magallanes region, extreme south of Chile reached 5.3% during the last quarter of last year which represents an improvement over the previous quarter, 6.6%, but is double over the same period a year ago when it stood at 2.8%.

• Saturday, January 30th 2010 - 08:18 UTC

  Euro zone unemployment hits 10%; Spain tops the list with 19.5%

  

  Unemployment in the 16 countries that use the Euro hit 10% in December for the first time since the single currency was introduced in 1999. It had been reported that the rate hit 10% in November, but this has subsequently been revised down to 9.9%.

• Saturday, January 30th 2010 - 08:15 UTC

  Communist party eliminated from Chile’s political parties registry

  

  Chile’s Electoral Service, Servel cancelled the registry of seven political parties, among which the Communist Party for not having complied with the rule which demands a minimum 5% of valid votes of total turnout in last December 13 presidential election.

• Friday, January 29th 2010 - 12:01 UTC

  China confirms commitment as leading economy for world recovery

  

  China reaffirmed its economic goals of raising domestic incomes and consumption while reducing its reliance on exports and investment. For this purpose China is pursuing a “proactive fiscal policy” and “moderately easy monetary policy” said Vice Premier Li Kegiang in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

• Friday, January 29th 2010 - 11:59 UTC

  Bernanke reappointed but “Main Street America” is not satisfied

  

  Ben Bernanke has been approved to serve a second four-year term as chairman of the US Federal Reserve, the country's powerful central bank. The US Senate voted 70-30 in favour of Mr Bernanke, handing him the narrowest victory margin in decades.

• Friday, January 29th 2010 - 11:57 UTC

  Pork better than Viagra, give it a go, recommends unabashed Cristina Kirchner

  

  Argentine President Cristina Kirchner surprised guests at a business meeting by admitting eating pork improves sexual activity. Quite distant from her sharp lecturing style Mrs. Kirchner offered a rare non political intimate glimpse of the country’s most powerful couple life.

• Friday, January 29th 2010 - 09:15 UTC

  “Global Statesman” Lula da Silva recovers from high blood pressure peak

  

  Brazilian president Lula da Silva is resting at his private home after having suffered a high blood pressure peak on Wednesday which forced him to cancel his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos where he was to be honoured with the Global Statesman Prize.

• Friday, January 29th 2010 - 03:05 UTC

  Cambio? The Obama Administration in Latin America: A Disappointing Year in Perspective

  

  In a memorandum written as Barack Obama assumed office in January 2009 COHA’s Research Fellows Guy Hursthouse and Tomás Ayuso considered widespread Latin American expectations of a dramatic shift in approach from Washington under the new president, and outlined an agenda for change aimed at achieving those hopes as the result of a bold new direction for U.S. relations with the region. A year later, they offer their evaluation of developments to date and conclude that a clear and meaningful program of change has failed to materialize under Obama, his Secretary of State, and the leadership team to which he has looked for drafting his regional agendas. At best, their fractured approach to Latin American issues has delivered mixed results. Looking ahead, the authors ask, despite the continued backing Obama continues to enjoy from a resilient public that still refuses give up on him, can we expect the president’s second year in office to deliver that coherent mixture of realism and idealism which has up to now proved elusive?

• Friday, January 29th 2010 - 02:22 UTC

  Tough year ahead for Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is facing a tough 2010 with growing complaints over shortages of electricity and water and a sharp currency devaluation that could harm the chances of his supporters in congressional elections in September.

• Friday, January 29th 2010 - 01:54 UTC

  Canada confident of its oil potential development in spite of Venezuela

  

  An assessment that Venezuela sits on one of the largest oil fields on record does not threaten the potential of Canadian reserve development, analysts said.