
Latinamerica and the Caribbean are poised to grow 3% this year, according to the July Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, which is down from the previous April estimate of 3.5%. Slower growth in the region’s two largest economies Brazil and Mexico, and more modest activity in Chile, Panama and Peru have pulled the average down.

The latest ECLAC report, “Macroeconomic report on Latin America and the Caribbean, Jun 2012” shows that activity in the first months of this year has been stronger tan in the second half of 2011 despite considerable global uncertainty and volatility.
The report estimates Latam and Caribbean growth for this year at 3.7% compared to 4.3% in 2011.

Argentina has great expectations about the coming summit for the official creation of the Community of Latinamerican and Caribbean states, Celac, scheduled to take place next December 2 and 3 in Venezuela, said Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman.

A Chinese navy hospital ship has landed dozens of doctors and nurses in Jamaica on a humanitarian mission to treat the needy on the Caribbean island. The mission is part of a global campaign by Beijing to portray its rapidly growing military as a responsible power.

Latin America has “some of the highest criminality rates in the world” and for the first time in decades delinquency has replaced unemployment as the main concern of the population, according to a report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released this week.

Honduran president Porfirio Lobo will not attend the LAC-EU summit in Spain later this month, after South American leaders who do not recognize him as his country's legitimate leader threatened to pull out. However, he will attend the EU/Central America meeting, which will be held a day later.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to Latin America and the Caribbean will rebound in 2010, rising 40% to 50%, after dropping in 2009 as a result of the global crisis, according to ECLAC's (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) annual report released Wednesday.

Only days after several UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) representatives said they would not attend the Sixth Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit if Honduran President Porfirio Lobo was invited, the Spanish Government has decided to exclude him from the meeting, according to sources in the Brazilian Government.

The recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean is advancing faster than anticipated but at different speeds across countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its latest Regional Economic Outlook-Western Hemisphere report, which was launched Tuesday in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Latinamerica and the Caribbean are undergoing a strong recovery boosted mainly by agriculture exports, said José Graziano da Silva, head of FAO’s regional office in Panama, during the presentation of the Report on Agriculture and Rural Development 2010 Prospects for Latinamerica.