
Brazil, Argentina and Chile presidents figure among the list of the 25 most powerful women in the world according to the latest release from Forbes. Dilma Rousseff ranks in fourth place, Cristina Fernandez 19 and Michele Bachelet, 25. Only nine heads of state figure in the 100 names list.

Chile, one of a handful of the world's countries that outlaws abortion in all cases, will debate a bill this year that seeks to relax the ban in certain circumstances, a government spokesman announced. President Michelle Bachelet who was re-elected and took office in March had pledged a change in the law ahead of her election.

President Michelle Bachelet announced on Thursday that Chile would invest 650 million dollars to build a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and strengthen the state-run oil company in an effort to deal with a mounting power crunch.

President Cristina Fernández received on Monday her Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet and discussed the re-launching of the Maipú Agreement -signed in 2009- to increase the links between the two countries and boost regional commerce with Asia.

Argentina's president of the Lower House, Julián Domínguez underlined the renewed Chilean support for the Malvinas Islands cause during an event on Monday at the Legislative Assembly which received Chilean president Michelle Bachelet in Congress.

Pope Francis, presidents Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and José Mujica of Uruguay, and Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón are the Latin Americans named by TIME magazine to its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet vowed to reconstruct Valparaíso, utilizing a new plan that would prevent many of the 11,000 victims of devastating wildfires from rebuilding on hills that cannot be protected from disasters. But she faces a battle to convince evacuees to relocate, with many wishing to return to what remains of their previous homes.

President Michelle Bachelet sent Chile's Congress a bill on Monday that would raise corporate taxes to fund a sweeping overhaul of the country's education system. The proposed reform aims to raise 8.2 billion dollars to fund tuition-free public universities, a demand that fueled massive student protests under Bachelet's conservative predecessor Sebastian Piñera.

Chile's new foreign minister Heraldo Muñoz ratified his country's membership of the Pacific Alliance, a much questioned group by other regional organizations such as the Venezuelan inspired ALBA and even Mercosur led by Brazil, and suggested that Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance could consider integration. Chile is currently an associate member of Mercosur.

Michelle Bachelet became the first person since General Carlos Ibañez in 1952 to return to Chile’s presidential palace, La Moneda, for a second term. According to a recent official history of the building, the general was a stickler for fitness.