United States

• Tuesday, April 21st 2009 - 19:07 UTC

  Chavez not only gave Obama a book...but also an Island in New Jersey

  

  Last Sunday, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, announced during the Summit of the Americas that the Venezuelan Government will donate to United States, through CITGO Petroleum company, the Petty's Island located in New Jersey state.

• Tuesday, April 21st 2009 - 10:30 UTC

  Obama eager to finalize trade agreements with Panama and Colombia

  

  United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk said private meetings with Panama and Colombia presidents during the recent Summit of the Americas in Trinidad Tobago had been “very productive” and reiterated that the Obama administration is eager in finalizing free trade agreements with both countries.

• Tuesday, April 21st 2009 - 08:10 UTC

  Debt levels of US banks overshadow quarterly profits

  

  Concerns about debt levels at Bank of America have overshadowed its better than expected profits for the first three months of 2009. The US largest bank set aside 13.4 billion US dollars to cover credit losses, from the fourth quarter's 8.5 billion.

• Monday, April 20th 2009 - 09:38 UTC

  Obama magic leaves all leaders of the Americas, even Cuba, satisfied

  

  The three-day summit of leaders from the Americas in Trinidad Tobago ended without a final declaration but with evident progress on the United States' relationship with Venezuela and Cuba.

• Sunday, April 19th 2009 - 05:23 UTC

  Chavez considering name of the next ambassador in Washington

  

  Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said that with President Barack Obama leading the US, strained bilateral relations will improve and revealed he was considering the name of his next ambassador in Washington.

• Sunday, April 19th 2009 - 04:54 UTC

  Obama more popular than Chavez in Venezuela, says US top aide

  

  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rushed a photograph of him and President Obama shaking hands onto his government's website because Mr. Obama is more popular than Mr. Chavez in Venezuela, said Jeffrey Davidow, senior advisor to the US president on Latinamerican affairs.

• Saturday, April 18th 2009 - 09:05 UTC

  Obama pledges a “new beginning” with Latinamerica and Cuba

  

  United States President Barack Obama pledged on Friday to seek a “new beginning” in ties with the Castro brothers ruled Cuba as part of a new era of US partnership and engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean. But he also pointed out he had come to speak about the future, not the past.

• Saturday, April 18th 2009 - 08:56 UTC

  “I want to be your friend” says Chavez and shakes hands with Obama

  

  President Barack Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez shared a friendly handshake at the start of the Fifth Summit of the Americas Friday. The Venezuelan government called the handshake ''historic'' and hinted that it was the first step toward thawing chilly relations between the two nations.

• Saturday, April 18th 2009 - 04:19 UTC

  Hillary Clinton admits failure of US policy towards Cuba

  

  United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday US policy toward Cuba has failed as she welcomed an ”overture'' from President Raul Castro to talk about “everything” including human rights and political prisoners.

• Saturday, April 18th 2009 - 03:48 UTC

  Citibank first quarter pleasant surprise for banking sector

  

  Citigroup reported on Friday its first quarterly net profit in nearly two years, the latest US bank to see an improvement in its performance. It made a profit of 1.6 billion US dollars compared with a loss of 5.1 billion a year earlier. Revenues rose 99% to 24.8 billion.