Loans by China's state-owned banks to Latin American countries rose by 71% to 22bn dollars in 2014, according to estimates published by the China-Latin America Finance Database. The figure is the second largest on record for Chinese lending in Latin America, according to the report.
Sporadic protests flared in different parts of Venezuela after a policeman shot dead a teenager during a demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro's government in the volatile city of San Cristobal. The worst unrest was again in San Cristobal where distraught relatives of 14-year-old Kluibert Roa held a wake and funeral following his killing on Tuesday.
A teenager was killed during a protest on Tuesday in the western city of San Cristobal, state officials said, as tensions rise in Venezuela amid an economic crisis and a government crackdown on the political opposition.
Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), said on Friday that “the detention of the Mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, has caused alarm due to the way in which it took place and because it deals with an elected leader exercising his duties.”
Venezuelan intelligence agents arrested on Thursday opposition leader and Caracas metropolitan mayor Antonio Ledezma, witnesses said, after accusations he was involved in a coup attempt against President Nicolás Maduro.
Backers of jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez took to the streets of Caracas on Wednesday on the first anniversary of his arrest and subsequent jailing, but the mood of last year’s mass protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro was markedly different.
Venezuelan Finance minister Rodolfo Marco Torre announced that ”soon there will be important announcements on the issue of gasoline”, underlining that “a piece of candy cannot cost more than a liter of gasoline”.
Germany wants to speed negotiations for a free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, said Foreign minister Walter Steinmeier in Brasilia. The agreement has been pending since 1999 when discussions started but so far have been unable to reach a deal or commit a date because of internal problems from both sides.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro Thursday night went on the air and said the intelligence services had foiled a coup and arrested multiple people who were behind the attempt, which was backed by the United States.
Venezuelan police fired tear gas Thursday to break up students demonstrating against President Nicolas Maduro's government, on the anniversary of protests that eventually left 43 people dead last year.