Latin America

06 February 2008 -- Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano erupted Wednesday, spewing molten rock, smoke and ash into the air and forcing the evacuation of people living nearby.

There are no reports of any injuries or deaths, but officials warned that the eruption may spread ash across six of Ecuador's provinces. Authorities did not evacuate the nearby tourist resort of Banos, although they were monitoring developments.    » read more »

03 February 2008 -- Tens of thousands of revelers have packed the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to celebrate the second day of the world famous Carnival festival.

Local residents and tourists, clad in colorful costumes and whimsical hats, danced in the city center Saturday to the samba beats of the Black Ball band (Cordao do Bola Preta). The band has played at Brazil's Carnival since 1918.    » read more »

01 February 2008 -- Officials in Ecuador say Venezuela is to help them build a $5 billion oil refinery that will become operational in 2012.

Oil Minister Galo Chiriboga said Thursday the refinery will initially process Ecuadorean crude, but when supplies are depleted, Venezuelan crude will be used. The facility will have the capacity to refine 300,000 barrels of oil daily.

The minister says a logistics study for the project should be concluded by June and that it is a way of promoting Latin American investment in refineries.    » read more »

29 January 2008 -- President Bush has thanked the U.S. Congress for approving a free trade deal with Peru and is urging lawmakers to pass similar agreements with Colombia and Panama.

In his final State of the Union address Monday, President Bush highlighted Colombia in particular. He said failure to pass the deal with the Andean nation would "embolden the purveyors of false populism" in the Western Hemisphere.    » read more »

24 January 2008 -- Long-time Cuban leader Fidel Castro says he thought he was dying when he became very ill in July, 2006.

Mr. Castro's comment was in an essay he wrote, which was published Thursday in the state-owned Cuban newspaper Granma.

In the essay, the Cuban leader discussed his recent meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Mr. Castro wrote that he told Mr. da Silva he has dedicated himself to thinking and writing, after Mr. da Silva commented on how well he looked.    » read more »

22 January 2008 -- Mexico's federal police raided two mansions in the capital and arrested 11 alleged gunmen for the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. At the same time, Mexican soldiers carried out operations to disarm local police in the state of Tamaulipas, which borders the U.S. state of Texas. These actions, along with the arrest of a major drug trafficking figure on Monday, are part of a major crackdown on organized crime.

Heavily armed Mexican federal police conducted the raids in Mexico City before sunrise, capturing eight men at one house and three at another.    » read more »

11 January 2008 -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he wants to resume peace efforts in Colombia following the release of two hostages held by leftist rebels. Mr. Chavez also called on Colombia to recognize the rebels as insurgents and not as a terrorist group.

One day after helping negotiate the release of former Colombian politicians Consuelo Gonzalez and Clara Rojas, the Venezuelan president said he is confident he can make further progress with leftist rebels.    » read more »

09 January 2008 -- Venezuela's state-run oil company has cut the time for foreign companies to pay for oil purchases from 30 days to eight days.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) said in a statement Tuesday that the decision was made, in part, because of the falling value of the U.S. dollar.

PDVSA also said having the payments sooner will allow it to re-invest its income quickly and remain competitive in the world oil market.    » read more »

06 January 2008 -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is "putting on the brakes" on his socialist revolution after voters rejected his plans to reform the constitution.

Mr. Chavez said on his weekly broadcast Sunday it would be a mistake at this time to try to quicken the pace of his plans to turn Venezuela into a socialist haven.

He said he will evaluate the results of the referendum before deciding how to proceed with his pro-socialist plans. He also said he will focus on regional elections later this year as one way to consolidate Socialist party power.    » read more »

19 December 2007 -- Colombian officials say they remain cautious after leftist rebels said they will release three hostages to Venezuela's government. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez said this was a vindication of his role in the peace process, which Colombia ended last month.

Colombia's Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo welcomed the announcement by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. But he called for caution among relatives of the hostages, noting that the leftist group has failed to fulfill its word in the past.    » read more »

19 December 2007 -- The Argentine government says it will restrict its contacts with the U.S. ambassador in response to U.S. allegations that Venezuela attempted to finance the campaign of Argentina's new president.

Argentine officials say U.S. Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne will now only be able to communicate with their government through the Foreign Ministry. They also say Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana met with Ambassador Wayne Tuesday to register Argentina's complaint about the accusation about President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's campaign.    » read more »

15 December 2007 -- Colombian and Organization of American States officials have supervised the destruction of thousands of weapons surrendered by demobilized right-wing paramilitary fighters.

More than 18,000 weapons were melted down Friday. They were handed over as part of a 2003 peace pact between the Colombian government and the United Self-Defense Force of Colombia, or AUC.

Former fighters and their victims, as well as foreign dignitaries, attended the event.

The melted weapons will be used to make plagues honoring the 9,000 civilian victims of the AUC fighters.    » read more »

13 December 2007 -- U.S. prosecutors have announced the arrests of four men linked to a scandal involving an alleged campaign payment from Venezuela to Argentina. The governments of the South American nations have denounced the U.S. probe as a political attack by Washington.    » read more »

06 December 2007 -- A new survey reports that more than 20 percent of people polled in Latin America say they paid a bribe in the past year to obtain a service, down slightly from the previous year.

The survey, known as the Global Corruption Barometer, was released Thursday by the Berlin-based anti-corruption group Transparency International.

According to the poll, most bribes in Latin America were paid to the police more than 20 percent and to the judiciary about 11 percent.    » read more »

Dec 4, 2007 -- Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Today, Senator John Edwards released the following statement on the Senate vote to approve the Peru trade deal:    » read more »