South America News Archives

Presidents and officials attending the 35th Mercosur summit pose for the official photo in San Miguel de Tucuman, Argentina, Monday, June 30, 2008.

EASTER ISLAND, Chile - It's earth's most-remote inhabited land, a South Pacific speck of volcanic rock so isolated the locals call it 'Te Pito O Te Henua,' or 'The Navel of the World.' But Easter Island is a ...

World silver medallists Poland defeated Japan 25-14, 25-12, 25-22 for their third win against two defeats in the World League men's volleyball preliminary round on Saturday.

Jun. 27 - Red Balloons cover Copacabana beach in Rio de Janerio as part of protest against mounting violence in the crime-plagued city.

A new regional development bank for South America announced an initial capital fund of $10 billion, with the possibility of climbing as high as $20 billion, after a meeting of the seven member states on Friday.

Future soldier Gabrielle Alejandrino slowly does a set of crunches - up and down on the damp soccer field at Coral Springs Park, urged on by her unusually close Army buddy.

Submitted by News Account on 27 June 2008 - 11:33pm. Genetics In general, domesticated food plants have larger fruits, heads of grain, tubers, etc, because this is one of the characteristics that early ...

A convoy of Mexican Army military vehicles arrives at Nocupetaro, Morelia, Thursday, June 19, 2008.

The US and Brazil yesterday announced an enhanced air services agreement that will provide for a nearly 50% increase in passenger flights between the countries while eliminating restrictions on the number of ...

Jun. 26 - Dozens of residents of the Chilean village of Chaiten visit their abandoned homes for the first time since a May 2nd volcanic eruption left the town flooded in volcanic ash.

In this Feb. 2007 photo released by the International Fund For Animals Welfare , a humpback whale swims in the Silver Bank whale sanctuary, a breeding zone of humpback whales just north of the Dominican ...

RIO DE JANEIRO: A sharp increase in drugs and cellphones found inside a Brazilian prison mystified officials - until guards spotted some distressed pigeons struggling to stay airborne.

BUENAVENTURA, Colombia - Colombians who thought they had seen everything in the war on drugs were treated to something new this year: cocaine smuggling in a submarine.In images shown on ...

The U.S. Geological Survey says it is working with the Chilean government to develop a volcano early warning and emergency response system.

Ecuador will not resume diplomatic ties with Colombia after the latter decided to postpone renewal of relations, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador said Tuesday.

A former Colombian lawmaker who said she took bribes to enable the re-election of President Alvaro Uribe just got a tough sentence.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Tuesday he wants to show his support for Colombia's anti-drug efforts and a pending free-trade agreement with the U.S. by visiting the South American ally.In ...

Claudia Negron knows exactly what she'll do after she graduates from the University of California at Davis: return to her country, Chile, to put in practice the lessons she's learned about agriculture.

We tend to judge this year's food crisis, marked by seemingly indomitable prices, from the point of view of those who are suffering.

By Stuart Grudgings Reuters Tuesday, June 24, 2008; 8:14 PM RIO DE JANEIRO - When Paolo Portinho meets up with his musician friends for a night out in Rio de Janeiro, they jam a few tunes and knock back some ...

It's earth's most remote inhabited land, a South Pacific speck of volcanic rock so isolated the locals call it "Te Pito O Te Henua," or "The Navel of the World." Giant volcanic rock statues called Moais draw ...

Moves to renew relations between Ecuador and Colombia collapsed on Tuesday as part of a smoldering feud between South American neighbors of the left and right.

President Michelle Bachelet pushed to permanently ban whaling along Chile's sprawling coast at the opening Monday of the weeklong International Whaling Commission meeting.

Bachelet endorsed making Chile's coastal waters _ more than 3,100 miles long and up to 200 miles from shore _ a whale sanctuary. The proposal still must be approved by Congress.

Chile, which shares economic rights to the waters with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, has not hunted whales since the 1970s. It was not clear if approval will be needed from other countries.

Reuters Wednesday, June 18, 2008; 8:14 PM RIO DE JANEIRO - A Brazilian judge ordered army patrols out of a Rio de Janeiro slum on Wednesday after 11 soldiers were accused of involvement in the gangland killing ...

Paraguay's President Nicanor Duarte offered Congress his resignation Monday, two months before his term is slated to end.

Venezuela's youth orchestras and choirs have helped thousands of children resist thug life in some of South America's most violent slums, and now wealthy countries are lining up to emulate the system.

Forty boats sped off silently Monday in what is billed as the world's largest race for solar powered watercraft.

FRANKFURT, Germany : German pharmaceutical and chemical company Bayer AG said Monday it would invest 100 million in its Brazilian operations through the end of 2009.

A divided International Whaling Commission opens its annual conference in Chile today with hope for a compromise on whale hunting, which continues around the world despite a 22-year commercial ban.

Eleven wax palms, Colombia's national tree, will be planted in the botanical garden in the capital in memory of 11 regional lawmakers who were killed a year ago after spending more than five years as hostages ...

WASHINGTON - As Brazil's Bossa Nova reaches 50 this year, one of its originators will play a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall -- the landmark venue that helped spread the rhythm across the ...

TARIJA, Bolivia -- Natural gas-rich Tarija could become the fourth Bolivian state to declare autonomy from the central government of leftist President Evo Morales in a referendum vote Sunday.

Katie Paul isn't moving back in with her parents now that she's finished with college.

What's for dinner? One of the biggest challenges now facing the planet: how to feed humanity in this age of skyrocketing food and energy prices.

Eight men have been found shot dead and then set on fire in a mining camp in Guyana.

The video of Sigifredo Lopez was delivered to a commission that includes the Roman Catholic Church, Cali's mayor and the public ombudsman's office, according to Mr.

PROTESTS: Thousands of Argentines have taken to the streets to protest against the government's handling of a tense three-month standoff with farmers over export taxes.

Paraguayan officials have put down a prison riot by agreeing to inmates' demands for more sex.

CARACAS, Venezuela : President Hugo Chavez says that the United States is trying to bring him before an international court.

As President George W. Bush considers repealing a ban on drilling off most of the coast of the United States, a shortage of ships used for such drilling promises to impede any rapid turnaround in oil ...

The U.S. Treasury said Wednesday it had moved to freeze the assets of two Venezuelans it accused of supporting Hezbollah, including a Venezuelan government diplomatic official.

A Brazilian judge ordered the army to pull out of a Rio de Janeiro slum where 11 soldiers are accused of involvement in the killings of three young men.

Turkey's new generation communication satellite, the Turksat 3A, was launched shortly before 1 a.m. from the Kourou base in French Guiana on Friday.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina : Thousands of Argentines poured into the streets Monday, banging pots and honking car horns to demand the government resume talks to end a 100-day farmers strike that has blocked grain ...

Paraguayan President-elect Fernando Lugo was all smiles as he and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez embraced, talked of a revolution for the poor and pledged to build a united Latin America.

But as the former Roman Catholic priest ended a three-nation tour Thursday that also included visits to Venezuela's leftist allies in Bolivia and Ecuador, political analysts predicted he will take a less radical approach to governing.

'He sees himself on the side of the progressive forces that want to change the relationship between Latin American countries and the United States,' said Fred Rossen, an analyst at the New York-based North American Congress on Latin America.

Students and teachers clashed with police in Chile on Wednesday to protest an education bill they say doesn't go far enough to bring equal access to schooling for the poor even with a government flush with ...

Rumors floated around Colombia yesterday that another member of the FARC secretariat, possibly Ivan Marquez or Timochenko, was killed in battle along the Venezuelan border.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday his country wants closer relations with Japan in various fields especially in the economic sphere.

A worker uproots a coca plant as part of a manual eradication effort of fields in northwest Colombia.

In this picture released by Government Palace, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, right, and her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, wave to supporters after she delivered a speech at ...

CARACAS, Venezuela : Venezuela's government started posting National Guard troops on buses Wednesday to try to prevent violent crime.

Two new columns of smoke erupted from the Chaiten volcano in Chile, breaking a calm that had held since late May.

A police officer accused of heading a paramilitary militia has denied any part in the kidnapping and torture of two journalists.

By MICHAEL ASTOR The Associated Press Monday, June 16, 2008; 8:44 PM RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Eleven Brazilian soldiers were arrested after allegedly turning over three shantytown residents to a drug gang that ...

Final 0 at 0 Bobby Abreu struck out swinging. Runners on first and second with two outs and Alex Rodriguez due up.

AP Photo: Jorge Saenz Jesus Alejandro Martinez, left, kisses Blanca Estigarribia after being released by the police in Asuncion, Monday, June 16, 2008.

The best deal in Negril swings open its doors on July 15, with the premiere of ROOMS on the beach, Negril.

Uruguay will host in the summer of 2009 the first South American Beach Games, which will include various sports on the sand and sea, authorities said Friday.

BRASILIA, Brazil : Brazil is imposing US$250 million in fines on steel companies caught using charcoal made from illegally logged forests, the environment minister said Thursday.

Ecuadorian Antinarcotics Police have seized 165 kg of cocaine and 65,000 U.S. dollars in fake notes at the Jose Joaquin de Olmeda airport in the western coast city of Guayaquil, Antinarcotics chief Freddy ...

Paraguay's President-elect and former Bishop Fernando Lugo announces the names of his cabinet at a press conference in Asuncion, Friday, June 13, 2008.

BARINAS, Venezuela, Jun 14 - "As far as you can see, there was not one litre of milk produced, not even an ear of corn," says Jose Tapia Coiran, turning with his arms outstretched, pointing to the horizon of ...

A Brazilian oil company that has yet to drill a well raised 5.87 billion Brazilian reals in an initial stock offering, the company said Thursday.

One of Brazil's best-known samba singers has died. Jose Bispo Clementino dos Santos, a pillar of Rio's most traditional samba school who went by the stage name of Jamelao, was 95.

Argentine police in riot gear broke up a farmers' highway blockade Saturday, briefly arresting 19 demonstrators including a prominent leader of a three-month protest against an increase in grain export taxes.

CARACAS, Venezuela : Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's estranged ex-wife will seek the mayorship of her hometown in November regional elections.

Ed Norton brings a quiet, self-reflective vulnerability to the role of genetically-mutated scientist Bruce Banner in Louis Leterrier's cinematic reworking of the The Incredible Hulk.

SAO PAULO, Brazil : Brazilian mining company Vale said Thursday that it has requested permission to issue US$14 billion in shares to raise cash for acquisitions and growth.

Two Colombians arrested in an alleged plot against President Rafael Correa claimed to have links to Colombian paramilitaries and said they were offered US$1.5 million to kill Ecuador's leader, according to ...

BOGOTA - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Thursday offered not to extradite a FARC guerrilla in exchange for the release of hostages after a rebel contact reached out to authorities about a ...

The six-week eruption of a volcano in southern Chile has regained strength with bursts of thick gas, seismic rumblings and the emergence of two new craters.

An Ariane-5 rocket put a British military satellite and a Turkish telecommunications satellite into orbit on Thursday, European space officials said.

French first lady Carla Bruni's new song has left Colombia's leaders furious. In one of the songs on her new album, the ex-model and wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, mentions "Colombian white". "You ...

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa downplayed news that authorities arrested four people in an alleged plot to attack him.

Colombia's government on Thursday criticized as "hurtful" a new song from French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's new album for a reference one song makes to Colombian cocaine.

MOGI DAS CRUZES, Brazil : "Inu ga wan wan." Miyabi Endo, a gregarious 8-year-old, carefully sounds out "the dog barks" in Japanese in a modest concrete schoolhouse amid the small farms that skirt Sao Paulo.

The president of Chile told California business leaders that investing in social programs makes her country more economically competitive.

Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain will visit Colombia for one day in early July, a Colombian newspaper said.

A top Ecuadorean official said Wednesday that U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd offered to investigate whether Colombia used a U.S. plane to raid a guerrilla encampment in Ecuador's jungle -- but a spokesman for Dodd denied ...

Dead and oil-soaked penguins continue to wash ashore near Uruguay's capital a week after fuel spilled during a boat collision.

A single-engine plane missing for four days in southern Chile was found Wednesday with nine survivors among the 10 people aboard, authorities reported.

East Bay Business Times - by Steven E.F. Brown San Francisco Business Times Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet, is slated to speak at UC-Berkeley 's International House on Thursday night about an ...

Petroleobras, Brazil's state-owned oil company, said it may become the world's third- biggest oil refiner with a plan to build two new plants.

TotA3 La Momposina exemplifies the living tradition of Colombian folk music, having carefully studied and performed her native song and dance for several decades.

Photo Credit: AP Photo Opponents of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez protest in Caracas, June 7, 2008, after a Venezuelan top anti-corruption official unveiled a blacklist that could bar key opposition ...

A homicide epidemic claimed the lives of three Baldwin Park High School students in the 2007-08 school year.

COLOMBIA'S army has located three US nationals in the hands of Marxist FARC rebels, but has not attempted a rescue, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said today.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended Canada's decision to sign a free trade pact with Colombia as the fulfillment of an international priority for his Conservative government.

MADRID : With the United States riven by calls to legalize millions of illegal immigrants, Americans might consider the possible effects by looking at southern Europe, where illegal immigration abounds and so ...

Over 60 dead oil-covered Magellanic penguins have been found along the Uruguayan coast near the Argentine border following a recent oil spill, Uruguay's Espectador radio said on Monday.

The Museo Nacional de Colombia and the Casas Reigner Gallery present the exhibition titled Carlos Rojas: A Visit to his Worlds, on view through July 20, 2008.

The Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has a compelling personal and political biography.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana : A heavily armed gang suspected of killing 23 people in two village massacres drove back a security assault at its hideout in dense Amazonian jungle, Guyanese police said Sunday.

AT least 60 dead penguins washed up on Uruguay's coast on Sunday in an incident that an environmentalist linked to a fuel spill following a boat crash near Montevideo's port days ago.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged Colombian rebels on Sunday to lay down their weapons, unilaterally free dozens of hostages and put an end to a decades-long armed struggle against Colombia's government.

Chavez sent the uncharacteristically strong message to the leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, saying their ongoing efforts to overthrow Colombia's democratically elected government were unjustified.

'The guerrilla war is history,' said Chavez, speaking during his weekly television and radio program, 'Hello President.'

Brazil is in the midst of a transition from imitator to innovator in health-related products , according to the most comprehensive analysis to date of barriers and opportunities facing that country's health ...

Falklands : OTTAWA CONVENTION : DE-MINING : EXTENSION REQUEST BY UK Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network 05.06.2008 The British Government has, as provided for by the Ottawa Convention, sought a 10-year ...

Brazil's newly-appointed Environment Minister Carlos Minc announced a series of measures to fight illegal deforestation in the Amazon region, local media reported on Wednesday.

By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER - Associated Press Writer -- Howard Yanes An opponent of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds up a leaflet depicting Chavez, left, and the country's top anti-corruption official, ...

The Irish hungered after it, Dan Quayle couldn't spell it, Russian cooks swear by it and China is its biggest producer - and now the potato is at the root of an Andean war of words over where exactly it ...

Angela Marquez should be pleased, considering the long line of customers at her paint store in the central Venezuelan city of La Victoria, an hour west of the capital of Caracas.

Venezuelan troops killed a Colombian "subversive" in a border gun battle, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday, an incident that could fuel new tensions between the two countries.

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Colombia and Ecuador have agreed to renew low-level diplomatic relations under a deal brokered by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the Atlanta-based Carter Center said on Friday.

The relations will be restored at the level of charges d'affaires, according to the center. Ecuador severed ties with Colombia following a cross-border raid by Colombia's army against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas in March.

Colombia accused neighboring Ecuador of harboring Colombian rebels, a charge Ecuador has denied.

A Brazilian soldier who publicly flaunted his homosexuality was being detained by military police today after his dramatic arrest on live television, reports said.

Warner Music Intl. has inked a deal with cell phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson to include content from Madonna's album "Hard Candy" as an incentive for consumers in 27 countries to buy certain models of phones ...

That's how I felt earlier this week when, in an interview with Chilean Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley, I learned about Chile's recent decision to create a $6 billion fund to send 6,500 Chilean students a ...

Chile volcano leaves Chaiten town destroyed and abandoned after a series of volcano eruptions.

The potentially damaging effects of trans fats may also be passed from a mother to her child during breast feeding, suggests a new study that heaps more misery on the enfant terrible of the food industry.

Fitch Ratings on Wednesday upgraded Petroleo Brasileiro SA's foreign currency issuer default rating to BBB from BBB-. Fitch also raised Petrobras' local currency issuer default rating to BBB+ from BBB.

During the course of his life, Paulo Coelho spent time in a mental institution, wrote several popular songs and became one of world's best-selling authors with novels like "The Alchemist." But according to ...

MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JULIO CESAR LOPEZPENA, a/k/a "Julito," a/k/a "Ojitos," a high-ranking member of the notorious Norte Valle ...

So says Heinz Dieterich Steffan - German sociologist, economist, political analyst and Hugo Chavez consultant who claims he coined the phrase "21st century socialism" in the mid-1990s. He currently teaches at ...

Officials say they are fighting a 13-mile-long fuel-oil spill caused by the collision of two ships just outside the harbor of Uruguay's capital.

MEDELLIN, Colombia, Jun 3 - Stressing U.S. commitment to the Colombian government's controversial efforts to rid the country of "narcoterrorists", which have included briefly invading a neighbouring country to ...

Ash from the Chaiten volcano that has been erupting in Chile for nearly a month led the country's flagship airline LAN to cancel flights to a string of small airports on Wednesday.

Argentine farm groups suspended grain exports and relaunched road blockades nationwide Wednesday, trying to overturn export taxes that have sparked waves of protests.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Empresa Nacional del Petroleo as follows: --Foreign currency IDR at 'A' --National long-term rating at 'AAA ' --US$290 million senior unsecured notes due 2012 at 'A'; --US$150 million ...

Venezuelans may be forced to spy on their neighbors or risk prison terms under President Hugo Chavez's new intelligence decree, raising fears of a Cuba-style system that could be used to stifle dissent.

From correspondents in Americas, 02:00 AM IST The Bolivian government Monday nationalized the fuel transport company Transredes, a subsidiary of British firm Ashmore and the Anglo-Dutch company Shell.

President Hugo Chávez has used his decree powers to carry out a major overhaul of this country's intelligence agencies, provoking a fierce backlash from human rights groups and legal scholars who say the ...

Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro agreed Mondayto rebuild mutual trust and improve bilateral ties between the two neighbors, which have been rather tense ...

Two Brazilian journalists investigating paramilitaries in this city's sprawling slums say they were kidnapped and tortured by armed men who identified themselves as police, their newspaper reported Sunday.

A television talk show host, a former mayor of Caracas and President Hugo Chavez's older brother are among the winners of the ruling party's primary.

The Organization of American States is holding its 38th general assembly on June 1-3 in Medellin, Colombia, with the participation of 94 government officials, representatives from 34 member states and some ...

Brazil sworn in a new environmental minister Tuesday following the resignation of the previous minister over concerns about Amazon deforestation.

A technical hitch scrubbed the launch of an Ariane rocket carrying a British military satellite and a Turkish telecoms satellite hours before its scheduled blastoff, the Arianespace rocket launch company said ...

Hipsters might resist this assertion; after all, they've been onto Brazil since at least 2002, when Fernando Meirelles released Cidade de Deus , the Southern Hemisphere's answer to The Godfather .

By BRADLEY BROOKS The Associated Press Sunday, June 1, 2008; 8:06 PM SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Thousands of killings by Brazilian police are going largely unpunished because of public approval for a perceived ...

BOGOTA: The Red Cross said on Sunday the death toll from a powerful earthquake in central Colombia has risen to 11, as aftershocks shook the region.

"It is painful to die without seeing my son free," said 62-year-old Pedro Manuel Perez eight days before he died of leukaemia.

The Peruvian government has announced that poverty fell by 5.2 percent in a year and forecasts that by 2015, less than 10 percent of the population will be below the poverty line.