Latin America

The symbolism was clear. With the United States at the fag-end of a disastrous presidency, Brazil assembled 33 countries from across the Americas to discuss a host of issues ranging from defence to the economic slowdown. The two-day gathering, at a resort near the northeastern city of Salvador, marked the first time that every country in Latin America and the Caribbean had met without the presence

I have been traveling, but am somewhat surprised at how little attention the recent multi-country drug bust firmly tying Hezbollah to Latin American drug trafficking structures has received. This is the clearest publicly-available case that shows how organized criminal groups and terrorist organizations are broadening and strengthening their links. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), respon

SAO PAULO - GOVERNMENTS in Latin America stepped forward on Thursday to reassure markets left despondent by fears of a global recession and Argentina's decision to nationalise pension funds. Brazil and Mexico took measures to try to stop the long slide of their currencies against the dollar, while an Argentine official promised the pensions grab would not mean state intervention in banks and compa

A Special Report from Suzan Haskins, Latin America Editorial Director for INTERNATIONAL LIVING… [Briefed version] Why the Merida Region, Mexico, Has Emerged As The World’s Hottest Retirement Haven And How You Can Start A New Life In Merida In Six Months… On As Little As $2,135 Per Month It wasn’t an instant decision. In fact, my [...]

Virgin Mobile USA has unveiled its new lower rates for all calls. Now customers no longer needs international calling cards or pay for a separate… + view full entry

Telecommunications in Latin America: Telef-nica’s Conquest Latin American Telecommunications: Telef-nica’s Conquest offers an excellent overview of the political, economic, and social factors in Spain and Latin America that have aided the miraculous transformation of the semi-public Spanish telecommunications company Telef-nica. This book is unique because it brings Telef-nica’s media integr

A Locaweb irá realizar no Brasil o Rails Summit Latin America. Serão mais de 10 palestrantes internacionais  e os melhores especialistas brasileiros reunidos durante dois dias para trocar informações e novidades sobre o Ruby on Rails. Informações sobre o evento: Data do Evento: 15 e 16 de Outubro de 2008 Local: Anhembi (auditório Elis Regina) Preço: R$ 300,00 Para [...]

Regional Challenges Pile Up : By Quincy Parker - Nassau, Bahamas: Extreme poverty has been reduced in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, and regional democracy has remained relatively stable over the last few years, but still, the executive says challenges in the region continue to pile up. Insulza acknowl

The Casco Viejo neighborhood of Panama City (also called Casco Antiguo) is “one of the hippest barrios in Latin America,” according to a recent article in the Guardian. The article describes the growing popularity of Panama’s capital city as one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in Latin America. Once a stopping off point for [...]

Panama is currently building the first diamond market in Latin America. The 50 story diamond bourse will include safes, a gemological institute, laboratories, polishing and cutting facilities, and a trading hall.The diamond market is expected to attract 300 traders, and will serve growing markets in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Argentina. The $200 million project in [...]

Panama has the highest rate of foreign direct investment as a percentage of GDP of any country in Latin America, says the Latin Business Chronicle. Panama’s $1.8 billion FDI contributes to 9.1 percent of the country’s nearly $20 billion GDP. Following Panama on the list were Chile, El Salvador and Costa Rica. Ecuador and Venezuela [...]

Thousands of miles away and three decades apart, the rescue of hostages in Colombia and the killing of Israeli hostages by Lebanese terrorists have some unexpected links as well profound differences. Barring last minute glitches, the Israelis are expected within a week to release five terrorists, including the notorious Samir Kuntar, who bashed a four year old girl to death, in exchange for the bo

LG Electronics announced the launch of LG Secret (model: LG-KF755) in Latin America on June 12th, 2008 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.Read more...

The Spanish company Telefonica has announced it will distribute the iPhone to 16 countries in Latin America and the Czech Republic after striking a deal with Apple. These new countries are: The Czech Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. “We are happy to announce that we will be offering iPhone to our custo

Hugo Chávez is known as a revolutionary in many contexts, especially his defiance of the United States. In recent years, however, he's also broken ground on a far less well-exposed subject: the question of race in Latin America. The saga began two years ago, when, during a tour of Gambia, Chávez surprised observers by declaring that "I've always said that if Spain is our mother, Africa, mother A

A hydroelectric dam being built in a remote region of northwest Panama has created a major controversy among members of the Naso tribe, who have exiled their king for granting the Panama government permission to build a dam on a river that passes through their settlement. King Tito Santana is heir to a long [...]

Baseball in the United States dates back to the 1840s, but many other countries picked up and played the sport soon after. In Cuba, students who enrolled in the United States educational system returned home to the island nation with a bat and a ball. The popularity of the game in Cuba was so high as to be considered part of the identity during the war for independence during the late 1800s. The

América Móvil has signed with Apple to bring the iPhone to Latin America bringing the iPhone to Mexico and other Latin Caribbean countries this year. The company said it plans to bring the iPhone to all of its Latin American operations, but didn't say whether it would be the exclusive iPhone provider in the targeted countries. The deal mark's Apple's fourth international distribution deal for the iPhone in recent weeks; in addition to the Vodafone deal in Europe, it has also announced a separate arrangement with Telecom Italia and Canada's Rogers Communications. The new distribution deals could be important for the future of Apple's iPhone product as it moves the line forward. So far, Apple has sold about 5.5 million iPhones; the company has a goal of selling 10 million iPhones

América Móvil has signed with Apple to bring the iPhone to Latin America bringing the iPhone to Mexico and other Latin Caribbean countries this year. The company said it plans to bring the iPhone to all of its Latin American operations, but didn't say whether it would be the exclusive iPhone provider in the targeted countries. The deal mark's Apple's fourth international distribution deal for the iPhone in recent weeks; in addition to the Vodafone deal in Europe, it has also announced a separate arrangement with Telecom Italia and Canada's Rogers Communications. The new distribution deals could be important for the future of Apple's iPhone product as it moves the line forward. So far, Apple has sold about 5.5 million iPhones; the company has a goal of selling 10 million iPhones

The Associated Press today reports on how thinly spread U.S. Special Forces are in many parts of the world, including Latin America, at a crucial time. "We're going to fewer countries, staying for shorter periods of time, with smaller numbers of people than historically we have done," Adm. Eric T. Olson said May 5 in his first interview since becoming commander of U.S. Special Operations Command last July. To illustrate that point, Olson said that when the 7th Special Forces Group, which is based...(read more)

It is being rumored that the iPhone will be appearing on Latin American store shelves some time in the future. This is thanks to company America Movil. When in the future is still unknown, however knowing that it is coming is better than never getting it at all, am I right? Residents of the 16 countries found within [...]

News of more iPhone carriers around the world continue to trickle in. This time, it's Latin America that's getting Apple's beloved shiny phone of goodness. According to Reuters, America Movil has stated today that it has struck a deal with Apple to distribute the iPhone in Latin America. No specifics have been stated so the when and how much are still up in the air. Additionally, there has been no word on whether America Movil will be an exclusive carrier or not.

Filed under: Handsets, GSM, EDGE, Apple, OS X Just a day after we heard that Vodafone was taking the iPhone on a world tour, in comes word that Apple’s darling will be headed to Latin America via America Movil. We aren’t told if the deal is one of exclusive nature, nor were we given a specific [...]

“When the United States, the leading importer of Latin American goods, struggled through a recession in 2002, six of Latin America’s most prominent currencies dropped by 20% or more. But the story for 2008 has been very different.” — Jason Simpkins by Jason Simpkins Baltimore – (TFN): Concerns about the U.S. economic slowdown [...]

A recent article in the Latin Business Chronicle states that new data from the IMF is showing that Panama has the highest GDP growth rate in Latin America. Panama’s economy is expected to grow 7.7% this year, beating out Peru, which is currently growing at a rate of 7%. Both countries are beating [...]

Globo reported that plans are underway to build AquaRio, the largest aquarium in Latin America, one year from now. The construction will take about 20 months. The aquarium will contain 5.4 million liters of water, which is 0.4 million more...

Construction has begun on the tallest proposed building in Panama City, a complex called “Los Faros de Panama” designed by the Spanish architecture firm Chapman Taylor. The project, as currently planned, is a massive structure composed of three skyscrapers, with the center tower reaching 1,180 feet. According to Chapman Taylor’s website, the central tower of [...]

Apple continues to spread the iPhone craze all over the world, and it looks like Mexico will be among the countries to get the sleek handset in the near future. According to the on-line edition of El Universal, an important Mexican newspaper, the iPhone will be available in the Central American country starting June 2008, brought by Telcel. The most populous state in Latin America (more than 108 million people), Mexico has a quick-growing mobile penetration rate. With slightly over 50 million subscribers, Telcel is the largest mobile carrier in the country, so it's obvious why Apple plans to release the iPhone with the T-company: more subscribers, more units sold, more profit.Apple continues to spread the iPhone craze all over the world, and it looks like Mexico will be among the cou

Apple continues to spread the iPhone craze all over the world, and it looks like Mexico will be among the countries to get the sleek handset in the near future. According to the on-line edition of El Universal, an important Mexican newspaper, the iPhone will be available in the Central American country starting June 2008, brought by Telcel.The most populous state in Latin America (more than 108 million people), Mexico has a quick-growing mobile penetration rate. With slightly over 50 million subscribers, Telcel is the largest mobile carrier in the country, so it's obvious why Apple plans to release the iPhone with the T-company: more subscribers, more units sold, more profit.Apple continues to spread the iPhone craze all over the world, and it looks like Mexico will be among the countriest

World of Warcraft Coming to Latin AmericaGamers Hell, UK - 15 minutes agoBlizzard Entertainment also announced that World of Warcraft will be released in Latin America. The Latin American localization will be based on the … Written by Google Inc. and Powered by WordPress

Blizzard to Release World of Warcraft in Latin AmericaGame News, Belarus - 3 hours agoBlizzard Entertainment announces that World of Warcraft, its subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is being prepared for … Written by Google Inc. and Powered by WordPress

World of Warcraft Headed to Latin AmericaDailyGame - 4 hours agoWorld of Warcraft will soon be available in Latin America, Blizzard announced today. The Latin American localization of World of Warcraft will be based on … Written by Google Inc. and Powered by WordPress

Blizzard Entertainment Takes World of Warcraft To Latin AmericasocalTech.com, CA - 9 minutes agoIrvine-based Blizzard Entertainment said Wednesday that it has taken its popular massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), World of Warcraft, … Written by Google Inc. and Powered by WordPress

Influential education guru William Daggett likes to ask his audiences: Why do so many of our kids learn to speak French instead of Chinese when China is a rising global powerhouse? Answer: Because we have so many French teachers. His...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called Colombia the “Israel of South America” due to its US backed attacks on militants.Venezuela's embassy in Bogota has been closed and tanks moved onto the Colombian –Venezuelan border while Chavez has warned Uribe "We aren't going to permit Colombia to become the Israel of these lands. ... Uribe, we aren't going to permit you."Tensions in South America have been heightened since a recent Colombian attack on FARC forces inside Ecuador which killed a top FARC leader. source: www.haaretz.com

America Movil, a wireless services provider in Latin America, and Yahoo! Inc. today announced a new strategic global partnership providing a framework for making Yahoo!'s industry leading mobile services available to millions of consumers in 16 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The agreement sets the stage for Yahoo! oneSearch to be the preferred mobile search service on America Movil's diverse wireless carriers' portals and prominent placement of links on the carrier portal to Yahoo!'s Mobile Web properties.Under the global framework agreement, oneSearch, Yahoo!'s industry leading mobile search product, will be the default mobile search service on America Movil's wireless carriers' portals, making it easier for consumers to find relevant answers to search queries on their mobile devices. In the coming months, Yahoo! will customize and deploy localized versions of oneSearch for each region, integrating America Movil's wireless carrier

Several recent stories highlight the growing dangers faced in Latin America, where many of the once-idealistic leaders of the old Left are now making alliances of convenience to counter U.S. influence in the region. The danger is the mixture of once-national issues with transnational threats that are beyond the control of the old Left-Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales in Bolivia, and others to a lesser degree. These leaders may see themselves as populists addressing...(read more)

Fausta launched "Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean" ahead of an upcoming referendum that would make her de facto Latin American webmistress for life. She's done a lot for the poorer bloggers, and I'm personally grateful for the introductions to Naomi Campbell, Danny Glover, and Sean Penn, but I can't help but be wary of such extreme concentrations of power. Regardless, it's nice to see that she's recovered from her embarrassment at the Latin American blogging conference when Spain's Royal Blogger, Glentico Renaldo, told Fausta: "Por que no paras de teclar?" Anyways, check it out Fausta's blog

Paris, France, 10 December, 2007 - Thomson's (Euronext 18453; NYSE: TMS) Cirpack VoIP platform has been selected by Cablecom, a leading Mexican cable operator, to launch primary line telephony in December 2007 as part of its new triple play offer. Cablecom, who currently supply TV and Internet services to both residential and business markets have purchased Thomson's full next-generation networks platforms including "IP Centrex” for business telephony services.Cablecom is undergoing rapid expansion of its customer base and already has around 600,000 connected customers. Since the beginning of 2007, it has acquired more than 20 other cable operators to consolidate the Mexican market and build an alternative solution to traditional telephony offers. In this context, Cablecom needed a scaleable platform to optimise management of its multiple networks."We needed a solution to quickly launch primary line telephony to complete our triple play package” said Eduardo Rodriguez To

Chavez says he will govern until 2013 after losing referendum(AFP) AFP - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday he will govern until 2013 when his mandate ends, now that voters rejected constitutional reforms that would have allowed him to seek endless reelection. Mexican city exhumes thousands of bodies(AP) AP - Authorities in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez said Wednesday that they plan to exhume the remains of more than 4,000 unidentified people buried in common graves and take DNA samples in an attempt to identify them. Bookmark to:

Transnational Cinema in Globalising Societies: Asia and Latin America29-31 AugustCALL FOR PAPERSJointly organised by the Institute for Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Nottingham Ningbo, China and the Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla, Mexico, to be held in Puebla, Mexico.Keynote Speakers- Professor Néstor García Canclini, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana- Professor Robert Stam, University of New York- Professor Chris Berry, University of London, Goldsmith's CollegeIf cinema was instrumental to nation building processes during the twentieth century, it has been equally central to their challenging, interrogation and sometimes reaffirmation in the twenty-first.This is especially true for Asian and Latin American cinemas, as present conditions variously described as 'globalisation' or 'flexible accumulation' have wrought tremendous social change, both rising standards of living and increasing inequality; allowing for reverse cultural flows and also exposing the media

NIC Mexico and eCOM-LAC, the organisations in charge of getting a domain extension for Latin America have announced that .LAT is the TLD that they will apply to get for this region. In order to pursue global promotion and recognition, and to continue the growth of the internet in the Latin American community, NIC Mexico and [...]

Reflections of President Fidel Castro: The Summit Debate - ALL physical, geographic and time barriers disappeared. It seemed unreal. Never before had a dialogue of this nature taken place between heads of State and government, most of whom represented nations that had been pillaged by colonial and imperialist powers for centuries. Nothing could have been more instructive. The Saturday of November 10th, 2007, will go down in the history of our America as a day of truth. The ideological Waterloo took place when the King of Spain abruptly asked Chávez: “Why don’t you shut up?” All hearts in Latin America raced at that instant. The people of Venezuela, who will be called upon to vote “yes” or “no” next December 2nd, were shaken by the emotion of living the glorious days of Bolívar again. The betrayals and the low blows that our dear brother endures each day cannot change the way the Bolivarian people feel. When Chávez arrived from Chile at the Caracas airport and I

The Dean’s Latin America and Africa Scholarship is a prestigious scholarship awarded annually to an exceptional MBA from Latin America or Africa.  The scholarship will be available for the second time for MBA applicants entering the 2008/09 academic year.The School is most grateful to Peter Moores Dean Professor Colin Mayer and his wife Mrs Annette [...]

The Dean’s Latin America and Africa Scholarship is a prestigious scholarship awarded annually to an exceptional MBA from Latin America or Africa.  The scholarship will be available for the second time for MBA applicants entering the 2008/09 academic year.The School is most grateful to Peter Moores Dean Professor Colin Mayer and his wife Mrs Annette [...]

Jobs | Product Manager: Latin America â€" Union Square, NYCRapidly growing, Top 50, international website, small team, professionally run environment.About FotologThe world's largest photo blogging community, FOTOLOG is an evolving social network where nearly 5 million members communicate and connect through photographs. FOTOLOG allows anyone to easily publish an online photo journal, or photo blog, and share it worldwide. Members from 200 countries post over 400,000 photos and three million messages each day, making Fotolog an extraordinary experience where members receive constant â€" and often instant â€" feedback on their photographs.We're looking for a PRODUCT MANAGER: Latin AmericaWhat you have: A background in product management focused on the Latin American consumer that stems from your unique blend of product, technology, and business skills, and a desire to become a force for innovation in a professionally managed, rapidly evolving sta

By: A dialect is defined in linguistic terms as a language variety which is spoken in a specific territory. In the Spanish peninsula, for example, there are different dialects of Spanish. One should not, however, mix up the different dialects in Spain with the different languages spoken in the Peninsula: Spanish, Catalan, Basque and Galician.The existence of dialects is a natural consequence of the dynamism of languages. For example, throughout its evolution, Spanish has adopted unique characteristics in the different places where it is spoken. Some of the dialects of Spanish in Spain are canario (from the Canary Islands), andaluz (from Andalusia), and madrileno (from Madrid). The different Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America also present national and regional variations. Thus, we can speak of an Argentinean, a porteno (from Buenos Aires city), a Chilean, or a Colombian dialect, among others.The differences between dialects are usually limited to intonation, pronunciation and

By Elizabeth Gibson Medill Repotrs - Chicago Rev. Rene Mena didn't realize what he was getting into when he came to the U.S. to become a priest. "I expected the church in the U.S. to be just like Mexico," he said. "I thought I was going to be like a monk, you know, and wear a long, white cassock." Instead, Mena said he makes house calls to the sick, baptizes children by the dozen and worries about the homeless in Little Village. At his church's Augustfest, he wore a plaid shirt as he swept up napkins from the sidewalk in front of St. Agnes of Bohemia Catholic Church. read more

This fall you may want to book discount airline tickets to Latin America. Taca Airlines is offering cheap international airline tickets to countries all over Latin America for as low as 370 dollars. You can find these deals on Travelocity through Taca Airlines or just visit their online home. This can be a great way to beat the cold and enjoy the tropical weather of Latin America. Discount international airline tickets from Taca Airlines fly to places such as Guatemala City, Mangua, San Pedro Sula, San Jose, San Salvador and Belize City. In order to qualify for these cheap tickets you must book by July 16, 2007. You must also travel by October 31, 2007 to receive these cheap airline tickets.

INTRODUCTIONFidel Castro is the most recognizable face in twentieth century Latin America. Since his accession to power in Cuba on the eve of 1959, he has never allowed his influence to be undermined in the region. The intent of this paper is to show how Castroism or Fidelismo (different names for the same ideology) is unique and has influenced countries throughout the world.This paper will minimally address the personal lives of Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara, including their family life and education. Subsequently, the ideology of Castroism/Fidelismo will be summarized and critiqued. Finally, the exportation of the ideology and the formation of Castroite support structures across Latin America will be defined.Conclusions are that it is an original ideology, unique to communism, even though it has Marxist-Leninist influence in the post-revolution Cuba. Influenced almost entirely by Castro and Guevara’s writings and policies, its central tenet is that of revolution,

The fourth season of the Travel Channel’s 5 Takes series began this past Saturday night in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I’ve been a fan of the series, having watched the three previous seasons where 5 travel journalists (or TJ’s as they’re called) backpacked around Europe, Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia, and the United States. It was a rather motley crew of travelers which had been selected for the Latin America season, including a chubby bald guy, Vinny, who started crying about Eva Peron. Didn’t Madonna sing “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina?” After about 20 minutes, having being introduced to the new characters as they learned to tango and explore the Argentine culture, I realized I wasn’t interested. I turned it off. Perhaps my negative attitude has less to do with an interest in the hosts of the fourth season and more to do with my exhaustion of TV travel shows. You name it and I’ve seen it over the past few years. I&r

If you want to travel, visit Aconcagua, visit Argentina, visit Latin America.Great landscapes and a lot of fun! You can do trekking, hiking, skiing, diving and all kind of adventure activities!

Hotel Tequendama, Bogotá - Colombia, originally uploaded by ferchito86. Today's picture is of the Hotel Tequendama in Bogota Colombia. Enjoy more pics from Colombia courtesy of ferchito86 on flickr.

DSCN5729El Caminito, Buenos Aires. Argentina, originally uploaded by miuchi22. I decided to add a picture from a Latin American country daily, to share the differences in all our cities, and so we can enjoy the beauty of our countries..First up today is El Caminito en Buenos Aires..Enjoy and don't forget to check out the other pictures taken by miuchi22 on Flickr..

In this post: Iranian weapons in Afghanistan; Ahmadinejad vows to cut off hands and Islamic fundamentalisms rise in Latin America. As we breathlessly await some type of action on the Ilsamic Republic of Iran by the UN, EU and others, the radical militancy of that regime continues to spread throughout the world. Not only does Iran support both Shia and Sunni elements in Iraq, but it also supports the Taliban in Afghanistan: “U.S. forces recently intercepted Iranian-made weapons intended for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the Pentagon's top general said Tuesday, suggesting wider Iranian war involvement in the region.” The Weapons discovered thus far include mortars and C-4, but no further information has been given as to other possible arms. It is not known at this time whether the weapons came directly from Iran or through a third party. Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute said yesterday: "Iran's leadership often strikes pragmatic relationships

The news is that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has just won another election by a 23% landslide. This is a far more flagrant fraud than I had expected, even from a thugocrat like Chavez. It remains to be seen how Chavez's opponent, Manuel Rosales, responds to this blatantly rigged election. IMO he should refuse to concede, and instead call for mass street protests.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a famous political activist in the U.S. Civil Rights movement. He was the youngest man to win the Nobel Peace Prize (for for his work as a peacemaker, promoting nonviolence and equal treatment of different races). On April 6, 1968, he was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1986, he was celebrated as a U.S. holiday. Interestingly, he is one of the four individuals

Filed under: CellphonesJust a day after we heard that Vodafone was taking the iPhone on a world tour, in comes word that Apple's darling will be headed to Latin America via America Movil. We aren't told if the deal is one of exclusive nature, nor were we given a specific ...

LG Electronics announced the launch of LG Secret (model: LG-KF755) in Latin America on June 12th, 2008 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Following the successful launch in Europe, Latin America was selected as the second stop in a series of LG Secret launches around the world. Following the success of LG Chocolate ...

According to recent statistics, about 1.7 million people across Latin America were infected with HIV or AIDS in 2006, and 410,000 new cases had been reported that year as well. These numbers have show