Latin America: Week in Review, Venezuela
Chávez Visits Argentina To Receive Press Award; Signs Commercial Accords
March 30, 2011 By Staff
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
Today in Latin America
Top Story — Following on the heels of Barack Obama’s Latin American tour, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez hit the road to visit Uruguay, Bolivia, Colombia and Argentina, where he received a press freedom award at the University of La Plata.
Chávez, who regularly clashes with the Venezuelan media, was given the Rodolfo Walsh Prize Tuesday “for his unquestionable and authentic commitment” to giving disenfranchised people access to the airwaves and newspapers.
Chávez has helped pay for the growth of the Telesur network, which provides a state-funded alternative to privately financed broadcast stations across Latin America.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- An investigator for the Chihuahua state Attorney General’s Office and her 5-year-old daughter were killed outside their house in Chihuahua city Tuesday by gunmen.
- Britain and Mexico said on Tuesday that they would double bilateral trade to $6.7 billion by 2015.
- An Arizona-style immigration bill died in Mississippi under legislative pressure.
Caribbean
- Former President Jimmy Carter will meet today with Cuba’s top dissidents — from blogger Yoani Sánchez to the Ladies in White and 12 just-freed political prisoners.
- Haiti’s election agency postponed announcing the preliminary results from the country’s recent presidential run-off, saying higher turnout and fraud were delaying the count.
- Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier was discharged Tuesday from a hospital in the country’s capital where he was examined and treated for chest pains.
Central America
- Five men were killed and two others wounded in an attack staged by unidentified gunmen earlier this weekend in northwestern Guatemala, the National Civilian Police, or PNC, said.
- Seven soldiers were injured when their vehicle flipped over after being hit by an automobile in El Salvador, the highway patrol said.
Andes
- Ecuadorean state oil company Petroamazonas is seeking $500 million financing to start developing a new oil block next year and sees 32,000 barrels-per-day output in 2014, an official said on Tuesday.
- Venezuela said on Tuesday it was no longer publishing oil production and export data certified by an independent auditor in a move that will likely add to skepticism over the OPEC member’s assessment of its vital crude sector.
- Managers at Bolivia’s San Cristóbal mine said on Tuesday they have yet to start talks with workers to resolve a six-day-old strike that has paralyzed the Andean nation’s largest silver mine.
Southern Cone
- Brazil is considering ways to help Portugal through its debt crisis, including possible limited purchases of the country’s bonds.
- The United Nations on Tuesday opened a meeting Uruguay to address problems affecting the peace process between Palestine and Israel.
Image: Chavezcandanga @ Flickr.
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