South America News

“We are now taking the launch vehicle back to the Final Assembly Building where we will investigate the equipment and replace it.”

The Ariane rocket will be rolled back for testing The launch of the UK's Skynet 5B military communications satellite from French Guiana has been delayed. via BBC News

“It takes a miracle to find milk”

Venezuelan construction worker Gustavo Arteaga has no trouble finding jobs in this OPEC nation's booming economy, but on a recent Monday morning he skipped work as part of a more complicated search -- for milk. via Reuters

“Should the U.N. gain control of the Internet”

1/83/8

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil | When hundreds of technology experts from around the world gather here this week to hammer out the future of the Internet, the hottest issue won't be spam, phishing or any of the other phenomena that bedevil users everywhere.

Instead, ending U.S. control over what's become a global network will be at the top of the agenda for many of the more than 2,000 participants expected at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, which begins Monday.

With the Internet now dominating nearly every aspect of modern life, continued U.S. control of the medium has become a sensitive topic worldwide. In nations that try to control what people can see and hear, the Internet often is the only source of uncensored news and opinion. Read more

“They treat us like animals because of the unconditional cooperation from comrade Hugo Chavez ... him as the big one and me as the little one”

By Manuel Farias and Pav Jordan

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Spain's King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Saturday to "shut up" during closing speeches by leaders from the Latin world that brought the Ibero-American summit to an acrimonious end.

"Why don't you shut up?" the king shouted at Chavez, pointing a finger at the president when he tried to interrupt a speech by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Zapatero was in the middle of a speech at the summit of mostly leftist leaders from Latin America, Portugal, Spain and Andorra, and was criticizing Chavez for calling former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a fascist. Read more

“You have stabbed the Argentine people in the back”

The Ibero-American summit in Chile produced both a power transmission deal and widened a rift over a paper mill. via UPI

God is Brazilian - Headline in the Correio Braziliense newspaper "This has changed our reality," said Dilma Rousseff, possible Brazilian Presidential successor Oil experts said it was the biggest find anywhere ... via Guerrillanews.com

Brazil's days as an oil importing nation suddenly seem to be numbered . A monster offshore oil discovery and promising fields near the find could help Brazil join the ranks of the world's major exporters, but ... via RoguePundit

An Iberia jetliner skidded off a runway in Ecuador on Friday, an airport official said, the second such incident in the last four months. via PR-inside.com

GUALEGUAYCHU, Argentina : Scores of activists marched to Argentina's river border with Uruguay on Saturday to protest the impending startup of a paper pulp plant they fear will pollute the environment. via International Herald Tribune

“This a moment to face the new challenge of our region, the postponed challenge of reaching a social pact”

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on Thursday opened a gathering of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal with a call for renewed efforts to fight poverty. via Forbes

“Chavez will tell me about his meeting with a delegate of the FARC terrorist group who have held many kidnapped Colombians for many years, a terrorist group that have killed many of the kidnapped”

By Pav Jordan

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez crooned defiant lyrics to reporters as he arrived in Chile on Friday for a summit of leaders from the Latin world where he might meet with Colombia's president to discuss talks with Colombian rebels.

Chavez, an ex-soldier, has been mediating between the government of neighboring Colombia and Marxist guerrillas to try to arrange an exchange of hostages in rebel captivity for guerrillas held in government prisons.

"I am who I am, if they don't like me, that's their problem," sang Chavez, a leftist and strident opponent of the United States who has used his country's oil wealth to spread his influence and self-styled socialist revolution in the region. Read more

SAO PAULO, Brazil : Brazilian carrier OceanAir will temporarily take over operations of competitor BRA Transportes Aereas, which suspended all flights earlier this week, the country's defense minister said ... via International Herald Tribune

Colombia's president on Friday criticized U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's opposition to a free-trade accord between the South American nation and the United States, saying it reflects an unforgivable lack of ... via PR-inside.com

“We have never had disruptions of this magnitude”

U.S. cocaine prices have risen sharply and drug purity has slipped in the last nine months in a signal of the sustained impact of the multibillion-dollar war on drugs, the White House drug czar said on ... via Reuters

“It seems that instead of us modernizing, the international community is adapting to our particularities.”

The heir to one of Greece's two most enduring political dynasties faces a battle to safeguard his family's legacy this week as he is challenged by a wily law professor for the leadership of Greece's socialist ... via The Mississippi Press

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is to view for himself the worrying effects of global warming when he visits Antarctica this week with Chilean Environment Minister Anlia Uriarte, the minister said ... via People's Daily Online

President Hugo Chavez met with a representative of Colombia's largest guerrilla group Thursday, saying he and Luciano Marin Arango held their first talks aimed at negotiating a swap of rebel-held hostages for jailed guerrillas.

'We are here trying to put the pieces to together' for an agreement, Chavez told state television as Marin Arango, better known by his nom de guerre Ivan Marquez, stood next to him on the steps of Venezuela's presidential palace.

Marquez said a future meeting between Chavez and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia commander Manuel Marulanda _ possibly in Colombia's El Yari region _ was needed to overcome obstacles to a prisoner swap, which could include three Americans and French-Colombian citizen Ingrid Betancourt. Read more

“Brazil's reserves will lie somewhere between those of Nigeria and those of Venezuela”

Brazil's state oil company said Thursday that it has discovered as much as 8 billion barrels of light crude in an ultra-deep field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, an amount that could help transform the country into a major world oil exporter.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA's announcement that the Tupi field has between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels of recoverable light oil sent Petrobras shares soaring 26 percent in New York, to a close at a new 52-week high.

The sheer magnitude of the find suggests Brazil could transform itself from a medium-level oil producer 'to another level, like Venezuela, Arab nations and others,' said presidential chief of staff Dilma Rousseff. Read more

“Let's progress slowly but that's not to say go backwards or just spin our wheels”

Debate over U.S. control of core Internet systems threatens to overtake an international meeting in Brazil next week that was meant to cover topics including spam, free speech and cheaper access. via Belleville News-Democrat

SAO PAULO, Brazil : Landless activists blocked a key iron ore export railway for global miner CVRD on Wednesday, authorities said. via International Herald Tribune