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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: South America

South America stories: 20 news summaries

US Coast Guard, Brit Navy Seize $380M in Cocaine

Nearly 5.5 tons discovered under concrete floor of fishing boat

Sep 28, 09 2:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - The British Navy and US Coast Guard have seized a record $380 million worth of cocaine on a fishing boat off the coast of South America.  The boat was searched for 24 hours before investigators broke up the concrete floor with sledgehammers and discovered 5.5 tons of the... More »

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crime • cocaine • Coast Guard • South America • drug traffickers • British Navy

'Bourgeois'
Golf Courses Tee Off Chávez

Venezuela shutting down the links—that happen to be near oil

Aug 13, 09 9:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hugo Chávez has gone after oil conglomerates and media companies, and now he's hitting the capitalist pigs where it hurts: at the golf course. The Venezuelan president is trying to shut down the country's best-known courses, which he believes are part of an anti-Marxist conspiracy, the Independent reports. "... More »

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energy • oil • Latin America • Venezuela • golf • nationalization • South America • golf course • Hugo Chávez • oil industry

OPINION

 Sauvignon Blancs 
 Perfect for Summer 

Wine panel rates the best from South America

Jul 22, 09 12:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - We have reached “the vast plateau in the middle of summer,” the time when “one of wine’s primary purposes is to offer relief from the daily bout with seasonal oppression,” writes Eric Asimov in the New York Times. Summer wines, “like a good beach... More »

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wine • South America • summer • sauvignon blanc • Eric Asimov • Jay-ZTV • white wine

(AP) - With 3½ months to go, Rio de Janeiro has picked up significant momentum in the race for the 2016 Olympics. The Brazilian city emerged with the most buzz among the four competing cities during presentations yesterday in Switzerland to International Olympic Committee members. Chicago, Madrid, and Tokyo are the other... More »

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Chicago • Rio de Janeiro • Tokyo • South America • Madrid • 2016 Olympics • International Olympic Committee • Summer Olympics • Carlos Roberto Osorio

(Newser) - Dozens of carefully buried human sacrifices have been found in a coastal Inca site in Peru, reports the Telegraph. Most of the dead are teenage girls, and one appears to have been pregnant. The bodies, which still contain skin and hair, all bear signs of knife slashes along the neck.... More »

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archaeology • Peru • Machu Picchu • South America • Spanish • Inca • human sacrifices • archaeologist

Brazil Finds Drunk-Driving Law Tough to Swallow

Home of carnival balks at cultural shift; corruption, lack of funds also hinder effort

Dec 23, 08 3:20 PM CST
(Newser) - Brazilians have mixed feelings about recently adopted drunken-driving laws that threaten to undermine their carnival lifestyle. The 0.02% alcohol limit—much stricter than America’s 0.08%—aims to curb the 35,000 deaths that occur on Brazil’s roads annually. But with just 900 breathalyzers for a nation... More »

MORE ABOUT:
alcohol • law enforcement • car accident • Brazil • drunk driving • South America

TRAVEL

 Find Your Tipping Point Abroad 

With gratuity varying by country, it's important not to offend

Nov 20, 08 2:26 PM CST
(Newser) - Knowing the appropriate level of gratuity can be tricky, and it gets even more difficult abroad, where tipping practices widely vary. Forbes offers some help, noting, for instance, that for a cab ride in South America, rounding up the fare to the next dollar is an acceptable tip, while in... More »

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Africa • travel • India • Japan • Europe • South America • tipping • luxury travel • customs

glossies

Bet You've Never Heard of This Megachef

But that'll change when he conquers US with his Peruvian cuisine

Nov 12, 08 11:02 AM CST
(Newser) - Peruvian cuisine is the latest craze to hit south of the border, writes Andrew Curry in Portfolio, "thanks in part to superchef Gastón Acurio." With a hit TV show and more than a dozen eateries on two continents, this culinary rock star has cooked up a multi-million-dollar... More »

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Peru • restaurant • chef • South America

Cocaine's Nazi Ties Moved Mirren to Quit

Actress 'loved' drug, but link to war criminal opened her eyes

Sep 1, 08 12:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Helen Mirren stopped using cocaine because of a Nazi war criminal. “I loved coke," says the Academy Award-winning actress. "I never did a lot, just a little bit at parties.” And she gave it up after learning that Klaus Barbie was living off cocaine proceeds while... More »

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cocaine • rape • Nazi • South America • Helen Mirren • Klaus Barbie

 As World Economies
 Falter, Brazil Sambas

New economic powerhouse withstanding tremors

Jul 31, 08 6:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - Economies worldwide are stalling, with growth slowing to a trickle and markets seizing up. But in Brazil, long a laggard on the international stage, the economy is growing at the largest rate in three decades. Good government, progressive social programs, and newly discovered resources have allowed Brazil to finally take... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Latin America • Brazil • Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva • South America • emerging markets • boom economy • BRICs

 Volcanic Plume
 Blankets S. America 

Ash from Chile eruption closing in on Beunos Aires

May 7, 08 8:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - A mammoth plume of ash and smoke from a newly erupted volcano in Chile is slowly working its way across South America and now poses a health risk to the 8 million residents of Beunos Aires, AFP reports. Thousands of residents of southern Chile were evacuated Tuesday, with ash coating... More »

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Chile • Argentina • South America • volcano • volcanoes • disaster

Weak Dollar
Not Slowing
US Vacations

About 25 million expected to travel abroad this summer

May 3, 08 3:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - The dollar may be weak, but Americans’ desire to travel overseas this summer is strong, the Los Angeles Times reports. While domestic travel has appeared to hit the skids, more than 25 million Americans will grab their passports and take off for adventures abroad—up 2.6% from... More »

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China • Australia • India • Europe • Ireland • air travel • South America • AAA • holiday travel

Rice Snubs Argentina in
Trip South

Relations grow icier
as Kirchner drifts toward Chavez

Mar 13, 08 2:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice has embarked on a visit to Brazil and Chile, but the secretary of State won’t be stopping in neighboring Argentina, a sign of ever-frostier relations. “The United States is clearly snubbing Argentina,” one expert tells the New York Times. New Argentine president Cristina Fernández... More »

MORE ABOUT:
oil • Latin America • Venezuela • Condoleezza Rice • Brazil • Chile • Argentina • South America • Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner • Hugo Chávez

OPINION

Not So Noble After All

Chavez tried to fix results, demanded margin of error be shrunk

Dec 8, 07 4:23 PM CST
(Newser) - Why was Hugo Chavez so princely in defeat last week, never demanding a recount after losing at the polls? Because he did try to fix the vote behind closed doors, and relented only when officials slimmed the margin of defeat to help him save face, writes Newsweek's Jorge Castaneda. More »

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politics • Venezuela • South America • Hugo Chávez • referendum • Venezuela Constitution

At 500, 1st 'America' Map Baffles

German monk closely mapped South America, unknown Pacific

Dec 4, 07 5:25 PM CST
(Newser) - The Library of Congress this week unveils the first map to use the name "America"—and the 500-year-old mysteries that go with it. The 1507 map by a German monk includes a surprisingly precise rendering of South America, Reuters reports, and seemingly predicts the contours of the continent's... More »

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maps • America • Library of Congress • South America • monks • Martin Waldseemuller • Amerigo Vespucci • Ptolemy • North America • Duke of Lorraine • Prince Johannes Waldburg Wolfegg • Magellan

Meteorite Hunter Gets His Due

He finds fame, maybe fortune, by digging through dust

Oct 27, 07 1:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - He’s not exactly Indiana Jones, but Steve Arnold does have fame, wild adventures, and an 18-foot-wide metal detector. Arnold, a meteorite hunter, has combed the deserts of Chile, the tundras of Siberia, and the streets of Chicago looking for the extraterrestrial lumps of metal, the LA Times reports.... More »

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Chicago • Oman • Chile • Kansas • South America • farmer • Bonhams Auctions • meteorites • Steve Arnold • Sahara • Houston Museum of Natural Science

Chavez Proposal Clears Way
for Lifelong Presidency

Amendment would wipe out term limits

Aug 16, 07 3:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has made a power grab toward a president-for-life position, packaging a proposal granting him unlimited terms with a measure to cap the workday at six hours. The constitutional amendment would extend terms from six to seven years and remove the two-term limit that would otherwise force... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Venezuela • presidency • constitution • South America • Hugo Chávez

Huge Earthquake
Rattles Peru

Tsunami warning after 7.9 hits off coast; at least 15 dead

Aug 15, 07 8:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - A massive earthquake shook central Peru tonight, raising fears of a tsunami along the Pacific coast of Central and South America. The quake hit about 90 miles southeast of the capital of Lima, but witnesses felt it deep into the hinterlands. The country has been put on alert for deadly... More »

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tsunami • Peru • Hawaii • Lima • South America • Central America • earthquake • aftershock

Chavez Lavishes Oil Wealth on Neighbors

In bid to undercut IMF, Chavez becomes Latin America's banker

Aug 9, 07 8:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is spreading hundreds of millions of oil dollars around South America in an effort to limit the influence of the International Monetary Fund and forge a strong alliance. Chavez began a four-nation tour in Argentina referring to the IMF as "Dracula" and called for a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
energy • oil • Venezuela • International Monetary Fund • Argentina • Uruguay • South America • Ecuador • Hugo Chávez

Snubbing the West, Bolivia Waxes Red

Country turns to Chávez, socialism,
in lieu of IMF cash

Aug 3, 07 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bolivia’s populist president is traveling his country handing out aid—straight from his anti-American neighbor Hugo Chávez. The Washington Post reports that Evo Morales has been taking more than a cue from Chávez, using the Venezuelan leader's cash to fund social welfare programs and build clinics and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
inflation • Venezuela • World Bank • Bolivia • nationalization • IMF • Evo Morales • South America • Hugo Chávez

20 Stories


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