Author: Zaruco

CORONEL/VALPARAISO, Chile, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Yureima Carvajal smelled smoke while preparing dinner on a rainy Monday evening in Los Pirquenes, an informal settlement in southern Chile. She thought someone was burning trash until she heard children screaming. “We ran over there and there weren’t any firefighters, there weren’t a lot of people and it was already burning so strong,” Carvajal said. “There were neighbors trying to throw water on it but you couldn’t put it out because it was already burnt.” Another Los Pirquenes resident, Daniel Gomez, said he ran through the community shouting until he found neighbors with…

The European Commission’s health and safety unit has published findings from two assessments looking at controls on exports of horse meat in Uruguay and Argentina. A DG Sante audit in Uruguay, in October and November 2022, made seven recommendations and found some actions taken since the last visit in 2018 had not solved past issues. Exports of horse meat to the EU were 3,363 tons, 4,356 tons and 3,301 tons in 2020, 2021 and 2022. These volumes make Uruguay the second biggest exporter to Europe. Traceability gapsThe audit found that the control system covers horse movements before slaughter but does…

Valencia, Turin, Madrid (28/11 – 25) Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia retained his MotoGP world title with many records; there are nevertheless signs that the Ducati rider will face sterner competition next season. The Italian rider won the 2023 season-ending MotoGP Grand Prix in Valencia on Sunday to clinch his second world title in a row. The protege of Valentino Rossi becomes the third rider to take back-to-back MotoGP titles since the introduction of the class in 2002. Only Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez previously managed to do that. Bagnaia is the first rider to successfully race and defend #1 in the…

This past Monday, the Constitutional Council of Chile — controlled by the right — approved the proposal for a new Constitution, which will be up for a citizens’ referendum on December 17. Voting will be compulsory. The birth of Chile’s constituent process In the last four years, there have been two attempts to change the Constitution of 1980. Amidst the social protests in Chile that began on October 18, 2019 — marked by mass demonstrations and violence — the political class agreed on an institutional solution to the crisis: offer a change to the current Constitution. In November of that…

Chile’s first intercity bus powered by green hydrogen was launched Wednesday. According to those behind the initiative, these units generate water and heat as their only waste, thus eliminating polluting emissions en route to reducing the carbon footprint, the state agency Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (Corfo) and the company Foton, said. The project was announced in 2021 as part of the country’s environmental policy. Transport accounts for 25% of greenhouse gases in the South American country, it was also explained. The new vehicle only generates water and heat as the only waste, leaving polluting emissions behind. In addition,…

Berlin (3/11 – 40) Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit China in the upcoming week as the crisis-hit country makes progress on debt restructuring talks with its biggest lender. Wickremesinghe took office in July last year, after a popular uprising, brought on by an economic meltdown, had forced his predecessor out of power. His Oct. 15-19 visit to Beijing will be his first to China since then. Wickremesinghe, who is also finance minister, has been leading Sri Lanka’s push to manage its heavy debt and keep funds flowing from a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. He will…

ONE (Ocean Network Express) and Cosco Shipping are starting the new LUX container service. This route connects Europe and the Mediterranean with the east coast of South America with weekly stopovers. The route includes important ports such as Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Hamburg (Germany), and Antwerp (Belgium), among others. Sergni Pessoa Rosa Jr., director of Operations, Technology, and Environment at Porto Itapoá, believes that LUX is an appealing alternative for both importers and exporters. “The line serves some of the most important ports in Europe, a very interesting market”, stated Sergni Pessoa Rosa Jr.. Furthermore, the Lady Jane will be the…

For the past six months, Chile’s constitution has been under surgery in a second attempt to recast the fundamental rights that will bring the country into the modern era. Polls show that the effort of an expert commission and the council overseeing the process is heading toward another rejection in December’s referendum. Despite recent concessions by the Partido Republicano, which has the largest representation on the council, some observers remain skeptical about whether the new text will be approved in the upcoming vote. Last week, commissions within the council started voting on amendments to a draft drawn up by the expert commission.…

SANTIAGO, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Chile’s economy shrank less than expected in the second quarter, beating both quarterly and annual forecasts, data from the country’s central bank showed on Friday. Chile’s economy shrank 0.3% from the previous three-month period, better than the market consensus for a 0.6% contraction in a Reuters poll of economists. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the world’s largest copper producer also shrank 1.1% on a yearly basis, the central bank added, beating an estimate of a 1.4% drop. “The drop in GDP was influenced mainly by trade, transportation, mining and manufacturing activities,” the central bank said in the…

(Bloomberg) — Uruguay’s inflation rate last month fell to its lowest level in nearly 18 years as price gains cooled for food, clothing and gasoline. Consumer prices in July rose 4.79% from a year ago, down from 5.98% in June, the national statistics agency said in a report Thursday. July marked the lowest inflation rate since November 2005. Waning inflationary pressures allowed the central banks of Brazil and Chile to lower borrowing costs in recent days. Mexico and Peru are expected to begin similar easing cycles later in 2023. Uruguay’s central bank was the first in South America among those…