Southern Cone
Chile: Pascua Lama mine suspended over safety
Barrick Gold Corporation had to suspend some operations at its troubled Pascua Lama mine after inspectors found unsafe levels of fine particles in the air.
Author: Weekly News Update on the Americas
Mexico
Mexico: ‘labor reform’ passes; economists ‘upbeat’
The Mexican Senate passed a controversial “labor reform” after stripping out articles to promote union democracy; pro-business economists promise new growth for Mexico.
The Caribbean
Puerto Rico: Fortuño loses —but did statehood win?
Gov. Luis G. Fortuño conceded defeat in his bid for a second four-year term, but his allies claimed statehood supporters had won in a referendum held the same day.
Mexico
Mexico: 14 police charged in attack on CIA agents
Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s Office confirmed that it was finally charging 14 federal police agents for an attack on a US embassy van more than two months earlier.
Central America
Honduras: four dead in latest Aguán violence
Four more campesinos were killed in the Aguán Valley, a site of violent land disputes, as international activists pressured the World Bank over a loan to the leading Aguán landowner.
The Caribbean
Dominican Republic: student killed during protest against ‘reform’
A medical student was shot dead as police attempted to break up a demonstration by students at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) protesting a “fiscal reform.”
The Caribbean
Caribbean: will Sandy force real discussion of climate change?
The relation of climate change to extreme weather remains controversial in the US, but it seems to be widely accepted by government officials in the Caribbean.
The Caribbean
Cuba: Sandy latest in decade of devastating storms
Economic damage from Sandy was extensive, with banana, coffee, bean and sugar crops ruined in the eastern region; 11 were killed, and thousands of homes destroyed.
The Caribbean
Jamaica: Sandy won’t affect IMF austerity plan
Hurricane Sandy hit eastern Jamaica directly, causing severe damage to crops and public infrastructure, but the IMF won’t give up its insistence on austerity measures.
The Caribbean
Haiti: Sandy kills 54, threatens food supplies
Haiti suffered the worst damage of the Caribbean nations that Sandy affected, even though the storm’s center never passed over the country.
Mexico
Mexico: torture and abuse cases continue to increase
Complaints of torture and other abuse by the police and the military have tripled since 2008, as the government steps up its militarized “war on drugs.”
Southern Cone
Chile: court approves call for US officer’s extradition
Chile’s Supreme Court approved a request for the extradition of a former US Navy captain to stand trial for his involvement in the murders of two US citizens in 1973.