February 1, 2007        www.LatinEPR.com          LatinEPR News Wire

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LATIN AMERICA - NEWS BRIEFS

 

MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

 

Best Blogs Awards 2006

 

“La Huella Digital”, a blog that analyzes current events and journalism, was recently voted best Spanish-language weblog in Deutsche Welle’s Best of the Blogs Awards 2006.  The annual contest gives internet users from around the world the chance to suggest blogs which are then shortlisted into 10 nominees for each of the contest’s 15 categories by an international jury of bloggers, independent journalists, and media experts.  The nominees are consequently open to the public’s critical eye for three weeks of voting.  This past year, over 5,500 blog suggestions came flooding in, more than double the number in 2005, and of these suggestions, more were in Spanish or Portuguese than in any other language.  The overall Best Blog of 2006 went to the Sunlight Foundation (United States), which aims at helping citizens learn more about the acts of Congress, thereby creating political transparency and accountability in government.

 

Venezuela Buying Bolivian Media

 

El Universal (Venezuela) reported in January that the Venezuelan government is attempting to establish a network of official media by buying Bolivian outlets that used to be owned by private individuals.   The first step in this plan, which has received support from Bolivia, was the recent purchase of La Epoca, a free Bolivian weekly which the Venezuelan government is turning into a daily newspaper.  La Epoca’s new director is journalist Hugo Moldiz, the major leader of the “people’s staff” organized to back the government of Bolivian President Evo Morales.  Strengthening ties between Venezuela and Bolivia are also reflected in Venezuela’s proposed plan to spend upwards of US$500,000 on Bolivian radio stations, and in the possibility of a US$100 million project that would establish two new national Venezuelan banks in the neighboring Andean nation.

 

Argentina E-Commerce, Broadband, and Retail Sales Set Record for 2006

 

Argentina’s e-commerce ended 2006 with a record-breaking year-to-year growth rate of over 100%, the local business chamber of e-commerce players (CACE) recently announced.  While residential internet use grew only 4.1% this past year, the spectacular growth in e-commerce is largely related to the large migration from dial-up accounts to broadband ones, meaning that broadband usage in Argentina grew an outstanding 76.8% in 2006.  Most of these users ended up with cable-modem connections from local media conglomerate Clarin. The number of business-grade Internet connections grew by 9.4%.  The increase in e-commerce on the Argentine Internet translates into purchases worth US$3.3 billion (compared to 2005’s US$1.6 billion), made by around 5 million customers in 2006.  According to a published survey, the Net would also be used by 84% of people polled to buy something during the End-of-Year shopping craze.  77% per cent had already used the Internet to research summer vacation destinations, and 60% planned to use the Web to book future holidays through an online travel or tourist service.  The rising activity in the e-commerce sector can also be seen as reflective of a general upward trend in the local Argentine retail sector.   This market experienced a huge boost this past holiday season, growing by over 25% compared to 2005, the highest growth in ten years.  Sales of electronic equipment, in particular, did well, growing by 134.8% in the first half of 2006 alone, according to Clarin.  Mobile operators CTI and Movistar also reported record-breaking sales of mobile phones in 2006; a 44.1% increase over 2005 that resulted in 30.2 million units.

 

Mexican Telmex to Purchase Colombian Cable

 

Mexican fixed-line phone company Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, plans to buy two Colombian cable companies, reported the Associate Press last month.  Telmex has reached an agreement with controlling partners of TV Cable SA to buy 100 percent of the company. TV Cable parent Valorem confirmed the deal in a filing to securities regulator.  Telmex has also reached an agreement with the controlling partners of Cable Pacifico SA for a 97.5% stake in that firm.  Both deals are subject to regulatory approval and other conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed. TV Cable offers pay-television and Internet services, reaching 164,000 homes in Bogota and Cali. Medellin-based Cable Pacifico has about 100,000 subscribers across nine states in Colombia. Telmex has expanded into South America, including Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru, to complement lackluster revenue growth in Mexico. In August, it paid about US$42 million for Colombian cable TV operator Superview.

  

TRAVEL

 

Argentina and Brazil among Most Recommended Tourist Spots for 2007

 

In a ranking by journalists at the Lonely Planet travel guide, Argentina and Brazil featured among the best international tourist destinations for 2007. The list includes eleven countries and is headed by China, with Argentina, Brazil, and Nicaragua, in 4th, 5th, and 6th place, respectively. Mexico shares tenth place with India. Regarding Brazil, the journalists highlight the natural and cultural diversity, and a recent news story in the Miami Herald cites Brazils’ booming tourism industry with its growing number of high-end hotels, excellent gastronomy, and yearly festivals. Indeed, Brazil is making an effort to attract a larger number of international tourists. This year, according to an advertisement developed by the Ministry of Tourism near the end of 2006, the federal government is investing US$ 120 million in order to promote Brazil as a tourist destination abroad. Revenues from tourism should increase from US$ 150 million in 2008 to US$ 200 million in 2009. 2006 was a record-breaking year for Brazilian tourism. Between January and November, foreigners spent US$ 3.9 billion in the country, 1.42% more than the amount spent in all of 2005.

 

Chinese Citizens Can Visit Colombia without Visas

 

(China Hospitality News.com) - Guillermo R. Velez, ambassador of Colombia in China, has disclosed that from January 1, 2007, Chinese citizens who hold a normal passport can go to Colombia for short-term visits or travel without applying for a visa.  Velez says Chinese citizens only need to provide their passport, return flight ticket and relative certificates to the Colombia Security Management Bureau before their entry into the country. They can stay in Colombia for 3 months or an accumulative 6 months in a year without a visa. Technical staff or equipment repair personnel can stay there for 1 month with a 15-day extension without a visa.  Colombia hopes this new measure will increase the communication between China and Colombia, and they are expecting reciprocal treatment from China.  Only 850 Chinese citizens applied for Colombian visas in 2006. Most of them were businessmen, which was an increase of 60% from the previous year.

 

Jamaica Minister Urges Health and Retirement Tourism

 

Minister of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture, Aloun Assamba, has urged increased investment in health and retirement tourism, noting that these sub-sectors were poised for growth throughout the region. The Tourism Minister, who was addressing the Jamaica Stock Exchange's second annual conference on Investments and Capital Markets on January 12th, noted that Jamaica and the wider region had "certain advantages that could contribute to the growth of these sub-sectors, based largely on our proximity to the large markets for health care that exists in the United States of America".  Pointing to specific areas for investment, she mentioned the provision of renal care equipment; cardiac care centers; paramedic and emergency health services including ambulances; equipment and facilities for by-pass surgery; retreat villas for recuperative and palliative care; and real estate developments for retirees.  According to the Tourism Minister, the government of Jamaica has long recognized the growth trend in these areas and was committed to creating an enabling environment for investment.

 

LAN Traffic Increases 23.7% for December

 

(Reuters) – Chile’s dominant carrier LAN Airlines reported an increase in passenger traffic of 23.7% for December 2006, compared to the same month the previous year.  The company said capacity on its passenger flights has risen 18.7% in the same period, meaning its load factor had increased by 3.1 percentage points to 75.8%.  International passenger traffic accounted for 86% of total passenger traffic and increased by 24.9% in December as capacity for that sector rose 21%.

  

ECONOMY AND POLITICS

 

Peru President Recommends Universal Currency for South America

 

(Living in Peru) - Peruvian President Alan Garcia presented his idea of creating a unified currency for all of South America this past month. Garcia, who was in Quito for Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's inauguration ceremony, stated that his proposed "South American Dollar" would enable more competitiveness between economies in the region. Additionally, the Peruvian head of state commented it would help strengthen South America's competitiveness against other world economies. "As a region, we produce more than China. However, we are weaker in comparison because we have 12 different currencies. China produces less but its Yuan continuously influences both the US Dollar and Euro," manifested Garcia. "12 different currencies have far too little value in the world" added Garcia who also suggested that unifying South America's currencies into the South American Dollar could help the region surpass China in trade and global development.

 

Latin America Real Estate Market Grows

 

Latin Business Chronicle recently released a special report that forecasts continued growth in the Latin American real estate market regardless of the region’s future political climate.  The report contributes this growth to retiring Baby Boomers from the US.  Mexico and Costa Rica are expected to pose the biggest attractions because of their proximity, while Central American nations, as well as the Dominican Republic, are also expected to start developing as real estate markets.  Northeastern Brazil, with its wealth of beaches, is currently drawing a wave of investors (particularly from Europe) that are interested in mixed-use projects.  However, the report asserts that areas which are either difficult to reach because of distance or do not have strong local markets, like Bolivia and Ecuador, will probably not benefit as much as their neighbors by the slowing down of the domestic market in the US.

 

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL

 

Latin America Makes Headway into Space

 

Latin America saw significant progress in the region’s forays into space this month, as Peru launched its first domestic spacecraft and Argentina sent the first ‘Spanish-language” satellite into orbit.  Xinhua News Agency reported on the launch of the Peruvian-built Paulet I rocket, a major step in the development of the country’s space program. The spacecraft, launched 50 km south of Lima, is named after Peruvian aviation pioneer Pedro Paulet, and is designed to measure conditions in the upper atmosphere.   Argentina’s recent success is the launch of the Pehuensat-1, a small six-kilogram satellite built entirely by the University of Comahue in Patagonia.  The satellite was sent into space, where it will remain for next several years, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in India.  It is intended to provide a platform for radio experiments between Argentina’s universities and colleges, thus making it the first ‘Spanish-language’ satellite.  The name of the satellite comes from the Mapuche Indian word ‘pehuen’, which refers to the emblematic araucaria trees of the southern Argentine province of Neuquen.

 

Chileans Work Least For a Big Mac

 

43 minutes is the time it takes an entry-level worker in Chile to earn the price of a McDonald’s Big Mac, according to a recent survey on current global purchasing power conducted by Reuters reporters.  The McDonald’s Big Mac has been used as an entertaining measure of purchasing power parity (PPP) since 1986, when The Economist popularized the use of the hamburger in PPP comparisons, because of its ubiquitous presence around the world and the way in which the final price of the product includes input costs from a wide variety of sectors in the local economy.  The latest Reuters survey focuses on the purchasing power of low-income workers in 13 countries by calculating the time it would take to earn enough money to buy such a hamburger.   Australian workers need the least amount of time, earning enough every 16 minutes.  Workers in Chile need the least of any Latin American country with 43 minutes, followed in the region by workers in Argentina (1 hour 40 min), Mexico (2 hours 33 min), and Brazil (2 hrs 56 mins).  Egyptian workers need the longest (5 hrs 15 mins), while US workers, ranking fifth in the survey, need only 30 minutes to buy their next lunch.

 

Argentina Declares Armenian Genocide Day

 

This past month, Argentina passed a bill that officially marks April 24th as “The Action Day for Tolerance and Respect between Peoples for the Memory of the Armenian Genocide”.   The Memorial Day commemorates the systematic killing of more than one and a half Armenians in Ottoman Turkey from 1915 to1923.  The atrocity is recognized by many countries - among them Uruguay (the first state to do so officially in 1965), Russia, France, and Belgium - as the first genocide of the 20th century.  The new law in Argentina has sparked strong opposition from Turkey, but the US is now considering a similar bill that will likely begin circulating the House of Representatives in the coming weeks.  Argentina, which has a substantial Armenian population, has officially recognized the fact of the Armenian Genocide since 1985 and has supported the Armenian nation in numerous decisions and declarations.

 

Cuba Teaches the World to Read

 

In 2007, Cuba’s successful literacy program, Yes I Can (Yo Si Puedo), recognized by UNESCO in November 2005, will continue spanning the globe as countries like Spain, Nicaragua, and Grenada implement its methods to defeat illiteracy at home.  The Spanish city of Seville recently announced the introduction of the Yes I Can literacy program, after officials witnessed the effects of the program at the 16th annual World Youth and Students Festival in Venezuela.  Currently, some 15,000 of Seville’s inhabitants cannot read or write, while half of the greater province’s population has only an elementary school education, according to figures released by the city council.  In Nicaragua, new president Daniel Ortega plans to use the program in his administration’s national literacy crusade.  And while the program has proven effective across Spanish-speaking Latin America, this year will mark the first time that the literacy program is conducted in the English language, namely in the Caribbean nation of Grenada.  The Yes I Can program was designed in Cuba in 1961 and has since reduced illiteracy there from 42% to 4%.  The program is currently being employed in nations like Ecuador and Bolivia, and Cuban advisors are already being requested to help organize similar programs, in addition to the ones mentioned above, in Gambia, Nigeria, and St. Kitts and Nevis.