Latin American leaders discuss
mechanisms to fend off economic
crises
Leaders of Latin American
countries met Thursday to work
out effective mechanisms to fend
off economic crises.
Latin America's economy has been
extremely vulnerable to external
shocks as shown in the crises in
the 1980s and 1990s crisis, said
Jose Machinea, executive
secretary of the Economic
Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean (CEPAL)
Therefore, "adequate mechanisms"
should be established to defend
countries in the region against
possible dangers, he told a
conference called "Economic
Integration and Social Cohesion:
Lessons and Perspectives."
Regional investment banks, such
as the Andean Promotion
Corporation, the Central
American Economic Integration
Bank and the Caribbean
Integration Bank, could play an
active role in safeguarding the
region's economy, he added.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis
Ernesto Derbez Bautista called
for a "common agenda" with which
countries in the region could
face crisis together.
CEPAL is a regional organization
created by the United Nations in
1948 to promote economic growth
in Latin America.
7 people killed in vendettas in
Colombia
Seven people were killed
Wednesday in two separate
vendettas in Colombia's western
department of Valle del Cauca,
police said Thursday.
Police in Cali, provincial
capital of Valle del Cauca, said
both vendettas are between drug
pushers and other criminal
organizations.
In one case, five men, aged from
18 to 26, were shot dead in a
rural area of Bolivar in north
Cali. Police suspected the
slaughter is related to gangs of
the drug-trafficking cartel of
Norte del Valle.
In the other one, two peasants
were assassinated in La Union.
Violence has led to deaths of
about 600 people this year in
the region, police added.
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Bolivians hold strike for
autonomy
Bolivians in the
country's energy-rich
regions held a 24-hour
strike Thursday to demand
autonomy from the capital
city of La Paz, news from La
Paz reported.
Shops and banks shut down
and traffic came to a halt
in Santa Cruz, Bolivia's
second-largest city and seat
of an oil-rich province that
accounts for one-third of
the economy in the country.
Many strikers wanted a
referendum on autonomy that
would give provincial
governments more control
over economic resources.
The city of Tarija also
reported a walkout. The
province of Tarija has 80
percent of Bolivia's natural
gas reserves.
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