BOGOTA (Reuters) – A criminal gang capable of smuggling 10 tonnes of cocaine a month for Mexico’s bloody Sinaloa cartel has been dismantled following the arrest of 36 suspects, Colombian authorities said on Friday.

The arrests have been hailed as a success of cooperation between Colombia and the United States, which has contributed with billions of dollars in aid to help the Andean country fight drug smugglers with links to Marxist guerrillas.

BOGOTA, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Colombia’s central bank held its
benchmark interest rate steady on Friday after six straight
hikes, citing concerns turbulence in global financial markets
could hurt economic growth in the Andean country.

As fears mount that the developed world is shifting from
slow growth to no growth, emerging markets seem to many
economists better placed to weather the storm.

BOGOTA, Aug 12 (Reuters) – At least one Colombian central
bank board member was against an interest rate hike at last
month’s meeting saying additional rate raises could bring in
more inflows and push up inflation, minutes showed on Friday.

Colombia’s seven-member central bank board raised its
benchmark interest rate for a sixth straight time on July 29 by
25 basis points to 4.50 percent in a move widely expected by
markets although the decision was yet-again not unanimous.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Beatles fan Gerardo Weiss ran a typical Buenos Aires barber shop until he had a dream that the Fab Four dropped in for a haircut.

Seven years later, Weiss has made Beatles-inspired cuts his specialty.

“The dream got etched on my memory,” he said at the modest salon, the walls plastered with photos of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – When Argentina’s president revealed last month on live television she would run for re-election, her accompanying announcement offered “TVs for All”.

The initiative, which aims to help thousands of Argentines buy flat-screen TVs with low-cost loans, is part of President Cristina Fernandez’s plan to maintain brisk consumer spending and court lower-income voters before an October 23 election.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – A cloud of ash spewing from a Chilean volcano caused chaos for air travelers in South America again on Monday and grounded flights as far away as New Zealand and Australia, stranding thousands of passengers.

Two airports serving Argentina’s capital and the main international airport in Uruguay were closed late on Sunday over safety fears sparked by the ash cloud, which has stretched some 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles).

QUITO (Reuters) – When Ecuador first asked richer nations for $3.6 billion in exchange for not tapping oil from the Yasuni Amazon reserve, it did not foresee the credit crisis worsening in Europe or unrest in Arab countries.

OPEC-member Ecuador says that by not extracting the heavy oil under the Yasuni national park, some 400 million tonnes of carbon dioxide will not be released into the atmosphere and a jungle area with more tree species than North America will be better protected.

QUITO, June 1 (Reuters) – A judicial shake up, negotiations
with mining and oil companies, tensions with the police and a
spat with the United States are some of the main risks to watch
in Ecuador in coming months.

REFERENDUM REFORMS

President Rafael Correa won a May 7 referendum on 10
reforms aimed at overhauling the justice system and limiting
media ownership, as well as rules banning activities such as
bull-fighting and gambling in casinos.

QUITO, May 12 (Reuters) – Vote counting in Ecuador showed
President Rafael Correa heading for a referendum victory on
Thursday after he accused electoral officials of delaying the
tally in pro-government regions.

Correa, an ally of Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo
Chavez, had already declared victory after the vote on Saturday
when polls and a quick count gave him a clear lead in the
referendum on ten reforms that will give him more power over
the judiciary and media in the South American OPEC nation.

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador President Rafael Correa’s weekend referendum win is cast as an unsettling power-grab by opponents but may actually pave the way for smoother relations with foreign investors whom he has squeezed in the past.

The leftist Correa has had tempestuous ties with foreign investors since he took office in the small but resource-rich Andean nation in 2007. He has accused some companies of pillaging resources, corruption and pollution.