MIAMI (Reuters) – President Hugo Chavez’s battle against cancer has Venezuela’s fiercely critical exiles abuzz, but few are betting it heralds the end of his 12-year grip on power in their oil producing homeland.

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have fled the country in the last decade to escape what they say is rising crime, dwindling economic opportunities and political persecution.

MIAMI (Reuters) – A former top Bolivian anti-drug official pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges of conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States in a case that has proved a major embarrassment for Bolivia’s President Evo Morales.

Retired General Rene Sanabria was head of Bolivia’s leading counternarcotics unit when he was arrested in February in Panama and deported to Miami, where he faced a life sentence if found guilty in a trial. Sentencing was set for September 2.

MIAMI, June 22 (Reuters) – Millionaires in Latin America
fared better than their compatriots in other regions during the
global recession.

A combination of a conservative investing streak and Latin
America’s brisk recovery helped millionaires in the region
minimize losses in the last four years, according to the latest
annual Merrill Lynch-Capgemini World Wealth Report.

MIAMI (Reuters) – A decline in trading activity by individual investors reflects skittishness over the United States and global economies and a seasonal summer slowdown, the head of TD Ameritrade (AMTD.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said in an interview on Tuesday.

Fred Tomczyk, chief executive of the discount broker, said it was too early to tell if figures showing a drop-off in trading last month by retail investors marked a permanent shift in investor sentiment.

MIAMI, June 13 (Reuters) – Standard & Poor’s raised the
Dominican Republic’s credit rating on Monday, citing
improvements in the country’s debt structure and prospects the
economy will continue to grow at a healthy pace.

The upgrade comes as the government of President Leonel
Fernandez is moving to tap international capital markets for
$500 million this year.

MIAMI, June 3 (Reuters) – A U.S. federal judge rejected on
Friday a request by the Chiquita Brands International Inc
(CQB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to throw out lawsuits by thousands of Colombians over
its payments to a right-wing paramilitary group during
Colombia’s civil war.

Some 4,000 Colombians are seeking damages claiming they and
their relatives were victims of violence by the paramilitary
group AUC, or United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which
Chiquita admitted to paying to ensure its workers’ safety.

MIAMI, June 3 (Reuters) – A U.S. federal judge rejected on
Friday a request by the Chiquita Brands International Inc
(CQB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to throw out lawsuits by thousands of Colombians over
its payments to a right-wing paramilitary group during
Colombia’s civil war.

Some 4,000 Colombians are seeking damages claiming they and
their relatives were victims of violence by the paramilitary
group AUC, or United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, which
Chiquita admitted to paying to ensure its workers’ safety.

MIAMI (Reuters) – Three Pakistan-born U.S. nationals, including the Imams of two Florida mosques, were arrested on Saturday on charges of financing and supporting the Pakistani Taliban, U.S. officials said.

The three were among six charged in an indictment that accused them of “supporting acts of murder, kidnapping and maiming in Pakistan and elsewhere” carried out by the Pakistani Taliban, which Washington calls a terrorist organization.

MIAMI, May 10 (Reuters) – Cuba hopes to counter U.S.
worries over its plans to start its first full-scale offshore
oil exploration in a rare presentation this week to an energy
audience outside the communist-led island.

Officials involved in Cuba’s oil project are expected to
discuss drilling plans and safety standards during a two-day
meeting of international drilling contractors opening on
Thursday in the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago.

MIAMI, April 28 (Reuters) – A rare and potent combination
of cool air clashing with warm, humid weather and extreme winds
at varying altitudes ignited the deadly tornadoes that ravaged
the U.S. South this week, meteorologists said on Thursday.

“Everything you need for a tornado outbreak was in place,”
said David Imy, a meteorologist from the Oklahoma-based U.S.
government Storm Prediction Center.