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The Falklands wolf has puzzled evolutionary biologists since Charles Darwin first encountered it during the voyage of the Beagle in the 1830s. It was the only native land mammal on the Falkland Islands, which are 300 miles off the coast of Argentina. No one knew how it got there or what mainland animals it was descended from — and it did not help that the wolf was hunted to extinction by 1876. But using genetic analysis, Graham J. Slater, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues have solved some of the mystery. The closest living...

Oct 30, 2009 — “Plant fossils give first real picture of earliest Neotropical rainforests,” announced a press release from University of Florida.  The fossils from Colombia show that “many of the dominant plant families existing in today’s Neotropical rainforests – including legumes, palms, avocado and banana – have maintained their ecological dominance despite major changes in South America’s climate and geological structure.” The team found 2,000 megafossil specimens from the Paleocene, said to be 58 million years old.  This is only 5 to 8 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs according to conventional dating.  “The new study provides...

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - Brazil's vice president says his country should develop nuclear weapons. Jose Alencar says "a nuclear weapon has great importance" to prevent attacks on Brazil because of its extensive borders and maritime holdings. Alencar tells Brazilian newspapers that Brazil doesn't have a program to develop nuclear weapons, but should.

New reseach challenges previous theories of continent population New questions of human origin could shed light on what makes groups of people more or less prone to certain diseases, an OU researcher has found. Cecil Lewis, assistant professor of anthropology and director of the OU Molecular Anthropology laboratory, studied genetic diversity among American populations. His research is not only groundbreaking for anthropology but it could also affect future health research. “I made a number of surprising discoveries, some of which actually applied to the Americas as a whole,” Lewis said. Lewis’ research, which was recently published in the American Journal...

Latin American exports and other effects of global recession appear to be pushing the region more into a Chinese embrace, as cash-flush Beijing builds major channels for purchases of food and raw materials from cash-strapped South American partners.

As Argentina deals with its latest economic crisis, [Candace Piette admires the tango industry's ability to survive through good times and bad.] Tango is about national identity and every note of its music, every gesture of the dance, contains within it their history All correspondents who come to Buenos Aires have to do a story about tango and this was going to be mine. The reason for doing this one was the huge drop in income the tango business was experiencing, because of the global economic downturn. Fewer tourists were coming to the city, and many of the tango shows...

Peru, Bolivia lock horns over ‘Devil’s Dance’ Miss Universe contestant ignites controversy between Andean countries Richard D. Salyer / AP Karen Schwarz, Miss Peru 2009, pretapes her opening number Tuesday for the Miss Universe 2009 competition in Nassau, Bahamas. [Pic in URL] LIMA, Peru - A beauty pageant has set off a beastly battle between Peru and Bolivia, which both claim ownership of the Andean "Devil's Dance." The Peruvian contender for Miss Universe, Karen Schwarz, set off the feud when she donned a wildly ornate dress, boots and cape — accompanied by a multicolored, horned headpiece — as a symbol...

And yet Dems block offshore oil production in the U.S. Two pieces of information here. Connect the dots: 1. The Obama Administration is offering billions in loans for oil drilling off the coast of Brazil. 2. George Soros, the Dems top money man has a huge financial stake in the offshore drilling company. Obama Underwrites Offshore DrillingToo bad it's not in U.S. watersWall Street Journal AUGUST 18, 2009 You read that headline correctly. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration off Brazil. The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance...

Leftist leaders from Venezuela and Ecuador have angrily denouced a US military presence in Latin America, warning the "winds of war" were blowing across South America. Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, led the charge, attacking Colombia's decision to host American forces at seven of its bases, a move also condemned by Rafael Correa, Ecuador's leader. Speaking in Quito at a regional summit, Mr Chavez said he was fulfilling his "moral duty" by telling fellow leaders that the "winds of war were beginning to blow," because of the July accord between Bogota and Washington. "This could generate a war in South...

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A plan to increase U.S. troops in Colombia is drawing opposition not just from left-wing populist leaders in the region but from the moderate governments of Brazil and Chile as well. The spreading criticism threatens to isolate Colombia from its neighbors as it combats a cocaine-funded insurgency. The government is expected to sign an expanded U.S. military pact this month after a final round of talks. Colombia, Washington's main ally in the region, says the plan is aimed at strengthening anti-drug efforts. But leftist Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez accuses the United States of setting up a military...

A major and historic winter storm is underway at this Wednesday morning in Argentina. Snow is falling in many parts of the country and in many areas not used to winter precipitation. In Bahia Blanca, a coastal city in the Southern part of the Buenos Aires, the snow storm is heavy and local authorities describe it as the worst snow event in 50 years. Roads are already blocked by snow and ice in the regional. TN news channel reports some areas of the Sierra de La Ventana could pick up even 3 feet of snow, unimaginable to the region.

H1N1: 94 official deaths, unofficial figures say 100 The National Health Ministry reported there are 94 H1N1 influenza deaths in Argentina. Meanwhile, Débora Ferrandini, the vice Health Minister of Santa Fe province announced that there are 30 lethal cases in the province which would lead to an unofficial figure of 100 deaths in the country. Santa Fe's Health Ministry confirmed another H1N1 influenza death in the province, where there already are 26 lethal cases, and adds up to 100 deaths in Argentina since the swine flu outbreak in May. The province's authorities reported yesterday another three deaths, most of the...

After seeing itself isolated in the hemisphere after expelling its president for a series of constitutional violations, the interim government of Honduras got a lifeline from its neighbor earlier today. Costa Rica has offered to mediate a solution to the standoff over Manuel Zelaya’s arrest and exile last week. Roberto Micheletti, the interim president, embraced the offer immediately:

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's ruling Peronist Party was dealt a serious blow in Sunday's mid-term election with its loss of control of Congress. Her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, was defeated in his race against wealthy businessman Francisco de Narvaez for a seat representing the populous Buenos Aires province. Voters cast ballots Sunday for representatives for half of the lower house of Congress and one-third of the Senate posts. Complete results have yet to be announced. Allies of President Fernandez have controlled the Argentinian Congress for six years. But recent polls indicated...

AP reports President Manuel Zelaya’s private secretary told the AP that Zelaya was arrested and brought to a base on the outskirts of the capital, Tegucigalpa. An AP reporter saw dozens of green-helmeted soldiers surround the president’s house Sunday morning and then later jump in trucks and drive away, according to the report. About 60 police continue to guard the house, it said, adding that the president did not appear.

Venezuela and Bolivia are supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program, according to a secret Israeli government report obtained Monday by The Associated Press. The two South American countries are known to have close ties with Iran, but this is the first allegation that they are involved in the development of Iran's nuclear program, considered a strategic threat by Israel.

While the world continues to be on alert for a potential swine flu pandemic, South Americans have been suffering for months from one of the worst viral epidemics on record. Hundreds of thousands of people have been sickened by dengue fever this year; more than 70 have died. "This is the largest epidemic in many years," said Dr. Eddy Martinez, the director of epidemiology for Bolivia's Ministry of Health in the capital city of La Paz. By mid-April, he said, there had been more than 55,000 suspected cases in Bolivia's eastern and southern lowlands, with 25 fatalities. Most of those...

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday canceled his visit to Brazil, without giving an explanation, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA. The visit, which was to include a delegation of over a hundred officials, was meant to focus on expanding trade between the two countries. Senior Brazilian official Roberto Jaguaribe told reporters that the visit would be rescheduled for after the June 12 presidential elections in Iran, though there was speculation that the trip was canceled due to recent protests in Latin America. An AFP report quoted officials as saying that Iranian Ambassador to Brazil Mohsen Shaterzadeh had given...

Globovision of Caracas reports news that we hope is inaccurate, and which will be denied by former President Carter. The Venezuelan television network states that he has accepted an invitation to participate in the cultivation of coca with left wing Bolivian president Evo Morales, who grows it in Boliva. "Given that President Morales has been to my property, and evidently has harvested some peanuts, I hope that on my next visit I can go to El Chapare, where he is going to take me to harvest some coca leaves," responded Carter, which also drew a smirk of happiness from Morales....

A Mexican defender caused outrage by coughing and spitting in the face of a Chilean opponent after growing tired of swine flu jibes.   Chivas' Hector Reynoso also emptied his nose on Sebastian Penco after allegedly being called a leper by the Everton Vina del Mar forward.  The Mexicans were in Chile for a tie in the Copa Libertadores - Latin America's equivalent of the Champions League - and had reported discrimination from locals when they went out shopping in the run-up to the match.   Reynoso, 28, said: 'In the market place, people got out of our way,...

LIMA -- Public health authorities of South American countries took precautionary measures to fend off a possible pandemic after a deadly swine flu virus claimed dozens of lives in Mexico and infected at least 11 people in the United States. In Peru, experts with the Health Ministry said the ministry had initiated a nationwide precautionary plan to deal with potential threats, though no suspicious cases have been reported so far in the country. The Chilean Health Ministry expressed concern over the situation and drafted a contingency plan for epidemic prevention. It also ordered a public health alert that included health...

A British agent left top secret information about covert operations on a bus in South America when she lost her handbag while on assignment. The MI6-trained agent left her handbag on a transit coach at El Dorado airport in Bogota, Colombia. Intelligence chiefs were forced to wind up operations and relocate dozens of agents and informants amid fears the device could fall into the hands of drugs barons. The incident, which was hushed up by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), the agent’s employer, is an embarrassment for the government.

Mystery deepened on Friday surrounding the breakup of a suspected assassination plot against Bolivian president Evo Morales that left three dead, as opposition leaders cast doubt on the government's story and said it was using the plot to influence coming elections. The hazy details of what happened on Thursday, in accounts by Bolivian authorities, seem lifted from the pages of a Hollywood script. An alleged plot against the president and other top officials was broken up by an elite police squad. Three men were killed in their underwear after a half-hour shootout at a hotel. Allegedly among the dead were...

Mystery deepened on Friday surrounding the breakup of a suspected assassination plot against Bolivian president Evo Morales that left three dead, as opposition leaders cast doubt on the government's story and said it was using the plot to influence coming elections... An alleged plot against the president and other top officials was broken up by an elite police squad. Three men were killed in their underwear after a half-hour shootout at a hotel... The dead are believed to be 49-year-old Eduardo Rózsa Flores, Santa Cruz-born son of a Hungarian father and Bolivian mother; Árpád Magyarosi, a Romanian-born Hungarian; and Michael...

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago -- U.S. President Barack Obama and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez exchanged greetings with smile outside the venue of the Fifth Summit of the Americas here Friday. Pictures and TV footage issued by the summit's organizing committee showed that Obama and Chavez shook hands and exchanged greetings with very relaxed smile minutes before the opening ceremony of the summit on Friday evening. Reports here said that Obama offered greetings in Spanish, while the Venezuelan president replied in English. Obama also reportedly offered his greetings to other leaders participating in the summit, the first time...

PORT OF SPAIN, April 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Venezuela's anti-U.S. leader President Hugo Chavez shook hands on Friday at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, the Venezuelan government said. Photographs released by Venezuela's presidential office showed Chavez, a fierce adversary of Washington policies, smiling and clasping hands with Obama at the start of the summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders. (Reporting by Patrick Markey; Editing by Eric Walsh)

Literary agent Carmen Balcells said she doesn't expect to see any more books from Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez. "I don't think that Garcia Marquez will write anything else," said Barcells in an interview with the daily La Tercera in which she added that the Colombian writer represented 36.2 per cent of her literary agency's billing. Echoing Balcells was Briton Gerald Martin, the writer of the only authorised biography of Garcia Marquez. "I don't believe either that Gabo will write any more books, although it doesn't seem very regrettable to me because as a writer it was his fate to...

Peru's Shining Path have rebels killed 13 soldiers in two separate ambushes in the south-east of the country. The defence minister, Antero Flores Araoz, said the rebels attacked a military patrol with grenades and dynamite killing a captain and 11 soldiers in one of the most deadliest attacks by the guerrillas in the past decade. Both attacks took place in the Ayacucho region, 340 miles from the capital, Lima.

The conviction Tuesday of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori on human rights charges – including authorizing murder and kidnapping – has been hailed by some as a milestone for justice in Latin America. Mr. Fujimori, who ruled Peru throughout the 1990s, is the first democratically elected leader in the region found guilty, in his own country, of human rights abuses. But the conviction is also an important moment for national healing in Peru, says Efrain Gonzales, the vice rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima. While about one third of the country still supports the former leader,...

Last week the Washington Times reported that Hezbollah is using the same southern narcotics routes that Mexican drug kingpins do to smuggle drugs and people into the United States, reaping money to finance its operations and threatening U.S. national security. The Iran-backed Lebanese group has long been involved in narcotics and human trafficking in South America's tri-border region of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. Increasingly, however, it is relying on Mexican narcotics syndicates that control access to transit routes into the U.S. Hezbollah relies on "the same criminal weapons smugglers, document traffickers and transportation experts as the drug cartels," said Michael...

MEDELLIN, Colombia (AFP) — The United States supports increasing the Inter-American Development Bank's lending capacity, but only after it meets certain conditions, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has told the IDB's general assembly. "To help address the region's demand for finance this year and next, we encourage the IDB to expand its existing resources," Geither told the annual board of governors on the 50th anniversary of the IDB on Sunday. "In the context of these efforts, the United States is also prepared to begin a formal review of the capital needs of the Bank to assess the merit of an...

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday blamed the global economic crisis on “white people with blue eyes”

Archaeologists have discovered about 10,000 cave paintings dating back to more than 6,000 years, a pre-Incan cemetery and a citadel in Peru’s Amazon region. 6,000 year old cave paintings Quirino Olivera, a Peruvian archaeologist working for the Andean country’s jungle department of Amazons, has discovered about 10,000 cave paintings that are said to date back more that 6,000 years. The paintings were discovered in caves near the village of Tambolic, in the district of Jamalca, province of Utcubamba, writes Peruvian Times. Olivera said that most of the drawings show hunting scenes and were painted using red, brown, yellow and black...

Venezuela's military has taken control of key airports and sea ports under the terms of a move rubber-stamped by parliament a week ago, reports say. The move centralises the running of the country's main transport hubs. President Hugo Chavez has pushed for the move, describing it as "reunifying the motherland, which was in pieces". Critics of Mr Chavez says the plans are unconstitutional, but the National Assembly backed them a week ago, saying they would improve essential services. State-level governments in Venezuela have controlled the country's most important airports, sea ports and major highways since a move towards decentralisation began...

CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez on Saturday ordered troops to temporarily seize control of all Venezuelan rice processing plants to ensure they produce at full capacity amid soaring inflation and persisting reports of food shortages. Mr. Chavez told the National Guard to "take control of and intervene in all of these businesses that process rice in Venezuela," including at least a half-dozen local and foreign private companies. "This government is here to protect the people, not the bourgeoisie or the rich," Mr. Chavez said, accusing some companies of slowing production to evade price caps that have slashed their profit...

Editorial note: This story was intended to run days ago, but was withheld out of concern for Mr. Pena's personal safety. AIPNEWS.com The top opponent to Marxist dictator Hugo Chavez, Mr. Peña is coming to Washington to brief and warn American leaders at risk of his life. The announcement was delayed to the last minute to prevent the Chavez regime from arresting Mr. Peña to block his effort to warn American leaders and media. As WorldNetDaily warned recently, Chavez, who is cooperating with the Iranians, may be more dangerous than Osama bin Laden and may unleash acts of terror greater...

DNA tests have identified 23 victims from a mass grave in Peru's southern highlands, a quarter century after they were killed by Peru's military, forensic scientists and a lawyer for the victims' relatives said Wednesday. Peru's government-appointed truth commission said that 123 people were killed in the 1984 massacre in Putis — the largest mass slaying in the bloody 20-year standoff between Maoist Shining Path guerrillas and a state-sponsored counterinsurgency campaign. Peru's prosecutor's office and a team of anthropologists and other experts dug up the remains of 92 victims last year at the high-altitude site.

In the story of the emperor with no clothes, it took someone whose observations are rarely heeded -- a child -- to point out the obvious fact that no one else could acknowledge. In the case of drug policy, it takes people who are usually ignored by Washington policymakers -- Latin Americans -- to perform the same invaluable service. Last week, a commission made up of 17 members, from Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa to Sonia Picado, the Costa Rican who heads the Inter-American Institute on Human Rights, did nothing but admit the truth: The war on drugs is a...

Government and Media Seen Fostering Anti-Semitism in Venezuela, ElsewhereJewish leaders said it had never before happened in Venezuela: a break-in with anti-Jewish intent at one of the city's most prominent synagogues. A dozen armed men overpowered guards, spray-painted office walls with anti-Semitic insults, desecrated historic Torah scrolls and made off with computers containing personal information on congregants. President Hugo Chávez condemned the Jan. 30 attack, which has shaken the country's political establishment. But Jewish leaders, supported by Israeli and U.S. officials, have said the populist government's often incendiary rhetoric toward the Jewish state, coupled with rising anti-Semitic diatribes in pro-government...

This is just a question to Freepers in general. Bush had considerable success in Africa and, at least, broke even in South America. So far, I have not seen Obama talk much about either and I am not able to distinguish any particular Obama policies in the two places. If you know something, I would like to know it, too. Thank you, McVey

The United States will need $1.6 trillion to repair damage to its infrastructure from a massive influx of immigrants, a new report reveals. In his report titled, "The Twin Crises: Immigration and Infrastructure," prominent researcher Edwin S. Rubenstein examines 15 categories of infrastructure: airports, border security, bridges, dams and levees, electricity (the power grids), hazardous waste removal , hospitals, mass transit, parks and recreation facilities, ports and navigable waterways, public schools, railroads, roads and highways, solid waste and trash, and water and sewer systems. Rubenstein, a financial analyst and former contributing editor of Forbes and economics editor of National Review,...

Two news reports point to the clear and present danger the deteriorating situation in Mexico poses to our nation and our citizens. The first article, "U.S. Plans Border ‘Surge’ Against Any Drug Wars" appears in today's edition of the New York Times, while the second article, "Obama faces Mexican drug war" was published in the Washington Times last week, on January 2nd. In my judgement, the deteriorating situation in Mexico can be traced back to the relative ease with which the drug cartels were able to move people and narcotics into the United States because our nation's "leaders" have been...

Investigators say they believe 64-year-old Paulette Locklear was beaten to death outside her home Tuesday afternoon after confronting a man who was trying to break in. Julio Cesar Ramos, 45, is charged with first-degree murder in Locklear’s death. Ramos, who is from Honduras, has been deported from the U.S. several times and is in the country illegally, said Debbie Tanna, spokeswoman for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. Ramos told investigators he is homeless and unemployed., Tanna said. Cumberland County sheriff’s deputies responded to Locklear’s home on the 1200 block of Wilmington Road after she called 911 Tuesday afternoon to report...

Since Ecuador eliminated requirements for entry visas for all foreigners entering their country, growth in the arrival of Chinese from China has jumped from an average of twenty a month to over one thousand a month with goals of entering the United States illegally Saturday 12/13/08 El Universo (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 12/13/08 "Ecuador, stopping point in the traffic of undocumented Chinese" When officials entered a humble abode in the middle of Guayaquil in early August they found 28 Chinese citizens, the majority of them young women, crammed into two rooms awaiting travel to the United States in search of the American...

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa says Quito may buy weapons from Iran to enable the tightening of security on its border with Colombia. "We have a very serious problem on the northern border with Colombia, an irresponsible government that does not take care of its… border," AFP quoted Correa as saying on Saturday. "We need to equip ourselves… Iran can supply us and help us with credit," the president explained

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Argentine automakers will sell basic models at cost through state-subsidized loans in a plan to protect jobs in Latin America's third-biggest economy from the global economic slowdown, government officials said on Saturday.

International Arms Dealer who was involved in the Achille Lauro terrorist incident is convicted http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=20206164&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=623508&rfi=6

President Evo Morales has announced he is suspending "indefinitely" the operations of the US Drug Enforcement Administration in Bolivia.Mr Morales accused the agency of having encouraged anti-government protests in the country in September. He did not say whether its staff would be asked to leave the country, as coca- growers have been pressing him to do. Bolivia's first indigenous president once served as the leader of the country's union of coca-growers.

The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) decided at a meeting on Friday to set up a South American Parliament in Bolivia to promote the bloc's integration. Chilean President Michele Bachelet, also the UNASUR's temporary president, and Bolivian President Evo Morales opened the meeting in Bolivia's Cochabamba province which drew representatives from 12 countries in the region. "There are many tasks that the UNASUR is urged to accomplish, as part of the Latin American and Caribbean efforts," Bachelet said. Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia said that UNASUR members consider it necessary to promote the construction of the institutionalism and the...