Latin America must prepare for a phase of economic slowdown and move toward the re-industrialization of the region, said Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Ernesto Samper, former president of Colombia. 

Bachelet made her comments while on tour in Germany. 

A staggering 93% of the foods lost weekly in the Dominican Republic are discarded in the production stage, while the remaining 7% is in marketing and processing, says a study released by the Vice Presidency and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

Observers call U.S. Federal Judge Thomas Griesa’s contempt of court ruling against Argentina “absurd,” while an Ecuadorian diplomat calls on Latin Americans to unite in resisting groups like the so-called “Vulture Funds.”

Venezuela would request an urgent meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries amid a drop in global oil prices, Foreign Minister Rafael Ramírez said. 

Costa Rica headed the ranking of infrastructure investment by using 5.4% of its GDP on infrastructure projects. 

Small producers change their production decisions to minimize the costs generated by the armed conflict.  

In the Panama Canal, freight tonnage and toll revenues are growing this year;  Guatemalan business owners hope to create a strategy to combat extortion through the Coalición por la Seguridad Ciudadana (Coalition for Citizen Safety), promoted and directed by the Fundación para el Desarrollo de Guatemala (Fundesa).

Reforms to the law on exploration and exploitation of geothermal resources were approved in the National Assembly. 

The Argentine Foreign Ministry has asserted that New York Federal district judge Thomas Griesa’s contempt ruling against Argentina is in clear breach of international law, while President Fernández de Kirchner accused the “vulture funds” of “economic terrorism,” and the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva adopted a resolution condemning the holdouts.