Guatemala needs more bilingual teachers
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VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Mexico and Cuba will last a week and include speeches, masses and walkabouts as well as plenty of rest for the 84 year old, the Vatican said on Jan. 31. The pope’s 23rd trip outside Italy will be his first to Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. He visited Brazil to meet with Latin American bishops in 2007. (Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)
In Chile, Piñera’s era begins
By Jon Gallo for Infosurhoy.com—11/03/2010
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera gestures just moments before receiving the sash from outgoing President Michelle Bachelet during the inauguration ceremony. (Martín Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images)
SANTIAGO, Chile – Sebastián Piñera’s presidency began in a similar manner as outgoing President Michelle Bachelet’s term ended: with the earth shaking. Twenty-one minutes before Piñera’s inauguration began on March 11, the earth was rocked by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, and 25 minutes later two aftershocks – measuring 6.9 and 6.0 on the Richter scale – put the event in jeopardy. The inauguration, however, ended up lasting just 34 minutes, according to the Miami Herald. The earthquake’s epicenter was in Rancagua, near the country’s coast, located in the VI region of Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, 71 miles from the National Congress, which housed the inauguration, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. However, there were no reports of injuries or damages, according to The Miami Herald. The conservative billionaire businessman was sworn into office as president to replace the widely popular Bachelet and lead the rebuilding of a country that was hit by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. The nation is counting on Piñera, an economist with a Harvard education, to use his skills that made him one of the country’s richest residents to return Chile’s economy to where it was before the Feb. 27 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis tore apart the nation. Before the natural disasters, Chile was one of South America’s richest countries with one of the most stable economies in the Western Hemisphere. “He is a businessman and that is what we need right now. We need someone who can create jobs for our kids,” Carlos Fuentes, a 47-year-old fisherman who lost his home and boat when giant waves engulfed the town of Curanipe following the 8.8-magnitude earthquake, told Reuters. “He’s got a tough job.” Chile’s wine, fish and paper pulp industries sustained millions in damages, but the world’s top-producing copper industry made it through relatively unscathed. Piñera took office with little fanfare, as his inauguration was devoid of many of the usual frills out of respect for the nearly 500 who were killed by the catastrophe, according to the government’s latest figures. His inauguration was attended by fellow South American presidents Alan García (Peru), Colombia’s Álvaro Uribe, Argentina’s Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Bolivia’s Evo Morales. Morales’ administration played a friendly soccer game against Piñera’s staff on March 10, as the two leaders put aside their countries’ long-standing feud over Bolivia’s access to the Pacific Ocean, according to Reuters.
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Chile shortens curfews by two hours in Bio-Bio, Nuble regions
The Chilean military has reduced the curfew in the Bio-Bio and Nuble regions, two of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake, according to a senior army official. Residents cannot leave their homes from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time after they had to be inside from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. following the earthquake because the area had been overrun by looters, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua. However, those residing in Concepción, the capital of Bio-Bio, must remain in their homes from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. after it had been 9 p.m. to 10 a.m., according to Gen. Guillermo Ramírez, who added the curfews will continue to be shortened as the region returns to normalcy. Shortly after the earthquake, looting became so widespread that then-President Michelle Bachelet deployed troops and mandated a curfew. The Bio-Bio region has about 14,000 troops patrolling the streets. It is estimated that about 100 have been arrested on looting-related charges, but about US$3 million in looted merchandise was returned to police after law enforcement threatened to raid homes to search for stolen goods, according to Xinhua.
U.S. House of Representatives approves tax breaks for those who give to Chile
The United States’ House of Representatives passed a bill that would enable taxpayers to write off charitable gifts to Chile’s earthquake relief efforts when they file their 2009 taxes in the coming weeks. Currently, donators would have had to wait until they filed their 2010 returns to claim any deductions, but the bill allows any deduction made by April 15 to count on 2009 returns, according to The Associated Press. The bill, which passed through the House of Representatives easily, needs to be approved by the Senate before being ratified by President Barack Obama. Congress already passed a similar bill regarding donations made to Haiti’s earthquake relief efforts, as any donations made in January or February could be deducted in a 2009 return. The latest bill, however, extends the deadline for donations to Haiti to April 15, according to the AP.
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