Latin America

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said he is free of cancer after returning from Cuba for health checks following four cycles of chemotherapy.

He travelled to the island four months ago to have surgery for cancer there.

"Everything went perfectly. I got top marks, 20 out of 20," he told reporters.

Mr Chavez had previously described his treatment as successful. But secrecy about his illness fuelled speculation it may be worse than officially stated.

The 57-year-old leader, who has been in power since 1999, says his illness will not stop him from standing for re-election next year.

Guatemalans who were deliberately infected with syphilis or gonorrhoea in medical tests in the 1940s are suing the US government for compensation.

Hundreds of Guatemalan prisoners, psychiatric patients and orphans were infected without their consent in a programme to study penicillin.
A class action lawsuit was filed by lawyers for the Guatemalans and their relatives.

The US apologised last year for the "reprehensible" experiments.
But lawyers said the Obama administration had not responded to a request for an out-of-court compensation settlement.

Manufacturers in Brazil have been hit by the strong currency

Brazil's central bank has unexpectedly cut the country's key interest rate to 12% from 12.5%, citing a "substantial deterioration" in the outlook for the global economy.

The bank's rate-setting committee voted five to two in favor of the cut.
It had raised rates five times this year in order to combat rising prices.

The surprise cut has raised questions about the independence of the central bank, after a number of politicians called for a rate cut in recent days.

These included President Dilma Rousseff, who took office in January.

'Premature'

Hundreds of people were infected with syphilis bacteria during the experiments

The extent of US medical experiments in Guatemala on STDs during the 1940s is greater than previously thought, health authorities have told the BBC.

The number of infected people could be as high as 2,500, says the president of the Medical Association of Guatemala.

According to a US report released on Monday, 1,300 Guatemalans were infected without their knowledge to study the effects of penicillin.
US scientists knew they were violating ethical rules, the report found.

Hugo Chavez has announced that he will nationalise Venezuela's gold industry to boost the country's reserves.
"The area is run by the mafia," he said on state television. "We're going to nationalise gold. We can't keep allowing them to take it away."
The biggest gold miner is Rusoro, a Canadian-listed company controlled by the Russian Agapov family.
The move comes after Rusoro and others complained that Caracas prevents them from selling enough gold abroad.
Last year Venezuela raised the limit on gold exports from 30% to 50% of output, with the rest to be sold to the country's central bank.

Brazil is the world's fourth largest car market by sales Chinese carmaker JAC Motors will build a factory in Brazil to boost its presence in Latin America's biggest car market. Jianghuai Automobile, also known as JAC, plans to have the capacity to produce 100,000 vehicles annually.
The company is the latest Asian carmaker to start production in Brazil, others include China's Chery and South Korea's Hyundai.
Brazil is the fourth largest car market in the world.
According to reports, the investment from JAC will be between $600m and $900m (£368m-£552m) for the assembly plant.

Trade between China and Brazil has surged in recent years
Chinese airlines have placed orders worth $1.4bn (£861m) with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer.
The deal includes firm orders for 20 planes and an option to buy 15 additional aircraft.
The pact comes as Brazil's President Dilma Rouseff begins her visit to China looking to strengthen trade ties with Beijing. China is Brazil's biggest trading partner and foreign investor.
China's economic success has seen a surge in demand for air travel within the country.