Chile, Mexico ETFs to Capture the Growth in Consumer Spending

Money managers are starting to take an interest in Mexico and Chile as consumer spending picks up. Retail investors can also access the two markets through country-specific exchange traded funds.

Chile’s Growing Desert Is Closing In on the Country’s Capital

The world’s driest desert is expanding south and sitting in its path is Chile’s capital. Santiago, a city of 7 million people 1,000 kilometers (622 miles) from the Atacama desert, is experiencing its driest year since 1966.

Swap Market Supremacy Denied as Oil Collapse Derails Mexico Rise

A year ago, Mexico was a rising star poised to eclipse Chile as the safest bet in Latin American debt markets. It was not to be.

Chile Attracts as Much Foreign Direct Investment as Mexico

Chile bucked the trend in Latin America last year with an increase in foreign direct investment, attracting almost as much as Mexico, a country with seven times the population, according to the United Nations Latin American and Caribbean unit.

Chile’s Cabinet Shifts Luring ETF Investors to Discounted Stocks

Chile has been luring investors scouring for cheap Latin American stocks over the past month. Now, a new finance minister with Wall Street credentials is giving another reason for buyers to double down on their bets.

Chile's president trying Cabinet reshuffle in attempt to salvage ambitious reform plans

SANTIAGO, Chile – In shaking up her entire Cabinet, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is trying to salvage an ambitious reform package amid growing scandals and contain a political crisis.

Chile market manipulation scandal takes toll on investor confidence

(Reuters) - Investor confidence in Chile has been shaken by a market manipulation scandal involving the former son in law of ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet, a business leader said on Wednesday as a union denounced the affair as "shameful."

Mexico Bond Risk Set to Drop Below Chile for First Time

Mexico is on the verge of overtaking Chile as the safest destination for bond investors in Latin America.

Chilean Voters Return a Former President to Power

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chilean voters handed a landslide victory to Michelle Bachelet on Sunday, returning her to the presidency amid continuing unease over high levels of inequality in Chile despite an enviable stretch of rapid economic growth.

How to grow Latin America’s middle class

Demonstrations in Latin America show just how far societies have come, and how much further they must go to meet the expectations that come with rising incomes.

Chile's Bachelet courts Communists for big reforms

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Communist and other leftists were considered enemies of the state during Chile's military dictatorship, a 17-year period that saw thousands of people killed and disappeared for their politics.

Chile growth, foreign policy propel Pinera approval near two-year high

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Billionaire President Sebastian Pinera's popularity rebounded to 38 percent in February, a near two-year high, on approval of Chile's robust economic growth and foreign policy, pollster Adimark said on Tuesday.

Chile Rejected Rate Change on Balanced Global, Domestic Risk

Chilean policy makers were unanimous in their decision to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged last month on improved financial conditions abroad and higher wages and falling unemployment at home.

Chile is still a model for Latin neighbors

Chile’s image as Latin America’s star economy has been battered lately by images of violent student protests, but new economic data — including a decline in poverty rates announced last week — suggest that the so-called “Chilean model” is still very much alive.

Chile Stocks End Sharply Higher but Close 2Q With 6.3% Decline

Chile's IPSA select-stock index closed sharply higher Friday on global market euphoria fueled by the outcome of a European leaders' summit, but posted a 6.3% decline in the second quarter as the euro zone's debt crisis hurt markets worldwide.

Chile ETFs Boosted by Rising Copper Prices

Chile is one emerging economy of Latin America that has great growth potential and can offer investors a play on the commodity market. The iShares MSCI Chile (NYSEArca: ECH) tracks the world’s largest producer of copper and also gives some mining exposure.

Latin American central banks ready to reverse policy and cut interest rates

Brazil and Chile have anticipated such a possibility and Mexico on Friday stunned markets by opening the door to rate cuts.

The region’s policymakers were among the most aggressive in tightening policy after the global financial crisis. They may now be among the first to start easing, following in the footsteps of Denmark, Turkey and Switzerland.

The week in Latin America: Unrest continues in Chile

Here are stories that made headlines this week in Latin America, and highlights from our coverage of the region by Times reporters and your blogger here at La Plaza:

1 dead in Chile national strike

A two-day national strike in Chile led to hundreds of injuries, more than a thousand arrests and the death of a teenage boy after violent clashes between workers and students and Chilean police. The strike was the latest large-scale demonstration challenging the conservative government of President Sebastian Pinera, Chile's first non-leftist leader since the return to democracy.

Analysis: Latam gets grip on inflation, Asia giants struggle

(Reuters) - Latin America is getting the upper hand on inflation that once ravaged the region but central banks in some of Asia's heavyweight economies are having a tougher time.

The question of who will win the battle of balancing policy to achieve optimum growth and inflation levels remains an open one, simply because potential price pressures from rising wages and demand are more elevated in India and China than in some of their Latin American peers.

Latin America’s candidate to head IMF speaks out

What irony! Despite all their grandiose rhetoric about Latin American unity, Brazil, Argentina and Chile have not yet come out in support of Agustín Carstens, the Latin American candidate to head the International Monetary Fund.

Earlier this week, I asked Carstens, a Mexican, whether he is disappointed that the three South American countries have failed so far to support his candidacy to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chief who resigned after being charged with sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid.