Weekly Summary

Items

• The Week Ahead - 16 January 2009

  23 January 2009 Hits: 84

  FRIDAY 16 JANUARY

  Brazil/Venezuela: Brazil ´s president Inacio Lula Da Silva will meet President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela in Caracas.

  Region: The presidents of Colombia, México, Panamá and Guatemala will attend the Regional Summit on Security where they will discuss measures to coordinate the fight against organised crime in the region.

  Cuba: Miguel Ángel Moratinos and Felipe Pérez Roque, foreign ministers of Spain and Cuba, respectively, will meet in Cuba for the third round of talks on human rights.

  SUNDAY 18 JANUARY

  Argentina/Cuba: Argentina's President Cristina Fernández begins an official visit to Cuba during which she will sign a series of bilateral agreements. She is the first head of the Argentine government to visit the country in 22 years.

  El Salvador: 4.2 million Salvadoreans will vote for national legislators, Central American parliament legislators, mayors and municipal councillors. Nicaragua: Elections will take place in the seven municipalities that make up the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN).

  TUESDAY 20 JANUARY

  Argentina/Venezuela: President Cristina Fernández will commence a two day visit to Venezuela where she will meet President Hugo Chávez to discuss economic and energy cooperation.

  THURSDAY 23 JANUARY

  Santa Lucia/St Kitts: The Prime Minister of Santa Lucí­a Stephenson King will travel to St Kitts to attend a special meeting of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and of the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank to discuss possible solutions to challenges resulting from the international financial crisis.

• The Week Ahead - 23 January 2009

  23 January 2009 Hits: 157

  Friday 23 January
  Colombia: A civil judge will decide whether or not to accept Amnesty International's request not to allow retired Colonel Luis Alfonso Plazas Vega to be tried by the military justice system (as opposed to the civil courts). Plazas Vega is on trial for the disappearance of 11 people in 1985.

  Peru: A pre-summit will be held in advance of the Fourth Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities that will take place in Puno, Peru from the 27 to 31 May.

  Saturday 24 January
  Colombia-Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez will meet his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe to discuss the political and economic issues facing both countries and bilateral cooperation.

  Sunday 25 January
  Bolivia: Bolivians will vote in a referendum on a new constitution.

  Colombia: The former FARC hostage, French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt, will receive the San Valentino honour, which is awarded by the city of Terni, Italy.

  Brazil-Africa: The Brazilian minister for development, industry and foreign trade, Miguel Jorge, will lead a Brazilian business delegation on a five-day tour of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Libya.

  Monday 26 January
  Central America-EU: Central American trade ministers will meet European commissioner Catherine Ashton to discuss banana exports to Europe in Brussels.

  Tuesday 27 January
  Mexico: A group South American and Europaen leaders and economic experts will hold a forum at Mexico's national congress to discuss the global economic crisis. Among those attending will be former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006), former Uruguayan President Julio Sanguinetti (1985-1991), and former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González (1982-1996).

  Brazil: The World Social Forum will begin in Belén. Brazil's President Lula da Silva, Bolivia's President Evo Morales and Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez are scheduled to attend.

• The Week Ahead - 20 February 2009

  20 February 2009 Hits: 145

  FRIDAY 20 FEBRUARY

  Colombia-US: Colombian vice president, Francisco Santos, will begin a visit to the US, during which he will visit New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco to meet government officials, members of Congress and business leaders (until 27 February).

  Cuba-Ireland: The Irish foreign minister, Michael Martin, concludes a two-day trip to Cuba centred on bilateral relations and EU-Cuba relations.

  Honduras: The director of the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) in Latin America and the Caribbean, Nils Kastberg, will conclude a visit to Honduras (18-20 February). While in Honduras, Kastberg met presidential candidates for Honduras' upcoming general election in November and visited Unicef projects in the country.

  Honduras-US: Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, will conclude a visit to Washington (18-20 February), during which he had meetings scheduled with: secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, to discuss an upcoming OAS General Assembly to be held in Honduras in May; US agriculture minister, Tom Vilsack; and department of homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano.

  Paraguay-Venezuela: Paraguayan external relations minister, Alejandro Hamed, is scheduled to meet his counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, to discuss bilateral issues including trade and energy.

  SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY

  El Salvador-US/Italy: Salvadorean foreign minister, Marisol Argueta, will conclude a visit to the US state of Arizona to discuss Salvadorean immigration to the state (19-21 February). On 21 February Argueta will travel to Italy, where she will sign an agreement to harmonise driving licenses belonging to nationals of Italy and El Salvador, to the benefit of some 20,000 Salvadoreans resident in Italy.

  Nicaragua: President Daniel Ortega and the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN, in the Spanish acronym) will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the death of the guerilla leader, Augusto César Sandino, who assassination was ordered by Anastasio Somoza.

  MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY

  Chile-China: The president of Chile's lower house, Francisco Encina, will conclude an official visit to China (18-24 February). Encina headed a cross-party delegation of five representatives with the aim of improving ties with China, Chile's main trade partner.

  US-Cuba: US Attorney General Eric Holder will visit the US military detention centre at the Guantanamo Bay Navy base in Cuba. On 22 January US President Barack Obama ordered the prison camp to be closed within one year. The Cuban Castro government has made no secret of its view that the facility should be shut down.

  WEDNESDAY 25 FEBURARY

  Colombia-US: Colombian foreign minister, Jaime Bermúdez, and defence minister Juan Manuel Santos will visit Washington to meet General James Jones, President Barack Obama's national security advisor.

• The Week Ahead - 30 January 2009

  13 February 2009 Hits: 134

  FRIDAY 30 JANUARY

  Spain-Guatemala: Spain's Secretary of State for Ibero-America, Trinidad Jiménez, will visit to Guatemala (until 31 January).

  SUNDAY 1 FEBRUARY

  Brazil: The last day of the eighth annual World Social Forum, in Belem do Para (from 27 January). The forum brings together groups from across the world seeking alternatives to neo-liberal policies and coincides with the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland. Attendees at the WSF included presidents of: Brazil, Luiz Inazio Lula da Silva; Bolivia, Evo Morales; Ecuador, Rafael Correa; Paraguay, Fernando Lugo; and Venezuela, Hugo Chávez .

  MONDAY 2 FEBRUARY

  Venezuela: A special summit of the leftist Alternativa Bolivariana para las Américas (Alba) will be held in Venezuela to mark ten years in power for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez . Attendees will include: Presidents of Bolivia, Evo Morales; Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega; Honduras, Manuel Zelaya; Dominican Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit; and Cuban Vice-President, Carlos Lage.

  Brazil: Elections to nominate the president of both houses of congress.

  THURSDAY 5 FEBRUARY

  Ecuador: Nominations for presidential and congressional elections close.

  Andean Region-Colombia: The Andean Parliament (PA) will hold a special session in Medellí­n, Colombia to discuss the global economic crisis, to be attended by members of congress from Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador (until 7 February).

• The Week Ahead - 6 February 2009

  13 February 2009 Hits: 107

  SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY
  Bolivia: President Evo Morales will promulgate the new constitution in a ceremony to be held in El Alto.

  Cuba-Algeria: Cuba's President Raúl Castro will commence an official visit to Algeria where he will meet President Abdelaziz Buteflika (until 10 February).

  China-region: Chinese vice premier Hui Liangyu will begin a tour of the region, during which he will visit Argentina, Ecuador, Barbados and The Bahamas (until 19 February).

  SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY
  Argentina-Spain: Argentina's President Cristina Fernández will begin an official visit to Spain (until 10 February).

  Paraguay: Meeting of indigenous groups in the capital, Asunción to choose the head of the government's new indigenous affairs organisation.

  Panama: World conference on advances in the international maritime industry to be held in Panama City (until 11 February).

  MONDAY 9 FEBRUARY
  

  Andean-EU: Colombia, Ecuador and Peru begin the first of a planned four rounds of talks with the EU on association agreement.

  Chile-Honduras: Chilean president Michelle Bachelet will begin an official visit to Honduras where she will sign various bilateral agreements with her counterpart President Manuel Zelaya.

  OAS-Colombia/Ecuador: Secretary of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza, will attend a meeting on Colombia-Ecuador border relations in the Colombian city of Pasto, in the south-western border province of Nariño (until 10 February). The meeting will be attended by the Colombian foreign minister, Jaime Bermúdez. Ecuador's foreign minister, Fander Falconí­, has also been invited to attend. Ecuador broke off diplomatic relations with its neighbour following a raid by the Colombian armed forces on a guerrilla camp on Ecuadorean soil on 3 March 2008.

  TUESDAY 10 FEBRUARY
  Chile-Cuba: After concluding an official visit to Honduras, Chile's President Michelle Bachelet will travel to Cuba where she will meet her counterpart, Raúl Castro. Bachelet will be the first Chilean leader to visit Cuba since former-president Salvador Allende travelled to the island in 1972.

• The Week Ahead - 13 February 2009

  13 February 2009 Hits: 116

  Friday 13 February

  Mexico-UN: The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva will publish its report on Mexico.

  Chile-Cuba: Chilean president Michelle Bachelet will conclude her official visit to Cuba.

  Panama: Meeting of the Central American Council of Ministers for economic integration (COMIECO).

  Ecuador-China: Chinese vice premier Hui Liangyu will meet Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa in Quito. Liangyu, who was in Argentina on 12 February, will also visit The Bahamas and Barbados as part of a tour of the region.

  Mexico-China: China's vice president, Xi Jinping, leaves Mexico to continue his trip around the region: he is due to visit: Jamaica; Colombia; Venezuela and Brazil.

  Sunday 15 February

  Venezuela: Referendum on reforming Venezuela's constitution to allow the indefinite re-election of those elected to public office, including the country's president (currently, President Hugo Chávez ).

  Bolivia-Russia: Bolivia's president Evo Morales will travel to Russia where he is expected to sign agreements on energy and cooperation in the fight against drug-trafficking. From Moscow he will then travel to France where he will meet French president Nicolas Sarkozy to “analyse trade negotiations between the Andean Community and the European Union".

  Monday 16 February

  Guatemala-Cuba: Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom will open an official visit to Cuba where he will meet Cuban president Raúl Castro (until 19 February).

  Tuesday 17 February

  Argentina-Brazil: Argentine foreign minister Jorge Taiana will commence a visit to Brazil to discuss issues affecting trade between the two countries.

• The Week Ahead - 27 February 2009

  06 March 2009 Hits: 133

  FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY

  Bolivia: Meeting of the regional opposition bloc, Consejo Nacional por la Democracia (Conalde), in Santa Cruz.

  Venezuela: The government of President Hugo Chávez will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1989 "Caracazo" riots in the capital, Caracas and surrounding towns.

  Colombia-US: Colombian vice president Francisco Santos will speak at a conference at California's Stanford University, where he will discuss business opportunities in Colombia.

  SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY

  Nicaragua: Supporters of the government of Nicaragua, headed by President Daniel Ortega, will hold a pro-government march in Managua. This is to coincide with protests by the opposition, which accuses the government of committing fraud in November's municipal elections.

  El Salvador: The government and the armed forces will hold a “Ceremony of Recognition" for the Cuscatlán battalion, which carried out humanitarian missions in Iraq.

  SUNDAY 1 MARCH

  Paraguay: Paraguay's congress will reconvene from its latest recess.

  MONDAY 2 MARCH

  Cuba-region: Eleventh 11th International Meeting of Economists: Globalization and Development Problems in Havana, which will focus on the global economic slowdown (until 6 March).

  US-Mexico: Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, will travel to Mexico to begin a visit to Latin America.

  TUESDAY 3 MARCH

  Argentina: Argentina's four main farming unions are slated to meet representatives of President Cristina Fernández's government to discuss measures to assist the agricultural sector, which is suffering the country's worst drought in at least 50 years.

• The Week Ahead - 6 March 2009

  06 March 2009 Hits: 156

  FRIDAY 6 MARCH

  Chile: The director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Jacques Diouf, starts a visit to Chile to award Chilean president Michelle Bachelet the Ceres Medal, awarded to women who have made an outstanding contribution to agricultural development and food security (until 8 March).

  SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY

  Uruguay: President Tabaré Vázquez will give a review of his four years in office and outline his aims for his last year in government.

  SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY

  Chile: Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife, Camilla, will begin an official visit to Chile during which they will meet the Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet (until 11 March).

  France-Mexico: French president Nicholas Sarkozy will commence an official visit to Mexico, during which he will meet the Mexican president Felipe Calderón. Sarkozy will be accompanied by his foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner.

  MONDAY 9 MARCH

  Chile: Former president of Chile (1994-2000) and pre-presidential candidate for the December election, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, will start a visit to Brazil (until 12 March). Frei is slated to meet Brazil's President Lula da Silva on 11 March.

  Haiti: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former US president Bill Clinton (1992-2001) will visit Haiti to promote international aid and economic security in the impoverished country.

  TUESDAY 10 MARCH

  Guatemala-Belize: Guatemala's president of congress, Roberto Alejos, will visit Belize to discuss progress towards a referenda in both countries to settle a long running territorial dispute. Guatemala claims over half of Belize. The referendum question is: should both countries take the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague for resolution.

• The Week Ahead - 13 March 2009

  13 March 2009 Hits: 76

  FRIDAY 13 MARCH

  UK-Brazil: Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, continue a four-day official visit to Brazil, focusing mainly on the environment (11-15 March). After meeting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the capital Brasilia on 11 March, the Prince and Duchess travelled to Rio de Janeiro from where they will continue to the Amazon jungle cities of Manaus and Santarém.

  Paraguay: Biannual meeting of the Interamerican Press Society (SIP) in Asunción (until 16 March).

  SATURDAY 14 MARCH

  Brazil-US: US President Barack Obama will meet his Brazilian counterpart, President Lula da Silva, at the White House.

  International: The finance ministers of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico will attend a G-20 summit on the global financial crisis in London, UK.

  SUNDAY 15 MARCH

  El Salvador: Presidential elections will be held in El Salvador.

  UK-Ecuador: Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will fly from Brazil to Ecuador, where they will meet Ecuador's President Rafael Correa before visiting the Galapagos Islands.

  MONDAY 16 MARCH

  Colombia-Honduras: Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe and his Honduran counterpart, President Manuel Zelaya, will open a biofuel plant donated to Honduras by the Colombian government.

  WEDNESDAY 18 MARCH

  Panama: Pre-presidential candidates for Panama's elections in May will outline their plans to deal with the global financial crisis at Panama's 13th Annual Banking Convention in the capital, Panama City.
  

• The Week Ahead - 20 March 2009

  23 March 2009 Hits: 118

   FRIDAY 20 March
  Brazil - Argentina: Presidents Lula da Silva and Cristina Fernández will meet in São Paulo to discuss bilateral trade and the global economic crisis.

  Colombia: The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed Elbaradei, will continue his visit to Bogotá (until 23 March).

  Chile: Chile's President Michelle Bachelet will travel to Chennai as part of her five day visit to India, where she will preside over the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the University of Madras and the Universidad de Talca.

  Bolivia: The education ministry will launch the Cuban-post-literacy programme "Yo sí­ puedo seguir".

  Peru: Peru will present its case regarding the bilateral maritime dispute with Chile before the International Court of Justice court at The Hague.

  El Salvador -Brazil: El Salvador's president-elect, Mauricio Funes, will meet Brazil's President Lula da Silva, in his first official foreign visit since winning the presidency on 15 March.

  Guatemala: The US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Thomas Shannon, will visit Guatemala, where he will meet President Alvaro Colom to discuss regional security, migration and trade.

  SATURDAY 21 March

  Panama - Guatemala: Panama's President Martí­n Torrijos will travel to Guatemala to meet his counterpart, Álvaro Colom, where they will discuss trade agreements and a security agenda.

  MONDAY 23 March

  Guatemala: The Socialist International Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean will meet in the Guatemalan City of Antigua where Panama's President Martí­n Torrijos is expected to speak.

  WEDNESDAY 25 March

  Mexico: The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will begin a two-day trip to Mexico, where she will visit Ciudad de México and Monterrey.

  Nicaragua: Managua will host a summit for the Central American Integration System (SICA).

• The Week Ahead - 27 March 2009

  27 March 2009 Hits: 111

  FRIDAY 27 MARCH

  Chile: The seventh annual “Progressive Leaders' summit" of centre-left leaders will take place in the beach resort of Viña del Mar, Chile. Attendees will include the presidents of Chile, Michelle Bachelet; Brazil, Luiz Inazio Lula da Silva; Argentina, Cristina Fernández; and Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez; the prime ministers of the UK Gordon Brown; Germany, Angela Merkel; Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero; and US Vice President Joe Biden (until 28 March).

  Colombia: Medellí­n will host the annual meeting and 50th anniversary of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) (until 31 March).

  Bolivia: The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr Mohamed El Baradei, will visit Bolivian president Evo Morales in La Paz.

  Andean region-EU: The second round of free trade agreement talks between the European Union and Peru, Colombia and Ecuador will conclude in Lima.
  
  Argentina: Argentina's four main farming unions will end a seven day sales boycott of grains and cattle.

  SUNDAY 29 MARCH

  Region-Qatar: Doha will host the second annual summit of Arab and South American countries. Slated to attend are: the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner; Chile, Michelle Bachelet; Bolivia, Evo Morales; Peru, Alan Garcí­a; Venezuela, Hugo Chávez ; Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo; and Suriname, Dr. Ronald Venetiaan; and the vice presidents of Uruguay, Rodolfo Nin Novoa; Paraguay, Federico Franco; Ecuador, Lenin Moreno; and Colombia, Francisco Santos.

  Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is expected to visit Iran after the summit to visit Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

  Costa Rica-US: US Vice President Joe Biden will begin an official visit to Costa Rica.

  Cuba: The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr Mohamed El Baradei, will visit Cuba.

  Italy: Labour and welfare ministers from the G8 group of industrialised nations and six emerging economies, including Mexico and Brazil, will meet in Rome for the first G8 “social summit", hosted by Italy as holder of the G8 presidency. The three-day conference will address the “fundamental needs and protection of human capital", including welfare benefits, health and education in advance of next week's G20 summit in London.
  
  MONDAY 30 MARCH

  Central America-US: US Vice President Joe Biden will meet the presidents of Guatemala, Álvaro Colom; El Salvador, Antonio Saca; Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega; Panama Martí­n Torrijos and Costa Rica, Oscar Arias; and El Salvador's president-elect, Mauricio Funes in Costa Rica.

  Chile: Pre-presidential candidates for the ruling Concertación, Eduardo Frei (backed by the Democracia Cristiana, of which Frei is a member, the Partido Socialista, and the Partido por la Democracia) and José Antonio Gómez of the Partido Radical Socialdemócrata will take part in a televised debate.

  THURSDAY 2 APRIL

  Chile: Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, will begin an official visit to Russia (until 4 April).

• The Week Ahead - 5 June 2009

  05 June 2009 Hits: 101

  FRIDAY 5 JUNE

  Dominican Republic: President Leonel Fernández concludes his two day visit to Puerto Rico where he met the island's governor, Luis Fortuño to discuss trade, investment and energy.

  SATURDAY 6 JUNE

  Panama: Panama's vice president-elect, Juan Carlos Varela will travel to Japan for a six day visit. Varela will serve as foreign minister under the new administration of Ricardo Martinelli, which takes office on 1 July.

  SUNDAY 7 JUNE

  Costa Rica: The ruling Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) will meet to pick its presidential candidate for the 2010 elections.

  MONDAY 8 JUNE

  Brazil: Brazil's minister for development, industry and foreign trade, Miguel Jorge will lead a delegation to Sub Saharan Africa, for a four day visit. The delegation will visit Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria and Ecuatorial Guinea.

  Nicaragua: A Nicaraguan delegation led by the president of Nicaragua's central bank, Antenor Rosales, will travel to Washington to meet representatives from the IMF and discuss the country's economic programme, signed with the IMF in 2007.

  THURSDAY 11 JUNE

  St. Kitts and Nevis:  Sixth Petrocaribe Summit - the two day meeting will discuss the development of regional infrastructure projects aimed at optimising oil supplies to member countries. Petrocaribe's 18 members will attend, along with Costa Rica and El Salvador as observers. Costa Rica's pending membership of Petrocaribe has yet to take effect. Petrocaribe members are: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Granada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Suriname and Venezuela.

• The Week Ahead - 3 April 2009

  03 April 2009 Hits: 153

  FRIDAY 3 APRIL

  Bolivia: The political opposition in Santa Cruz will hold a march against the policies of President Evo Morales.
  
  El Salvador-Panama: Panama's foreign minister, Marisol Argueta de Barillas, will meet his Salvadorean counterpart, Samuel Lewis Navarro, in Panama City.

  Peru: The trial of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori for murder and kidnapping will begin sentencing. Fujimori is accused of ordering two massacres that killed 25 people during his 1990-2000 presidency, as well as the kidnappings of a businessman and a journalist.

  SATURDAY 4 APRIL

  Chile-Russia: Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev will meet his Chilean counterpart, President Michelle Bachelet, in Moscow.

  Venezuela-Iran: Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez will conclude an official visit to Iran to meet his Iranian counterpart, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

  SUNDAY 5 APRIL

  Chile: The ruling Concertación coalition will hold primary elections to choose its presidential candidate.

  Venezuela-Japan: Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez will begin an official visit to Japan to further cooperation in energy.

  MONDAY 6 APRIL

  Ecuador: Final date for opinion polls to be published ahead of the 26 April general elections.
  
  

• The Week Ahead - 24 April 2009

  24 April 2009 Hits: 58

  FRIDAY 24 APRIL

  US-Region: World Bank seminar examining the effects of the global economic crisis on Latin America to be held in Washington. El Salvador's President-elect, Mauricio Funes, will attend.

  Argentina-Venezuela: Argentina's President Cristina Fernández will meet Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez in Buenos Aires.  

  Bolivia-Paraguay: A meeting of Bolivian and Paraguayan counter-narcotics operatives to be held in Santa Cruz (Bolivia) to discuss joint strategies to combat drug-trafficking.

  Costa Rica-Uruguay: Uruguayan president , Tabaré Vázquez, concludes an official visit to Costa Rica (from 23 April).

  SATURDAY 25 APRIL

  US: 2009 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Washington.

  SUNDAY 26 APRIL

  Ecuador: Presidential, congressional and regional elections.

  Cuba: Ministerial meeting of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (NAM), an international organisation of 119-member states which do not consider themselves to be formally aligned with or against any major power bloc (until 29 April).

  WEDNESDAY 29 April

  Panama: Campaigns close for the 3 May presidential, congressional and municipal elections.

• Weekly Summary - 8 May 2009

  08 May 2009 Hits: 162

  FRIDAY 8 MAY

  Guatemala: The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy, will begin a visit Guatemala to verify the election process for new Supreme Court magistrates (until 15 May).

  El Salvador-Spain: Outgoing president of El Salvador, Elí­as Antonio Saca, will begin a visit to Spain (until 11 May).

  UN-Chile: The United Nations UN Human Rights Council (Geneva) will begin its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Chile and 15 other countries.

  SUNDAY 10 MAY

  Guatemala: Four female recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize will meet in Antigua to discuss global challenges facing democracy. Slated to attend are: Máiread Corrigan-Maguire (N. Ireland), winner of the prize in 1976; Jody Williams (US), 1997; Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala), 1992; and Shirin Ebadi (Iran), 2003.

  MONDAY 11 MAY

  Mexico: Schools and universities will all fully re-open across the country, following the recent national shut-down to protect against the swine flu outbreak.

  THURSDAY 14 MAY

  Argentina-Venezuela: President Hugo Chávez arrives in Buenos Aires for a bilateral one-day summit with his counterpart, Cristina Fernández, on 15 May.

• The Week Ahead - 22 May 2009

  30 December 1899 Hits: 191

  FRIDAY 22 MAY

  OAS-Cuba: The permanent council of the Organisation of American States (OAS), will debate a proposal to revoke the 1962 suspension of Cuba from the 35-member regional group. Honduras, which will host the upcoming OAS general assembly on 2 June, submitted the proposal.

  Venezuela: The government of Venezuela will sign an agreement with Spain's Grupo Santander for the purchase of its local unit, Banco de Venezuela.

  SATURDAY 23 MAY

  Venezuela-Ecuador: Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez will meet Ecuador's President Rafael Correa in Quito for a bilateral review meeting.

  Region: First anniversary of the signing of the constitutive treaty of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) in Brasilia.

  MONDAY 25 May

  Chile-Netherlands: Chile's President Michelle Bachelet will begin an official visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of Queen Beatrix (until 27 May).

  TUESDAY 26 May

  Brazil-Venezuela: President Lula da Silva will host his counterpart, Hugo Chávez in Salvador for their sixth 'quarterly meeting' at which they will discuss bilateral and regional affairs, with a focus on the “new moment of dialogue" between the US and Latin America.

  WEDNESDAY 27 MAY

  Chile-France: Chile's President Michelle Bachelet will begin an official visit to France where she will meet France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (until 30 May).

• The Week Ahead 12 June 2009

  12 June 2009 Hits: 280

  FRIDAY 12 JUNE

  St. Kitts and Nevis-Region: Sixth summit of Petrocaribe, the energy alliance that groups Venezuela with 17 Caribbean and Central American states.

  Bolivia: Meeting of opposition prefects from Santa Cruz, Beni, Chuquisaca and Tarija to discuss which presidential candidate to support in upcoming presidential and congressional elections on 6 December.

  Bolivia-Cuba/Paraguay: Bolivia's President Evo Morales will conclude an official visit to Cuba and then travel on to Paraguay, where he will meet President Fernando Lugo to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the end of the Chaco War between the two countries (1932-1935).

  Peru: Japan's Prince and Princess Hitachi will begin an official visit to Peru to mark the 110th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Peru (until 15 June).

  US-Mexico: New York federal judge, Gerard Lynch, will sentence Mexican Gilberto Salinas Doria for crimes related to drug-trafficking.

  MONDAY 15 JUNE

  Brazil: Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will take part in the International Labour Organisation's annual conference.

  TUESDAY 16 JUNE

  Brazil-BRIC: Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China - the so-called BRIC group of emerging powers - will hold their first summit meeting in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. The summit will focus on the global financial crisis and reforms to international financial and trade institutions. After the meeting, Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will travel on to Kazakhstan, the first official visit to the country by a Brazilian head of state.

• The Week Ahead - 19 June 2009

  16 July 2009 Hits: 197

  FRIDAY 19 JUNE

  Guatemala: A working group from the Caribbean financial action group (Gafic) concludes its evaluation of progress in tackling money-laundering in Guatemala.

  Colombia-Peru-EU: The European Union and delegations from Colombia and Peru will conclude a fourth round of trade talks in Bogotá.

  SATURDAY 20 JUNE

  Colombia: Congress will go into recess until 20 July.

  SUNDAY 21 JUNE

  Haiti: Haitians will vote in the second round of senatorial elections to fill 12 seats in the country's 30-member senate.

  El Salvador: The US Navy hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, will berth in the Salvadorean port of La Unión for 12 days, as part of a four month mission to offer free medical services to countries in the region. The ship has already visited Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Antigua & Barbuda, Panama and Colombia, and will travel on from El Salvador to Nicaragua.

  WEDNESDAY 24 JUNE

  Ecuador-Venezuela: Ecuador will be admitted as a full member of President Hugo Chávez 's Alternativa Bolivariana para los pueblos de Nuestra América (Alba) at a group summit in Venezuela. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa will attend.

  UN: United Nations conference on the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on development, at the UN's New York Headquarters (until 26 June; originally planned for June 1-3).

• The Week Ahead - Friday 26 June

  16 July 2009 Hits: 160

  FRIDAY 26 JUNE

  Chile: President Michelle Bachelet will return to Chile, after official visits to the US and Mexico (since 22 June).

  SATURDAY 27 JUNE

  Venezuela: Media trade unions will hold a protest march in Caracas against a law which allow the government to cancel television broadcasts without obtaining a judicial order.

  SUNDAY 28 JUNE

  Argentina: Mid-term congressional elections to renew half of the 257 seats in the lower house, and a third of 72 seats in the senate.

  Nicaragua-Central America: Foreign ministers from the Central American states will meet in Managua ahead of the 35th Central American Integration System (SICA) presidential summit.

  Panama: On 28 June the national directorate of the soon-to-be opposition Partido Revolucionario Democrático will hold a special meeting in the Veraguas province.

  Uruguay: Uruguay's political parties will hold primary elections to choose their candidates for presidential elections on 25 October.

  MONDAY 29 JUNE

  Colombia-US: Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe will meet US President Barack Obama in Washington.

  Nicaragua-Central America: Central American leaders will attend the 35th Central American Integration System (SICA) presidential summit, at which Costa Rica's President Óscar Arias will assume the organisation's six-month presidency. Arias will replace from Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega.

• The Week Ahead - 3 July 2009

  16 July 2009 Hits: 199

  Chile: The second Meeting of Finance Ministers from the Americas and the Caribbean will take place in Viña del Mar, with the participation of representatives from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the International Development Bank. The first meeting was convened by Mexican Finance Minister Agustí­n Carstens in June 2008 (in Cancún).

  Nicaragua-Taiwan: President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou will lead a 129 person delegation to Nicaragua before returning to Taiwan the following day.

  Honduras: The secretary general of the Organisation of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza, will arrive in Tegucigalpa for talks with the interim administration of Roberto Micheletti in an effort to resolve the 28 June ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.

  Paraguay-Mercosur: The 37th meeting of the regional trade bloc Mercosur's common market council (CMC), whose pro tempore presidency is held by Paraguay.

  Venezuela: The government of President Hugo Chávez is due to close the deal to purchase the local Banco de Venezuela from its owner, Spain's Grupo Santander, for US$1.05bn.

  SUNDAY 5 JULY

  Chile-Spain: The president of Spain's lower house, José Bono, begins an official visit to Chile, where he will meet President Michelle Bachelet.

  Mexico: Mid-term congressional elections to renew all 500 seats in the lower chamber of congress. Local elections will be held simultaneously to elect: governors in six states; state legislatures and a total of 538 mayors in ten states; and, in the capital (Distrito Federal), the legislative assembly and 16 borough presidents.

  MONDAY 6 JULY

  Haiti: The recently appointed United Nations special envoy to Haiti, the former US president Bill Clinton (1993-2001), will begin his first visit to the Caribbean nation since his appointment in May (until 8 July).