CARACAS, Venezuela – Multimillion bond issue announced: The Venezuelan government has launched a combined 2019 and 2024 International Sovereign Bond offer worth a “minimum” of US$1.5 billion each. The offer, which targets investors and companies based in Venezuela, is aimed at “financing administrative costs through intermediation of public sector bodies and refinancing public debt through principal payments on debt due to expire this year,” announced the Finance Ministry. The bond issue is part of a package designed by Caracas to stimulate the country’s economy.

[EFE, Reuters, El Universal]

SANTIAGO, Chile – UN rapporteur suggests gaining Mapuches’ trust: UN special rapporteur on indigenous people, James Anaya, has suggested that the Chilean government begin a process to regain the trust of the indigenous communities in the south of the country. “Chile needs its indigenous people to regain the trust that has been lost over many years of history,” said Anaya. The announcement follows Anaya’s visit to Chile in April and information provided by the government on the conflict with the Mapuche group, which is claiming possession of its ancestral lands.

[El Mercurio, EFE]

QUITO, Ecuador – Correa acknowledges rapprochement with Colombia: Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa acknowledged that the Ecuadorian and Colombian exterior ministers have taken steps to regain the trust lost after a Colombian military strike on a FARC guerrilla camp in Ecuadorian territory in March 2008. The president highlighted the communiqué from both governments signed in the third week of September by the two countries’ exterior ministers, in which “Colombia once again reaffirms that it shall never carry out another unilateral attack on Ecuador.”

[El Comercio, EFE]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Opposition candidates propose a united front for 2010: In order to stand a chance of victory in the 2010 Colombian general elections, presidential candidates Gustavo Petro and Rafael Pardo have agreed that the opposition forces in the country must present a united front. Pardo, who became the candidate for the Colombian Liberal Party after winning the party’s internal vote, said that he will speak with “political groups in order to form a new political majority in the country.” Presidential candidate for the leftwing Alternative Democratic Pole, Gustavo Petro, said “a great democratic agreement to defend the 1991 Constitution” is required.

[El Tiempo, DPA]