Latin America

Teenage drug use has doubled in Mexico in five years, but among teenage girls it has soared 205%.

 The number of youths aged 12 to 17 that have used illegal drugs increased from just under 3% in 2011 to just over 6% last year.

 Marijuana is Mexico’s most popular drug, while heroin use is described as minimal despite the fact that Mexico is Latin America’s biggest producer and the world’s third biggest, meaning authorities need to keep the drug in check, said Manuel Mondragón y Kalb, head of the National Commission Against Addictions (Conadic).

Pearsl are favorite jewelry and symbol of the East. They are considered the personification of purity and innocence, as well as a pledge of matrimonial fidelity and love.

 Indian sorcerers claim that the pearl contains three main elements: Air, Earth and Water. In their opinion, this explains its calming effect. In addition, it has the property of increasing vitality, health and strength. Pearls are mined in warm seas off the coasts of Japan, Australia, Latin America and India.

The Secretary of State, John Kerry, said the United States remain open to address their differences with Venezuela in an attempt to find common areas.
During his participation in the Washington Conference of the Council of the Americas, organized by the Council of the Americas and the State Department, Kerry said, that his work as head of the US State Department is to promote a more productive relationship between the two countries.

In Latin America there are some 420 aircrafts manufactured in Russia which include a hundred helicopters Mi-8/17, 18 fighters Su-25, 31 MiG-29 and 70 MiG-21. On Wednesday Rostec the Russian state company said it is considering creating a center for aircraft maintenance and Russian helicopters in Latin America. “Rostec” has revealed that the first center for component repairs and parts replacement, as a pilot project will be created in Peru.

The China Development Bank (CDB), one of the two banks of Chinese development, and Brazil's Petrobras today announced an agreement to open a credit line of 3,5 billion dollars for the oil company.
In a brief statement, without specifying the details of the agreement, Petrobras reported that "the parties confirmed the intention to develop a new partnership in the future."

Some six million Bolivians attended the polls today to elect nine governors and 339 mayors, among other regional authorities on a day which saw a high turnout and only minor incidents.
Reports from the Bolivian Information Agency (ABI), which quoted the government, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and international observer missions, detailed the course of the elections.
Also during the elections 4500 regional authorities have been nominated.
The president of the TSE, Wilma Velasco said, that the elections day was "normal" and showed "good attendance" to the polls.

The Peruvian government seeks to protect Mashco-piro an Amazonian tribe which has been living in isolation for years and recently began to leave its territory, probably driven by mining and illegal logging.
It is an ethnic group of hunters and gatherers who speak an unknown language. Consisting of about 800 members, for years the tribe has lived on a reservation of Madre de Dios (on the border with Brazil), the region with the largest illegal gold production in the country, but now it is moving.

On September 11, 2013, hundreds of thousands of Chileans solemnly marked the 40th anniversary of their nation’s 9/11 terrorist event. It was on that date in 1973 that the Chilean military, armed with a generous supply of funds and weapons from the United States, and assisted by the CIA and other operatives, overthrew the democratically-elected government of the moderate socialist Salvador Allende.

- Alexander Vladimirovich, our journal is devoted to the issue of cooperation between Saint-Petersburg and Latin American countries. What can be the basis for such active development of our relations, to your mind?