Rooms with a view: Mexico's biggest hotel chain is looking
across the region --and to a new airline--for growth.(HOTELS)
Thirty-six years ago, the now-deceased businessman Gaston Azcarraga
Tamayo got into the hotel industry by opening a 20-floor hotel on one of
Mexico City's main thoroughfares. Today, his son, Gaston . . .
Tortilla king: Gruma, a heavyweight in the Mexican food world,
shoots for growing Asian markets.(FOOD)
Mexican food is one of the most recognized cuisines in the world.
So much so, Mexico is asking the United Nations to declare it a world
heritage cuisine. And what would a Mexican kitchen be . . .
Super bird: posting record profits, food giant Sadia nevertheless
looks abroad to stretch its wings.(FOOD)
Brazilian food manufacturer Sadia had a good 2005. It posted net
profits at a record US$281 million, a 50% increase from the year before.
The company attributed its gains to cheaper supplies, . . .
Heavy duty: Ford in South America innovates its way to
company-leading results.(AUTOS,Ford Motor Co. of South America)
Contrary to its U.S. parent company, which has been piling on bad
results of late and living a walking nightmare of layoffs and lost
market share, Ford in South America has reason to celebrate. . . .
Hello world: U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart leans heavily on Latin
America for growth abroad.(RETAIL)
Brazilian homemaker Divina Guerra dos Santos is a key target for
global retail giant Wal-Mart in its bid to drive growth outside of the
United States. As she wanders the aisles of a Wal-Mart Todo . . .
Feeding the dragon: driven by Chinese demand, Chilean steel maker
CAP shifts its business model.(STEEL,Compania de Aceros del
Pa
How hungry is China? Chilean steel company Compania de Aceros del
Pacifico (CAP) says profits from steel, up nearly 50% in 2005 to US$187
million, could be surpassed in 2006 by profits from iron . . .
Power up: high-tech products need just the kinds of chemicals
found in Chile's far north. SQM is there.(MINING)
Basking in the sun of Chile's Atacama Desert, lithium, iodine
and nitrates producer SQM is sitting pretty. The world leader in its
three core product lines, a major expansion plan under way . . .
Greased lightning: Casas Bahia aims low and sells fast to grow in
Brazil's challenging retail space.(Ponto Frio)(Casas
Bahia)(Wa
Priscila Oliveira Visconde, a 21-year-old housekeeper in Rio de
Janeiro, is a typical Brazilian in many ways. She makes US$150 a month,
complementing her husband's $500 monthly salary. She's also . . .
Top 500 companies in Latin America.(Statistical table)
Being big is the best kind of indicator: Lots of small companies
are extremely well-run, but over time the ultimate test is growth,
really big growth that puts a company on the map.
So LATIN . . .
High and dry: not known for oilfields, Uruguay has become the
darling of foreign energy companies.(OIL & GAS)
Uruguayans can't be blamed for feeling they are in the center
of the oil business these days, considering the battle among oil giants
raging in the region. Some are retreating from the market and . . .
Live wires: Latin Americans living in Spain drive a big business
in sending money home.(REMITTANCES)
An estimated 8% to 10% of Spain's current population of 44
million are immigrants, legal or illegal. Nearly half of those are Latin
Americans, mainly Ecuadorans and Colombians. Cultural connections . . .
Market maker: Toyota looks for rapid growth in Mexico in its bid
to become the planet's biggest car company.(AUTOS)
For the suits at Japanese auto giant Toyota, it's
inconceivable that in Mexico, a country of 100 million people, auto
sales are just 1 million vehicles a year. Convinced that the auto-buying
public . . .
Clearing the air: Latin American governments are waking up to the
cost of their citizens' smoking habit.(SILICON JACK)
Back in the days when I lived, and choked in, Latin America's
megacities, I never dared to hope its ever-puffing citizens would take
on the global tobacco industry. But today that's just what . . .
The captain.(RADAR)(Interview)
As president of U.S. corporate database provider Oracle, Charles
Phillips has his hands full. The former Morgan Stanley tech banker must
help Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in the drive to absorb a rash . . .
Tech Haven.(RADAR)(Brief article)
Chile continues to gain ground in its longtime position leading the
region's most competitive economies. The South American country
landed at the No. 27 spot on the World Economic Forum annual . . .
Sing, sing a song.(RADAR)(Brief article)
If you are one of the 2 million shoppers, office workers and
afternoon strollers who monthly amble the pedestrian thoroughfares of
downtown Santiago, these days you hear music at every turn, . . .
Crossing lines.(RADAR)(Brief article)
One of the biggest controversies facing the Bush administration
concerns proposed legislation regulating illegal immigrants. The law
would tighten up the Mexican border and might grant amnesty to . . .
Poorer still.(RADAR,Latin Americans )(Statistical table)
A wide swathe of Latin Americans now live on less than US$2 per
day, according to the World Bank. In Nicaragua, an astounding 80% of the
population fails into this category. As the income divide in . . .
Moving on up.(RADAR)(Brief article)
The Andes won't be the only thing towering over Santiago.
Skyscrapers are coming. In three years, the US$400 million Costanera
Center will open for business, hoping to be the tallest building . . .
Time is Money.(RADAR)(Brief article)
Talk is cheap, but even with deregulation of services like
telecom--which Bolivia did in the 1990s--time spent chatting can ruin a
family budget. Per capita annual income in the country adjusted . . .
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