Contributions from Carin Zissis
Peru and Chile’s presidents made use of their time in Asia to carve out trade deals on APEC’s sidelines. Lima closed a deal with South Korea and concluded negotiations with Japan while Chile inked a pact with Malaysia and announced it would start negotiations with Thailand.
The competition to serve as Peru's next head of state intensified with former President Alejandro Toledo and ex-Finance Minister Mercedes Aráoz announcing their candidacies. They join an already tight race for the April 2011 election.
Last week’s announcement that Paraguay could contain the world’s biggest titanium reserves may bring a mining boom to the country and attract Chinese investment.