Political News about the Americas from The Economist February 13 Issue

Below you will find the Economist's digest items about the Americas from their February 13, 2010 edition.  Please note that a subscription is needed to access their website.

• Haiti raised the estimate of the death toll from the recent earthquake to 230,000. Nearly a month later, an emaciated man was pulled alive from beneath the rubble.  Aid workers worried about the approaching rainy season.
• Laura Chinchilla became the fifth woman to be elected to the presidency in Latin America, winning Costa Rica’s election with 47% of the vote.  She is a protégée of Óscar Arias, the outgoing centrist president.
• Faced with a power shortage caused partly by drought, Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, declared an “electricity emergency.”  Customers who do not cut their usage will face steep increases in their bills.
• Brazilian health officials prepared to hand out 55 million condoms in the run-up to Carnival, as part of an AIDS-awareness campaign.

In the magazine, you will also find in depth articles about Chavez recruiting Cuban aides to shore up his regime, Brazil’s recovering economy, and the floods that struck the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru.