Rio de Janeiro, Dec 15 (IANS/EFE) Fiat SpA has announced that it plans to invest 3 billion reais ($1.7 billion) to build a second plant in Brazil, the carmaker's No. 2 market after its native Italy.

Bogota, Dec 15 (IANS/EFE) State-owned Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos, or Ecopetrol, said it found oil at a new well in central Colombia, raising the number of new petroleum discoveries this year to seven.

Mexico City, Dec 15 (IANS/EFE) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to approve Mexico's request to increase to $73 billion the flexible credit line the institution created last year for Latin America's No. 2 economy, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said here Tuesday.