Stories for November 14th 2009
Chavez rejects Brazilian proposal for Colombian/Venezuelan hot border
President Hugo Chavez on Friday rejected a joint border monitoring system with Colombia which was proposed by Brazil. He said he would not allow any “extra-national force” along the Venezuelan border zone with Colombia.
Lula da Silva orders in-depth investigation into the massive blackout
Brazilian president Lula da Silva revealed Friday he had ordered all government offices linked to the power industry, an in depth investigation into the Tuesday blackout which he described as a “national disaster”.
Argentine bishops call on CFK to combat poverty and consolidate democracy
The Argentine Catholic Church urged the government to combat the “dramatic” situation of the poor and demanded the authorities consolidate democratic institutions and defuse growing social unrest.
Argentina’s retail inflation climbs 0.8% during October
Argentina’s consumer price index increased 0.8% during October, according to the official Statistics office, Indec. The education and apparel industries were the ones that most gained. The main private pollsters were expecting the retail prices index to rise between 1 and 1.3%.
US trade deficit widens fuelled by auto and oil imports
United States trade deficit widened in September by the most in a decade, reflecting rising demand for imported oil and automobiles as the economy rebounded from the worst recession since the 1930s.
Shimon Peres ends visit to Brazil, Sunday flies to Argentina
Israeli President Shimon Peres visited the headquarters of Brazilian oil company Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro Friday, on the last day of a historic official visit to Brazil.
IMF calls on Asian countries to appreciate their currencies
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Khan urged Asian nations to let their currencies appreciate as part of the region’s contribution to a more balanced global recovery.
Uruguay will abandon Mercosur if Lacalle is elected president
Uruguay will definitively abandon Mercosur if Luis Alberto Lacalle is elected president in the run off on November 29th. Lacalle also forecasted that Mercosur as a customs union has not much time left, “it’s a dying organization”.
NASA announces discovery of “significant amount” of water in the moon
It's official: There's water on the moon—and a “significant amount” of it, too, members of NASA's recent moon-crash mission, LCROSS, announced Friday. In October, NASA crashed a two-ton rocket and the SUV-size LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) into the permanently shadowed crater Cabeus on the moon's South Pole.
Chilean presidential candidate triggers controversy over human rights trials
Conservative presidential candidate Sebastían Piñera on Thursday defended comments he made Tuesday to a meeting of retired, Pinochet-era military and police officials. Piñera pledged his government would put an end to human rights cases that “never end” if he succeeds in his bid for office.
