Stories for June 16th 2010
Argentine pickets insist with pollution controls inside Uruguayan pulp mill
Argentine pickets who have been blocking since 2006 a bridge leading to neighbouring Uruguay to protest the construction of a pulp mill on the Uruguayan side said they are open to negotiations.
Brazil denies, and will not accept, contacts with Falklands’ oil industry
The Brazilian government denied that the Falkland Islands “have been looking for business options in Brazil” specifically linked to hydrocarbons exploration, according to the head of the South American Desk at the Brazilian Foreign Affairs ministry.
European leaders criticize risk-rating agencies for downgrading Greek debt
Moody's decision to downgrade Greek debt was ill-advised and ill-timed, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said, adding that it cast fresh doubt on risk-ratings agencies.
Chile’s most expensive properties cost around 3.700 USD per square meter
The most expensive residential buildings per square meter in Chile are located in the Metropolitan Region’s boroughs of Las Condes and Vitacura. In these areas, properties prices are double that of other boroughs such as Ñuñoa and downtown Santiago.
Afghanistan future formidable competitor of Chile in copper and lithium
Nearly one trillion US dollars of untapped mineral resources have been found in Afghanistan by US officials, including iron, copper, cobalt, gold, and lithium.
Buenos Aires has 15.000 ‘reported’ homeless of which 4.500 children
At least 15.000 people live in the streets of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires where last year 113 died because of the cold or lack of medical assistance, warned a report from a Non Government Organization, Doctors of the World and Project 7.
Brazilian meats’ corporation set to become main supplier of McDonald’s
Marfrig Alimentos SA, Latin America’s second-largest beef producer, agreed to buy meat processor US based Keystone Foods LLC for 1.26 billion US dollars to become a supplier to restaurant chains such as McDonald’s Corp.
Argentine minister encouraged with Japanese acceptance of bond-swap
A majority of Japanese investors holding defaulted Argentine debt have exchanged it for new bonds and cash as part of an 18.3 billion US dollars swap that expires June 22, Argentina's finance secretary said on Tuesday.
Switzerland closer to handing list of suspected US tax-evaders
Switzerland's parliament has voted to approve a deal which would see information on suspected tax-evaders be passed to US authorities. The Lower House of the Swiss parliament backed the agreement 81 to 61 with 53 abstentions, reversing its earlier decision to reject the agreement last week.
Unasur fearful of overlapping with the Andean Pact and Mercosur
The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Secretary General Néstor Kirchner said on Tuesday he hopes for the block to “create profound policies in the region” but without overlapping on other regional organizations such as Mercosur.
