Stories for March 2011
The Brazilian businessman who made possible Lula da Silva’s success
The successful Brazilian self made man and former Vice-president Jose Alencar who assured the business community political support for the “firebrand union leader”, Lula da Silva elected in 2002 to lead Latin America’s largest economy, died in Sao Paulo on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.
Humala leads in Peruvian presidential race but run-off chances are “unlikely”
Presidential election races in Peru have a history of being unpredictable. What initially seemed to be a three-way battle to succeed outgoing president Alan Garcia now appears to be a five-way tussle ahead of the first round of voting on April 10 according to a report from Capital Economics.
EU says Argentina’s import restrictions hurt talks for trade deal with Mercosur
Argentina's moves to restrict imports and prop up its shrinking trade surplus as well as European farmers resistance to ‘cheap’ meat imports could hurt talks for a trade deal between Mercosur and the European Union, an EU official said on Wednesday.
Argentina promotes world-wide Malvinas discussion under the logo of “It takes two to tango”
Argentine ambassador before United Nations Jorge Argüello is scheduled to give a conference this week in Bangkok, Thailand on the ‘Malvinas Islands issue” and the South Atlantic situation.
Israel concerned with Uruguay’s position in an Israeli/Palestinian forum
Israel will follow with a critical eye the United Nations organized forum on the Israel-Palestine conflict which opened Tuesday in Montevideo, because whatever the results, the Israeli government is ‘particularly interested in the Uruguayan government’s position’.
Falklands’ Desire Petroleum announces drilling of sixth well has begun
The Falkland Islands hydrocarbons exploratory round begun over a year ago is steaming ahead. Desire Petroleum announced Tuesday it had begun exploratory drilling on the Ninky prospect with a total planned depth of 2.620 metres.
Uruguay’s farmland price jumped eight times from 2002 to 2010
The number of farmland transactions and the price per hectare were up in Uruguay during 2010 according to a release from Uruguay’s Agriculture and Livestock Ministry Statistics Department, DIEA.
Argentina honours Chavez with press freedom award for fighting “media monopolies”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was given a press freedom award during his visit on Tuesday to Argentina. The University of La Plata said it was honouring him for his efforts to break “media monopolies” in Latin America and support “popular communication”.
Chavez praises Argentina’s role in UNASUR; signs ambitious trade accord
Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez underlined the significance of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) during his one day visit to Buenos Aires. Chavez is on a tour of the region that also includes Uruguay, Bolivia and Colombia.
G20 meeting in China expected to address Japan, Libya and European debt crisis
China hosts Wednesday a Group 20 leaders meeting, originally scheduled to address the international monetary system, most probably criticism of the US Federal Reserve for flooding the world with money, but the latest world events, Japan, Libya and Europe’s debt crisis are bound to change the emphasis of the agenda.
