The achievements of democracy in Latin America, while simultaneously warning of the challenges that remain and that must be addressed in order to avoid stagnation in the current political process the region has been following in recent years, was highlighted by OAS chief in an address to the London School of Economics, LSE.
The Spanish infrastructure company Abertis said it was seeking 90 million dollars from Bolivia in compensation for the nationalization of its subsidiary Servicios de Aeropuertos Bolivianos (Sabsa). Abertis was also considering other possible legal claims, its chief executive Francisco Reynes said.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff raised the monthly stipend of 2.5 million people living below the poverty line to make good on her promise to eradicate extreme poverty in Brazil. Even when announcing she has almost met her anti-poverty target halfway through her four-year term, Brazil’s last census points to 700,000 families who still live in extreme poverty but are not registered on government social programs.
FIFA said it is committed to using goal-line technology at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and could have four systems competing for selection. FIFA said it is now seeking tenders from companies which want their system to be used at the Confederations Cup in June and next year’s World Cup.
Japan’s trade deficit soared to a record 17.4 billion dollars on energy imports, a weaker Yen and the territorial dispute with China, the country’s main trade partner. Exports climbed 6.4% in January from a year earlier, the first rise in eight months while imports increased 7.3%, the Finance Ministry said in Tokyo.
Interpol has announced that it arrested nearly 200 people in a wide-ranging international operation against illegal logging and the trafficking of timber. The three-month effort spanned 12 Central and South American countries, and 8 million dollars worth of timber was seized.
Property sales in the City of Buenos Aires plummeted 27% during 2012 according to a release from the Notaries College of the Argentine capital. The release shows 46.627 deeds were signed in 2012, which represents a significant 27% shrinkage in comparison to 2011 while the figure in Pesos dropped 21.2%.
Brazil this year will harvest the largest grain and oilseed crop in the country’s history, which could reach 185 million tons, according to an announcement from President Dilma Rousseff during her weekly radio message.
Populist Bolivian President Evo Morales on Monday nationalized control of the country’s three main airports from Spain’s operator Abertis-Aena, arguing that the company had not fulfilled investments commitments promised for years.
Brazil’s Finance minister Guido Mantega in Moscow for the G-20 meeting, said that inflation above the government's target raises a yellow flag and that monetary policy, not the exchange rate, is the right tool to control prices.