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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 27th 2024 - 22:01 UTC

Politics

  • Wednesday, January 7th 2015 - 04:20 UTC

    Colombia launches first Antarctic research expedition with Chilean training

    ARC 20 de Julio which carries a helicopter will spend three months in Antarctica on scientific research tasks

    Colombia's first Antarctica expedition is expected to call in Punta Arenas on Wednesday before crossing to the peninsula to begin a three-month scientific hydrographic and climate research with twenty researchers on board committed to ten projects.

  • Wednesday, January 7th 2015 - 04:10 UTC

    Shortage of tampons in Argentina because of import restrictions

    Most tampons come from Brazil but delays in authorizing imports have caused the inconvenient situation, particularly for beach goers

    Ladies in distress, particularly in summer time when going swimming is a ritual in Argentina: in effect because of the imports restrictions and lack of sufficient dollars, tampons are in short supply. They had been scarce all along the year but the situation peaked now that summer holidays have taken off.

  • Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 23:11 UTC

    Energy crisis as early as 2016

    For now Saudi Arabia is willing to let the other OPEC members suffer until the next scheduled OPEC meeting in June.

    Low oil prices today may be setting the world up for an oil shortage as early as 2016. Today we have just 2% more crude oil supply than demand and the price of gasoline is under $2.00/gallon in Texas. If oil supply falls too far, we could see gasoline prices doubling within 18 months. For a commodity as critical to our standard of living as oil is, it only takes a small shortage to drive up the price.

  • Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 22:36 UTC

    China, Australia and Thailand with plans to improve submarine fleets

    Australia has welcomed a Japanese offer to jointly-build a fleet of new submarines, with a possible deal by the end of the year.

    China, Australia and possibly Thailand are planning to increase, replace or incorporate modern submarines to their fleets according to reports from Asia-Pacific countries. In the case of China they are expected to be nuclear-powered attack subs armed with ballistic missiles and should be operational by 2020.

  • Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 22:12 UTC

    Spain tried to abort US Congress bill in support of Gibraltar's right to self determination

    Republican Congressman George Holding, who sponsored the bi-partisan resolution, made public the letter from the Spanish ambassador.

    Spain tried to persuade US politicians to drop an initiative calling for the House of Representatives in Washington to formally recognize Gibraltar’s right to self-determination. The plea was contained in a letter from Spain’s ambassador to Washington, Ramon Gil-Casares, to Republican Congressman George Holding, who sponsored the bi-partisan resolution.

  • Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 22:00 UTC

    Cuba has freed some of 53 political prisoners, as agreed in the rapprochement with the US

    The announcement was made by Secretary of State spokesperson Jen Psaki, although she did not provide a specific number (Pic AFP)

    Cuba has freed some of 53 people the United States regards as political prisoners as agreed under last month's US-Cuban rapprochement and Washington wants to see the rest released soon, the US State Department said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 07:32 UTC

    Brazil' finance minister pledges fiscal balance and cuts in spending

    Levy, educated at Chicago, is a fiscal conservative known for slashing spending during his 2003-2006 stint as treasury chief.

    Brazil must focus on making difficult fiscal adjustments in order to get economic growth and investment back in gear, the country's new Finance Minister Joaquim Levy said on Monday. At his swearing-in ceremony in Brasilia, Levy said the process will require the participation of society as a whole and will involve changes to taxes and spending, without resorting to accounting shortcuts.

  • Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 07:24 UTC

    Germany' growing consensus to let Greece drop out of the Euro block

    The Greek Syriza which party could reach power has pledged to write-off much of Greece’s debt and renegotiate the terms of its bailout with the EU and IMF.

    Germany has said it will not be “blackmailed” into renegotiating Greece’s rescue program should a new hard left government take office after elections later this month. The Euro dropped to a nine-year low after a report in Der Spiegel magazine on Monday that Berlin was no longer opposed to Athens leaving the currency bloc.

  • Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 07:02 UTC

    Argentine farmers netted 24.1 billion dollars from grains and oilseeds last year

    The sale of grains and oilseed helped stop the drain of Central Bank international reserves

    Argentine farmers exported more than 300 million dollars worth of grains and oilseeds in the last two days of 2014 to help bring in much needed cash for the nation’s central bank. The situation was boosted by an agreement reached between farmers and the Argentine government regarding foreign currency payment for the grains and oilseed.

  • Tuesday, January 6th 2015 - 06:58 UTC

    Optimistic forecast for Latin America: 2.2% growth in 2015, up from 1.3% in 2014

    “Now, more than ever, the answer lies in internal sources of growth, which brings us up against a huge challenge: increasing productivity,” said Moreno

    Latin America and the Caribbean's economic growth might recover modestly to 2.2% in 2015, up from 1.3% in 2014, its lowest rate since last decade's global financial crisis. Despite the slowdown, the region has managed to maintain its gains against poverty, said Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno.