Veteran New York Times reporter and columnist, Roger Cohen, who on several occasions has visited Argentina recently called at Ushuaia. He wrote the following piece, which is not very enthusiastic about the current situation or the heavy burden of populist history in one of the richest countries of the world.
Foreign minister Elías Jaua said that Caracas will not accept international mediation in the current situation faced by Venezuela but nevertheless thanked Uruguay's president Jose Mujica for his efforts and knowledge about what's going on in his country.
John Duncan OBE was sworn in as Acting Governor of the Falkland Islands on Thursday at 5pm at Government House, in advance of the arrival of the Islands’ next Governor Colin Roberts CVO at the end of April.
Although the Falkland Islands has not yet signed up to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) it is being actively considered, stated Environmental Officer Nick Rendell, responding to an article that criticized the fact that only four UK Overseas Territories have joined the treaty, reports the latest edition from the Penguin News.
Brazil's economic output grew 2.3% in 2013 for a third straight year of modest expansion by Latin America's biggest economy, the government announced on Thursday. GDP for the final quarter of the year rose a 0.7% compared to the third quarter, according to Brazil's Institute for Geography and Statistics, IBGE.
The visit this week of Brazil's former president Lula da Silva to Havana could help to unravel the current political crisis in Venezuela according to Argentine political analyst Rosendo Fraga, since both countries have much to lose if the conflicting situation continues.
An executive summary published on Thursday by the US State Department describes Venezuela’s political power as “concentrated in a single party with an authoritarian executive”, and reported human rights abuses, including corruption, freedom of speech restrictions, and political persecutions amid others.
The US Congress should look into legal options for regulating virtual currencies such as bitcoin, said Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yelleny. Japan-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox went dark leaving customers unable to access their accounts. Experts have warned they might not have much recourse to recover their money.
Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs María Ángela Holguín complained on Wednesday about consistent verbal by the Venezuelan government on ex Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and the accusations of being the mastermind of the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela.
Brazil's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate Wednesday to 10.75% from 10.5%, and left the door open for more rate increases while slowing the pace of the hikes. The move continues the bank's yearlong fight against inflation even as rising interest rates and the poor performance of the country's exporters jeopardize already feeble growth in an election year.