President Cristina Fernandez on the last day of her visit to France, and escorted by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, inaugurated on Thursday Argentina's pavilion at the Salon du Livre in Paris, one of Europe's too cultural events, and also praised the long standing ties between the two countries and evoked leaders Juan Domingo Peron and Charles de Gaulle.
Argentina's river Paraná is blocked since early March when a Cypriot flagged vessel broke down with a 45.000 tons cargo of soybeans, thus holding back access of another eighty vessels waiting to load in Rosario and other ports in the heartland of the grains and oilseeds country.
President Cristina Fernández praised the decision by France to file an 'amicus curiae' brief before the US Supreme Court, in a show of support to Argentina in its long-standing battle against speculative fund creditors, and also secured the backing of the French government to settle a 9.5bn dollars dispute with the Paris Club.
The Telegraph published a long interview with Daniel Filmus recently appointed to head the Argentine government newly created Malvinas Islands Related Issues Secretariat in which he repeats many of the arguments of the Cristina Fernandez administration campaign referred to the Falklands sovereignty claim, using such words as 'colonialism' and 'militarization', and attacking UK's refusal to sit and dialogue as indicated by UN resolutions.
The recent visit to Chile and particularly Uruguay of Foreign Office minister for Latin-American Hugo Swire has triggered a barrage of comments and debate in Argentina about the Falklands/Malvinas, particularly aggressive towards the FCO official, but not surprising.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández has criticized what she dubbed a double standard from the United Kingdom, due to the nation condemning the Crimean referendum on union with Russia while supporting the rights of Falklands/Malvinas residents to hold a vote on their future.
International credit rating agency Moody's has reduced the rating of Argentina's sovereign debt, moving the grade down one step from B3 to Caa1 due to the fall in the nation's international reserves and its inconsistent economic policy.
Inflation in Argentina during the month of February reached 3.4%, which means that in the first two months of the year the index stands above 7.1%, according to the latest figures released by the country's National Institute of Statistics and Census' (INDEC) Consumer Price Index.
Mercosur will present a joint proposal to the European Union for a wide ranging trade agreement between the two blocks later this month, announced Brazil' Minister of Industry Mauro Borges, following a visit to Buenos Aires where he met with Economy minister Axel Kicillof and Industry minister Debora Giorgi.
President Cristina Fernández (with a sprained ankle in a boot) and Pope Francis shared on Monday a lunch which lasted two hours and a half at Santa Marta residence in the Vatican. It's the third time the Argentine head of state and Francis meet since he was elected pontiff one year ago.