The landless peasants’ movement has reached Uruguay: the self called “shaggy” ones with eighty families, have taken over a 400 hectares farm in the extreme north of the country Artigas, and have been occupying the land since.
World music was ablaze once again at the ninth annual globalFEST 2012. The sold out event at New York City’s Webster Hall showcased 12 musical acts from 5 continents on 3 stages.
Uruguayan president Jose Mujica and his host and peer Sebastián Piñera said they are committed to expand and intensify the presence of their countries in Antarctica which they described as a “continent of peace and of the future”.
Uruguay beef exports last year dropped 8% in volume but soared 18% in value because of higher international prices and fewer cattle. However the volume was the lowest since 2004 and confirms a decreasing tendency since 2006, according to the latest figures released by the government.
Chile ratified this week that vessels flying the Malvinas flag will continue to be barred from Chilean ports and that the country’s position relative to the issue has not changed and denies the existence of a blockade. A brief statement from the Chilean Foreign Affairs ministry indirectly refers to the latest statement by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague.
In an official communiqué Uruguay ratified full support for Argentina’s Malvinas sovereignty claim and underlined that the barring of Malvinas’ flagged vessel from Uruguayan ports stands and “has not changed an iota”.
Argentina in two brief statements said on Tuesday that there has been no change in Mercosur members’ position to bar Falklands’ flagged vessels from the region’s ports and that the United Kingdom admits that such policy has become effective.
The British government said it would resist any attempts to coerce the Falkland Islands through economic or other pressures, and revealed it is holding ‘productive discussions’ with Uruguay, Chile and Brazil to ensure trade and commercial links between the Islands and South America are not compromised by political declarations.
Inflation in Uruguay was not only far above target domestically but also figures among the ten highest in the world, and in Latam only behind Argentina and Venezuela
Spain’s new Conservative Government announced this week a wide ranging plan against fiscal fraud and tax evasion by which it hopes to recoup over 8 billion Euros for treasury coffers in 2012 alone. And it has also announced it will be engaging countries which have ceased to be tax-havens in order to step up the Government’s efforts against tax evasion in Spain.