Stories for May 2009

Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:32 UTC
Montevideo, best quality of life; Santiago leads in infrastructure

Uruguay’s capital Montevideo remains the best city for quality of life for foreign executives in Latinamerica, while Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince is the worst, according to the latest survey from Mercer.
Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:26 UTC
Chavez agrees to pay 1.97 billion USD for nationalized steelmaker

Ternium, Latin America’s second- largest steelmaker, agreed to sell its Sidor unit to the Venezuelan government for 1.97 billion US dollars, ending a yearlong price dispute. The government holding company, Corp. Venezolana de Guayana, or CVG, paid 400 million in cash today for Ternium’s 59.7% stake in Sidor, the Luxembourg-based company said Thursday in a statement. CVG said it will pay the rest in two separate payments.
Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:25 UTC
Brazil central bankers see margin to further cut interest rates

Brazilian central bank policy makers said the global economic slump may favour the ongoing reduction of interest rates without jeopardizing the inflation target, according to the minutes of the April 28-29 monetary policy meeting posted on the bank’s Web site.
Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:22 UTC
Chavez to begin taking over oil industry contractors

State owned Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. PDVSA, will begin Friday taking over control of some oil-field services currently being provided by private firms, President Hugo Chávez said.
Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:20 UTC
European Parliament supports “politically persecuted Venezuelans”

The European Parliament (EP) approved on Thursday a resolution in solidarity with “all those people suffering political persecution in Venezuela,” currently embodied in former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, who was granted political asylum in Peru.
Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:15 UTC
An estimated 34 billion US dollars have fled from Argentina

The Argentine Central Bank must ensure that the flight of capital does not erode the “wealth of the country”, warned a former head of the bank, who revealed that since the beginning of the crisis 34 billion US dollars had fled from South America’s second largest economy.
Friday, May 8th 2009 - 10:11 UTC
FAO, OIE, WHO reiterate statement on A/H1N1 and safety of pork

To avoid any misunderstanding FAO, WHO and OIE reissued Thursday their joint statement referred to the safety of pork originally issued on 30 April.
Friday, May 8th 2009 - 07:17 UTC
One sailor missing as fishing vessel is lost off Rio Gallegos

The freezer vessel Mataco II, owned by Harengus SA and the Amaltal Fishing Company, sank Tuesday night some 40 nautical miles (70 kilometres) from Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz, in the midst of a severe storm.
Friday, May 8th 2009 - 04:48 UTC
European central banks lost 40 billion USD with gold sales

The decision by central banks across Europe to sell gold reserves over the last ten years has left them 40 billion US dollars worse-off, the Financial Times reported Thursday.
Friday, May 8th 2009 - 04:46 UTC
IMF forecasts “relatively good” performance for Latam economy

Economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), sharply affected by the global economic crisis, is expected to contract by 1.5% in 2009, from about 4.5% growth in 2008, before rebounding next year, according to the latest forecast for the region by the International Monetary Fund.