Uruguay's trade deficit last year soared to 2.52 billion US dollars, up from 787 million US dollars in 2007, according to the latest release from the Central Bank.
Brazil's President Lula da Silva urged leading economies to complete stalled global trade talks warning that protectionism could tip the economic crisis into chaos.
Revenues from Brazil's tourism sector grew 20% in the first two months of the year boosted by domestic travellers announced the Tourism Ministry. However the estimate includes a number of sectors like hotels, air flights, car rentals and travel agencies, which makes it difficult to give an exact sum of money spent by tourists.
Venezuela's government owned oil company PDVSA plans to slash costs by 40% as it struggles with low crude prices amid the global financial crisis, according to the president of the corporation.
Tourists arriving in Uruguay during January spent 40% more than a year ago although the number remained almost similar, 315.000, according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Tourism.
Uruguay's exports were down 20% in February compared to a year ago, the fourth month running, evidence that the global slowdown has reached the country's foreign trade, according to Foreign Trade expert Luis Bonifacino, quoted in the Montevideo press.
Organised criminal networks have turned Spain into a major gateway into Europe for illegal shipments of cocaine and cannabis, according to the US State Department and published in the Gibraltar Chronicle.
Standard Chartered bank, which focuses on Asia, Africa and the Middle East, has defied the gloom afflicting the sector by reporting a rise in profits. The bank said pre-tax profit for 2008 was $4.8bn (?3.4bn), up 19% compared with a year earlier. Standard Chartered said that it was on a firm footing for 2009.
The number of unemployed people in Spain jumped by 154,058 in February, as the deepening recession forced companies to lay off more workers. The total number of people out of work in Spain now stands at almost 3.5 million, official figures show.
Bolivia revealed Tuesday that 35.500 people have contracted the benign strain of the mosquito transmitted dengue disease while 20 have died from the deadly haemorrhagic variant. There are also fears that before the rainy season is over 50.000 people could be infected.