The UNASUR (Union of South American Nations) Foreign Affairs ministerial meeting concluded Thursday night in Quito without an agreement on how to solve the diplomatic rift between Venezuela and Colombia.
Colombian Foreign Affairs minister Jaime Bermudez claimed Venezuela impeded reaching a consensus on a cooperation mechanism preventing the presence of Colombian guerrillas in other countries, during the Unasur ministerial meeting Thursday in Ecuador.
Chilean fishermen are still feeling the effects of the Feb. 27 earthquake. Infrastructure damage from the earthquake has forced more than 200 fishermen to relocate from the city of Lebu near Concepcion to the port of Coquimbo, a city to the north.
The financial dealings of New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser are under scrutiny amid revelations he owns thousands of shares in a Uruguayan-based dairy company that he actively promotes as part of his job, according to the NZ press.
Banking giant Citigroup has agreed to pay 75 million US dollars to settle civil charges that it misled investors over potential losses from high-risk mortgages. It agreed the settlement with US financial watchdog the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Italian Primer Minister Silvio Berlusconi is selling his ostentatious Villa Certosa in the island of Sardinia very much celebrated for some of the controversial private parties with prostitutes and teenagers he organized and were widely captured on film.
A survey in June by the Economics department at the Universidad de Chile reported a 3 percentage point decline in unemployment in Santiago to 8.9%, from 11.9% in June 2009 – the largest decline since December 1991.
The Uruguayan government and opposition expressed deep satisfaction with the agreement reached with Argentina for the monitoring of the River Uruguay which did not include ‘detrimental sovereignty issues’ and sealed the end to a long standing conflict.
Outgoing Colombian president Alvaro Uribe deplored Thursday statements from the Brazilian leader Lula da Silva related to Venezuela’s decision to severe relations with Bogotá, according to a brief release from Palacio Nariño, seat of the Executive.
International air passenger demand (particularly China and Latinamerica) and freight showed a strong improvement during June compared to a year ago according to the latest traffic international statistics released by the International Air Transport Association, IATA.