Stories for March 24th 2011

Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 20:37 UTC
Montevideo received almost a million tourists in 2010

Uruguay received 2.4 million tourists during 2010, 34% of which the capital Montevideo and if the cruise visitors are added the final number jumps to 930.000, according to Luis Polakof, head of the city’s Economic Development Department.
Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 20:28 UTC
Record price for Merino wool in Uruguay: 37.76 US dollars per kilo

A bail of Uruguayan fine, clean wool, 14.4 microns, was sold at a record price of 37.76 a kilo. The ultra fine wool, (uncommon for Uruguay that has a flock mostly of Corriedale), was achieved based on a strategic alliance between the Merino breeders, the country’s Agriculture Research Institute, the textile industry and 51 farmers that signed in for the project.
Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 20:14 UTC
Bolivia considering international court to claim coastline lost to Chile

Bolivia is prepared to take Chile to the International court of The Hague over its claim to a section of Pacific coast that it lost in a war more than 130 years ago, Bolivian President Evo Morales said Wednesday.
Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 19:59 UTC
Portugal has Euro zone on the brink; bail out package considered at EU summit

EU leaders are grappling with a new Euro zone threat after Portugal's parliament rejected an austerity budget and PM Jose Socrates resigned. The vote means an international bail-out, similar to those accepted by Greece and the Irish Republic last year, is now far more likely.
Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 19:47 UTC
Uruguay forecasts beef exports will total 1.4 billion USD in 2011

Uruguayan beef exports should reach 1.4 billion US dollars in 2011 according to an announcement this week from the country’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Tabare Aguerre.
Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 18:54 UTC
Argentine union leader Moyano says workers must be included in ballot tickets

Argentina’s organized labour leader Hugo Moyano called on Wednesday for additional workers' presence in the ballots for the coming October election. “It’s not possible that us workers, who created Peronism, are excluded from the ballots” he said.
Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 18:32 UTC
Colombian military began using US supplied drones in 2006

The Colombian military began using US supplied drones for counter-terrorism and narcotics operations in 2006, U.S. documents released by WikiLeaks indicate.
Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 18:27 UTC
US homes market faces challenging 2011 as sales plunge to new lows

United States sales of new homes fell 16.9% last month compared with January and by a whopping 28% from the level of February 2010, the U.S. Commerce Department said. The February 2011 figure represents an annualized rate of 250,000 new home sales. Analysts had expected an annualized rate of 290,000.
Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 18:16 UTC
Last of released Cuban ‘Group of 75’ prisoners pledge to continue political rights campaign

Cuba’s last prisoners from among the “Group of 75” dissidents rounded up and jailed by the Castro brothers’ regime in March 2003 were freed Wednesday.
Thursday, March 24th 2011 - 18:05 UTC
US must be more pro-active if it wants access to Brazilian oil, says Petrobras

The United States must pay more importance to its strategic alliance with Brazil if it really wants to benefit from Petrobras’ recently discovered deep-water oil and natural gas reserves in the Atlantic Ocean, the company’s CEO, Jose Sergio Gabrielli, said.