Brazil prepared to deploy troops on the streets of Rio de Janeiro on Friday, as a strike by the state's police force threatened to disrupt upcoming carnival festivities and raised new questions about security before the 2014 World Cup.
Uruguayan president Jose Mujica called on the ruling coalition to stop acting with ‘pettiness’ and look forward to the legislative challenge of 2012 which includes several initiatives in different fields and he described as ‘essential’.
Relations with the Uruguayan government couldn’t be better, with no obstacles ahead, and much of the success of the Uruguayan economy is influenced by Argentina, said ambassador in Montevideo Dante Dovena.
Brazilian consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in nine months in January on higher transport, food and drink costs. Prices increased 0.56% from December, the national statistics agency said in a report distributed in Rio de Janeiro.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was given a water sample Friday taken from a pristine lake hidden under Antarctic ice for over a million years, after Russian scientists drilled down to its surface.
At least 24 people were injured after Argentine police using rubber bullets, tear gas, dogs and riot vehicles violently cleared demonstrators blocking a national route to protest a mining project by Swiss and Canadian companies in the northeast of the country.
Argentina’s consumer prices inflation reached 0.9% in January, accumulating 9.7% in the last twelve months according to the official Indec national statistics bureau. The index is less than half the private estimate or “Congress index”, 1.9%.
UN British ambassador warned Argentina on Friday that Britain would “robustly” defend the Falkland Islands if necessary, but added that his country remained open to bilateral talks with Buenos Aires on any issue except the Islands' sovereignty.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced hope that Argentina and the United Kingdom can avoid escalating their dispute over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) and resolve their differences through dialogue.