Stories for May 2012

Friday, May 18th 2012 - 04:10 UTC
Brazil’s Supreme Court confirms university quota system for Afro-descendents

Brazil’s Supreme Court voted unanimously to permit a quota system that would favour Afro-descendants in entering universities, ending an eight-year legal battle.
Friday, May 18th 2012 - 03:58 UTC
Brazil passes bill to challenge embedded culture of secrecy and bureaucracy

A freedom of information law has taken effect in Brazil, challenging an embedded culture of secrecy and bureaucracy. Proponents, including President Dilma Rousseff, said the measure is nothing short of a revolution for a system that has kept tight control over information for decades.
Friday, May 18th 2012 - 03:07 UTC
Growing doubts about Uruguay’s goal of 1.2GW wind power by 2015

Uruguay’s ambition to have 1.2GW of wind power in operation by 2015 may have to be delayed for several years because logistical problems and tightening returns could make some projects unfeasible.
Friday, May 18th 2012 - 03:01 UTC
Argentine farmers blitz stops lawmakers vote on land tax increase

A last-minute lobbying blitz by farmers in Argentina's top grains-producing province stopped lawmakers from approving a tax increase that some growers said would force them to sell their fields.
Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 21:24 UTC
Spain supports EU/Mercosur trade accord on a “region to region” basis respecting WTO rules

Spain’s Foreign Affairs minister Jose Garcia Margallo said that Madrid supports negotiations for a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union on a “region to region” basis, back stepping from his proposal last April to exclude Argentina following the seizure of YPF from Repsol.
Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 21:19 UTC
Tax-info-exchange accord could see middle-class Argentines abandon Uruguayan banks

The recent tax-info exchange agreement reached between Argentina and Uruguay will make many investors in the Uruguayan financial system take their deposits back to “safes” or “mattresses” in Argentina, warned several economists during a conference on the Argentine economy prospects and its influence on neighbouring Uruguay.
Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 11:52 UTC
Argentine provinces face less revenue and higher rates because of YPF seizure

Argentine provinces are falling back in paying salaries and honouring debts as they face a shortage of cash and almost record rates for issuing bonds in money markets, reports Buenos Aires financial press.
Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 11:48 UTC
World Bank chief economist warns Latam of the “middle-income trap”

In what would be his last speech as part of the organization, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank Justin Lin held a conference at the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago de Chile.
Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 11:29 UTC
Falklands recover 370 hectares of Stanley Common made minefields in 1982 by Argentine forces

Thirty years after the end of the Falkland Islands conflict, 370 hectares of Stanley Common south of Sapper Hill recently cleared by BACTEC (mine action and bomb disposal specialists), have been opened to the public, reports the Penguin News.
Thursday, May 17th 2012 - 11:27 UTC
The name HMS Dauntless is no newcomer for the Falkland Islands

In anticipation of the imminent arrival in the Falkland Islands of the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless, local historian and author John Allan writes that her predecessor was posted to the Islands in the 1930s.