Stories for December 2012

Thursday, December 27th 2012 - 05:39 UTC
Timerman meets with Jewish community to report on talks with Iran

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman met with the relatives of victims of the Buenos Aires 1994 AMIA Jewish center bombing to update them on negotiations with Iran. The update came three months after Timerman's first public meeting with his Iranian counterpart.
Thursday, December 27th 2012 - 05:31 UTC
Unasur observers will attend Paraguay election scheduled for next April

Representatives from Unasur confirmed that they will be present to follow the April 2013 general elections in Paraguay, reported the spokesperson for the country’s Superior Electoral Justice Tribunal, TSJE.
Thursday, December 27th 2012 - 02:52 UTC
Brazil raises minimum wage and lowers taxes on share earnings

Brazil's government announced on Monday it would raise the statutory monthly minimum wage by an above-inflation 9% to 678 Reais (330 US dollars) a month, a rise that comes at the end of a year of tepid economic growth.
Thursday, December 27th 2012 - 02:47 UTC
Argentine government blasts farmers’ strike who are considering further actions

Argentine Agriculture and Livestock Minister Norberto Yauhar accused farmers who organized what proved to be a very effective 24 hours livestock trading strike on Wednesday, of responding to ‘political interests’. The farmers’ Liaison Board said they are considering extending the protest to other economic activities.
Thursday, December 27th 2012 - 02:38 UTC
“Uruguay needs leaders in government, not demagogues” says transport businessman

The country “needs leaders in government, not demagogues” said Juan Carlos López Mena a leading businessman of Uruguay’s tourism and transport industry who is also investing heavily in agriculture and an incipient regional airline.
Thursday, December 27th 2012 - 02:24 UTC
Argentine Coast Guard arrests two Chinese jiggers off Puerto Madryn

The Argentine Coast Guard arrested on Christmas after fining some intimidatory shots, two Chinese flagged jiggers illegally fishing in Argentina’s South Atlantic Economic Exclusive Zone off the Chubut province coast, according to an official report released Wednesday.
Wednesday, December 26th 2012 - 07:30 UTC
Good year ahead for Mexico while investors feel frustrated with ‘Brazil cost’

Brazil and Mexico, Latin America’s two largest economies could be facing a 2013 of contrasting performance and prospects. Brazil has been hit by weakening Chinese demand for commodities, while rival Mexico, the new darling of foreign investors, is posting increasingly strong growth. The figures speak for themselves.
Wednesday, December 26th 2012 - 07:25 UTC
Brazil warns countries that have banned imports of beef because of atypical BSE

The world’s top beef exporter, Brazil, will give countries that curbed imports of its beef after a case of mad cow disease until March to drop the measures or it will file a complaint at the World Trade Organization, farm ministry officials said.
Wednesday, December 26th 2012 - 07:17 UTC
Fuel-price controls force Brazil to import 12bn dollars in oil and refined products

Brazil faces record trade deficits in petroleum products in 2012 and 2013 as a result of government fuel-price controls, problems with its refining system and rising consumer demand, the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported last weekend.
Wednesday, December 26th 2012 - 07:06 UTC
Falklands' Fishing Companies Association in its sixth year of existence

The Chair of the Falkland Islands Fishing Companies Association (FIFCA), Cheryl Roberts, used the occasion of the annual Christmas social evening at the Wirebird last week to reflect on FIFCA’s role in what is now its sixth year of existence.