Stories for April 2014

Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 - 08:23 UTC
Venezuelan opposition lawmaker and supporters cleared from square with tear gas

Venezuelan troops dispersed opposition demonstrators with tear gas on Tuesday and blocked anti-government activist Maria Corina Machado, recently stripped of her seat in the National Assembly, from reaching the legislature.
Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 - 08:14 UTC
Malvinas bilateral sovereignty negotiations are 'inevitable' because of growing world consensus

Bilateral negotiations with the UK over the Falklands/Malvinas Islands sovereignty are 'inevitable' because of the growing international pressure and consensus among countries, forecasted Daniel Filmus head of the Argentine Foreign ministry Malvinas Islands Affairs Office. His statement comes on the 32nd anniversary of the Argentine military invasion on the Falklands in 1982.
Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 - 08:05 UTC
“Our Malvinas” photo exhibit opened in the Argentine congress

On the eve of a new anniversary of the Argentine military invasion of the Falkland Islands, (2 April 1982) Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman said that when Great Britain finally agrees to sit for negotiations over the disputed Malvinas there will be “no way to deny” the Islands belong to Argentina.
Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 - 07:56 UTC
Brazil closes first quarter with the worst trade balance result since 1994

The Brazilian trade balance posted a 112 million surplus in March with exports totaling 17.628 billion dollars and imports, 17.516 billion. It has been the worst result for March since 2001, when a 276.1 million deficit was recorded while the combined deficit for the first quarter of the year, 6.1bn dollars, is the worst result since records started being kept, in 1994.
Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 - 07:43 UTC
UK interest in the Malvinas is '100% economic', claims Argentine official

Britain's interest in the Malvinas Islands is “100% economic” and if hydrocarbons exploration in the waters surrounding the archipelago advances “we could be facing a major ecologic disaster”, said Daniel Filmus, head of the Argentine Foreign Ministry Malvinas Affairs Secretariat.
Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 - 07:30 UTC
“We planted between 15.000 and 20.000 antipersonnel and antitank mines” in Malvinas

In a rare interview, the Argentine Colonel who was responsible for placing mines in the occupied Falkland Islands in 1982 as part of the defense strategy against the advancing British forces, admits that between 15.000 and 20.000 of antipersonnel and anti tank explosives were planted, but also claims some stretches of the Islands' coast already had mines which had been placed by the British.
Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 - 07:20 UTC
Earthquake in Chile kills five; north of the country with no power or water

A strong 8.2-magnitude earthquake has struck off the northwestern coast of Chile, killing at least five people and setting off a small tsunami that prompted evacuations along the country's Pacific coast. Chilean Interior minister Rodrigo Peñalillo confirmed that five people had died, “four are men and a woman in Iquique and Alto Hospicio, caused by heart attack and crushing”.
Tuesday, April 1st 2014 - 04:06 UTC
Bachelet sends corporate tax bill to Congress; first step for education reform

President Michelle Bachelet sent Chile's Congress a bill on Monday that would raise corporate taxes to fund a sweeping overhaul of the country's education system. The proposed reform aims to raise 8.2 billion dollars to fund tuition-free public universities, a demand that fueled massive student protests under Bachelet's conservative predecessor Sebastian Piñera.
Tuesday, April 1st 2014 - 03:45 UTC
Conflict with government over violence in Uruguayan football could have FIFA consequences

Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) president Sebastián Bauza and the entire body's board of directors have tendered their resignations, as a fierce conflict sparked by President José Mujica's decision to remove police officers from the country's two most popular teams' matches (Peñarol and Nacional) generally marred by violence and destruction.
Tuesday, April 1st 2014 - 03:41 UTC
Hollande changes policy and names pro-business prime minister

French President Francois Hollande has chosen centrist Interior Minister Manuel Valls as his new prime minister, replacing Jean-Marc Ayrault who quit after the ruling Socialists were trounced in local elections. The 51-year-old Valls has been compared with “New Labor” former British premier Tony Blair both for his pro-business ideas and his dashing style.