On Sunday Uruguayan voters will confirm in a runoff the country's next president, which according to all forecasts will be Tabare Vazquez. An oncologist by training, former president (2005/2009) and former mayor of the City of Montevideo, Vazquez and the Broad Front coalition was just less than three percentage points short of the needed 50% in the first round on October 26.
The British Embassy joined the Chilean British Chamber of Commerce and Plan CREO from the city of Antofagasta to host the Seminar “Antofagasta: City, Mining and Sustainability, Where are we headed?” which took place last week at the National Library of the city.
Health professionals from more than 30 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will receive training in clinical management of Ebola in three upcoming workshops sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). The workshops are part of a series of PAHO/WHO actions intended to help countries strengthen their preparedness for potential cases of Ebola.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a 120 million dollars loan to finance the second phase of Uruguay's Strategic International Positioning Program. Its goal is to consolidate the country's international positioning, contributing to an increase in investments—mainly those aimed at high value-added sectors— and exports.
Argentine amateur distance swimmer Agustin Barletti (53) swam across Falklands Sound on November 9 in 2 hours and 7 minutes. The Argentine, who has also swum the Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa hit it lucky with calm weather and the swell only increasing as he finished.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff finally announced on Thursday the appointment of Joaquim Levy, as her next Finance minister who is also known as the 'scissors man', who pledged more realistic fiscal targets and promised more balanced economic growth.
European Union and Mercosur representatives analyzed the current state of negotiations for an association and free trade agreement but could not establish a date for the exchange of new proposals because the European Commission has yet not concluded the consultation process with member states to harmonize its proposal.
Uruguayan president Jose Mujica who next Monday begins the last three months of his five-year mandate enjoys a 65% public opinion support according to the latest poll from Mori released this week. Negative opinion only represents 17% while 18% did not say whether they approved or disapproved of the popular leader’s performance.
Uruguay’s Foreign Minister Luis Almagro highlighted that Mercosur is the “main buyer” of Uruguayan exports and strongly defended the country's presence in the regional group, a controversial issue since much of the country's political system and most of the business community want a more dynamic, open trade block.
Brent and US crude oil plunged as much as 6.50 dollars a barrel on Thursday, the steepest one-day falls since 2011 following on OPEC's decision against cutting output despite a huge oversupply in world markets.