Stories for June 2015

Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 21:16 UTC
Mercosur and Unasur member Venezuela bullying neighboring Guyana

Mercosur and Unasur member Venezuela is again bullying neighboring Guyana by issuing a presidential decree claiming more than two-thirds of the former British colony territory including the maritime area where ExxonMobil recently found a significant oil deposit.
Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:53 UTC
Uruguay says Brazil and Paraguay are ready to sign trade accord with Europe

Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez said that Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay are ready to sign the long delayed trade and cooperation agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. Such an agreement has become one of the cornerstones of Vazquez presidency faced with falling exports and limited markets.
Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:44 UTC
“Football is a game, but is also a massive business” and people want it to operate with integrity

President Barack Obama weighed in on the deepening corruption scandal involving world soccer's governing body, saying it was essential that the sport's integrity be ensured.
Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:39 UTC
Argentine businessman indicted by US in FIFA corruption case, turns in Italy

Of the 14 people indicted by the United States in the FIFA corruption case, five members are businessmen that worked for various sports marketing and consulting companies that dealt extensively with the world's football organization.
Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:28 UTC
FIFA admits 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts could change because of the ongoing investigation

Head of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee says World Cup hosts could change as a result of ongoing investigation. Domenico Scala says if any evidence of wrongdoing is found by the ongoing criminal investigations into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the rights to host the tournament could be stripped.
Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:16 UTC
Patagonia Azul in Chubut becomes Biosphere reserve; holds 40% of world's Magellan penguins

The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB) added this week twenty 20 new sites (including two in Latina America) to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, bringing their total number to 651 sites, including 15 trans-boundary sites, in 120 countries.
Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 06:04 UTC
Brazil launches ambitious $64bn infrastructure package to prop the economy

Brazil announced a $64 billion infrastructure spending package on Tuesday, hoping to revive its flagging economy with investment in highways, railroads, ports and airports. Businesses and analysts have long pointed to overburdened infrastructure as a drag on the world's seventh-largest economy, which pays high prices to ship the raw materials it exports.
Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 05:32 UTC
Argentina commemorates creation of 'Malvinas political and military command' in June 1829

British dominance of the Malvinas Islands is a colonial 'situation', which is 'unacceptable' and 'anachronic': Argentina reiterates its sovereignty claims over the South Atlantic Islands and surrounding maritime spaces, said a release from the foreign ministry in Buenos Aires on occasion of the day the country commemorates the creation, on 10 June 1829, of the political and military command of the Malvinas Islands and adjacent Cape Horn spaces.
Wednesday, June 10th 2015 - 05:01 UTC
Argentina comes to a halt as transport unions shut-down buses, trains, subways, air traffic

A strike by Argentine transport workers caused chaos for Buenos Aires commuters and forced airlines to cancel flights on Tuesday as the government accused unions of playing pre-election politics.
Tuesday, June 9th 2015 - 08:20 UTC
Brazil determined to advance Mercosur/EU trade talks in this week's meeting

A top Brazilian minister said that Mercosur must allow member countries to sign trade agreements with third parties and called for the end to the rule which prevents such initiative. Development, Industry and Trade minister Armando Monteiro Neto made the statement during a competitiveness seminar in Rio do Janeiro a couple of days ahead of a crucial meeting in Brussels between Mercosur representatives and the European Union to address an encompassing free trade agreement.