MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Stories for March 21st 2025
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Friday, March 21st 2025 - 10:55 UTC
Boric signs Chile's pension reform into law
Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font Thursday signed into law the new pensions reform introducing changes to the retirement mechanism in force since Augusto Pinochet Ugarte's military dictatorship (1973-1990). The new law will become effective starting in September 2025 and be fully implemented by 2035. It provides for a mixed system with contributions from workers (10%), employers (8.5%), and a new state-backed social security component, in a move to boost pensions by 14% to 35% for 2.8 million senior citizens, thus addressing the low payouts from privately-managed Pension Fund Administrators (AFPs) currently giving about half the country's retirees about US$ 350 monthly when the minimum wage stands at US$ 500.
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Friday, March 21st 2025 - 10:17 UTC
Uruguay’s economy rebounded in 2024, but growth expected to slow in 2025
Uruguay’s economy expanded by 3.1% in 2024, recovering from a severe drought the previous year, according to national accounts data released by the Central Bank of Uruguay (BCU). However, economists warn that growth in 2025 is likely to return to the country's historical pace of slower expansion.
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Friday, March 21st 2025 - 09:33 UTC
Argentina's main labor union announces nationwide strike for April 10
Argentina's General Labor Confederation (CGT) announced on Thursday a nationwide strike against the Libertarian Government of President Javier Milei, which will be staged on April 10, following a demonstration the previous day. It will be the third such measure against the current administration after stoppages on Jan. 24 and May 9, 2024.
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Friday, March 21st 2025 - 09:32 UTC
Argentina: Indec finds unemployment on the rise
Unemployment in Argentina in the last quarter of 2024 rose to 6.4%, up 0.7 points from 5.7% in Q4 2023, but down 0.5 points from Q3 2024 (6.9%), the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec) said in a report released Thursday. Joblessness was higher in the Greater Buenos Aires area (7.1%) and lower in Patagonia (4%) while more women (6.9%) than men (6.1%) were going through that plight.
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Friday, March 21st 2025 - 09:25 UTC
African woman Coventry wins IOC presidency at first try
Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry was elected Thursday as the tenth International Olympic Committee (IOC) President during the body's 144th Session in Costa Navarino, Greece. The 41-year-old former seven-time Olympic swimming medal winner will succeed Germany's Thomas
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Friday, March 21st 2025 - 09:09 UTC
Bolivia and China sign phytosanitary protocol for sorghum exports
Bolivia’s Minister of Rural Development and Lands, Yamil Flores, and China’s Vice Minister of Customs, Wang Lingjun, Thursday signed in La Paz a Protocol of Phytosanitary Requirements for the export of sorghum from the South American country.
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Friday, March 21st 2025 - 08:57 UTC
Brazil: STJ upholds fine against parents not vaccinating child against Covid-19
Brazil's Superior Court of Justice's (STJ) Third Panel (Turma) unanimously ruled Thursday that parents who refuse to vaccinate their children against Covid-19 can be fined, upholding a decision by the Paraná state court. The court's rationale hinged around the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA), which mandates child immunization.
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