
Brazil collaborated during the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict in an operation mounted by the Soviets to supply Argentina with spares, arms, munitions and other requirements according to the Rio do Janeiro newspaper O’Globo based on disclosed documents from the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Argentina's economy grew at an annual rate of 5.2% in February according to the country’s stats office Indec monthly economic activity report Emae, reflecting good performances in construction and manufacturing. But prospects for the industrial sector could have some surprises.
The Emae indicator rose 0.3% in seasonally adjusted terms from January, Indec added.

Representatives from the Group of 77 plus China meeting in Doha, Qatar approved a statement calling on the UK to resume negotiations with Argentina regarding the sovereignty of the Malvinas question, according to a release from the Argentine Foreign Ministry.

The Argentine government decision to nationalize Spain’s Repsol owned YPF will be discussed in June in Los Cabos, Mexico, during the G-20 summit.

The British government, in a move designed to ease concern among the investment community about the Argentine legal threats, has written to some 15 banks and oil exploration companies operating in the region, reports the Daily Telegraph.

In an article posted on the Fitch Wire credit market commentary page the rating agency slammed Argentina for its government’s decision to seize a majority stake in YPF from Spain’s Repsol as announced by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on Monday.

The European parliament ‘deplored’ the Argentine government decision to expropriate a majority control in the YPF hydrocarbons corporation - which is owned by Spanish energy company Repsol- and called for the suspension of Argentina's tariff concessions under Europe's so-called generalised system of preferences (GSP). In a resolution, the House also urges Argentina to ”return to the path of dialogue and negotiation”.

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff following a meeting with an Argentine delegation from the energy sector ratified her country’s decision to “strengthen the investment and the presence of the oil company, Petrobras, in Argentina”.

Freight truckers and customs’ brokers’ staff paralyzed the Buenos Aires port five terminals for a second day running to protest restrictions on import trade recently implemented, which has caused a collapse in port activities and thus jobs.

Argentine President Cristina Fernández minimized Spain’s decision to reduce the bio-diesel imports as a retaliation over the expropriation of YPF and called for “calm” after assuring that Argentina “is in condition to absorb” that production in the domestic market.