Argentina

• Saturday, January 30th 2016 - 12:21 UTC

  Argentina seals US$ 5 billion deal with international banks at Libor plus 6.5 points

  

  Argentina's central bank said on Friday it had sealed a deal for a US$5 billion, one-year loan from international private banks, bolstering its low foreign reserves as the country heads into talks with creditors suing over unpaid debt. Argentina has been shut out of global credit markets because of its long-running legal dispute in U.S. courts with creditors over debt it defaulted on in 2002.

• Saturday, January 30th 2016 - 10:45 UTC

  Argentina ends power subsidies; some bills could increase by as much as 500%

  

  Argentina's energy minister on Friday announced new power rates on the back of subsidy cuts that could see the bills of some consumers jump five-fold, saying that a near total freeze on tariffs in parts of the country for years had left the power grid “on the brink of collapse.”

• Friday, January 29th 2016 - 03:54 UTC

  Pope Francis receives Macri at the Vatican 27 February

  

  Pope Francis will be receiving President Mauricio Macri on February 27, the first official meeting between both leaders since Macri took office in December. The meeting was confirmed by government sources.

• Friday, January 29th 2016 - 03:28 UTC

  Maduro claims he will not rest until a Celac summit is held in Malvinas Argentinas

  

  Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro was the only leader to take time during the recent Celac summit, to make a public statement on the Falklands/Malvinas pledging full support for Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Islands and promising not to rest until “the dream of Malvinas Argentinas comes true”.

• Thursday, January 28th 2016 - 05:21 UTC

  Argentine ex Army commander praises Macri/Cameron dialogue: what matters is getting started

  

  A former commander of the Argentine Army and Malvinas war veteran Martin Balza praised the recent meeting of President Mauricio Macri with UK Prime Minister David Cameron arguing that whatever is done to advance a serious, respectful, mature dialogue must be welcomed; “there won't be immediate results from that dialogue, but this is like a marathon, what matters are the first steps”.

• Wednesday, January 27th 2016 - 06:42 UTC

  Parlasur could invite Falklanders', but first Macri must cracks the “chavista axis”

  

  The Argentine representation in the Mercosur parliament, Parlasur, is considering inviting a group of 'kelpers' Falklands/Malvinas lawmakers, 'to listen to their needs and promote cooperation, but in the framework of Argentina's unrenounceable sovereignty claim over the Islands'.

• Tuesday, January 26th 2016 - 08:47 UTC

  Malvinas: when Argentina is strong and united, world public opinion will back us

  

  The meeting of the Argentine president with the British prime minister in Davos was “a good thing” a symptom that we are back on the right political track, which has been applied before: to continue claiming sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, without having to spoil good relations, investments, trade, and with time and circumstances even consider joint undertakings.

• Monday, January 25th 2016 - 10:19 UTC

  IMF praise for Argentina's measures... but forecasts 'mild recession' this year

  

  Despite the austerity policies that have been implemented by the government of President Mauricio Macri, Argentina will see a bigger than expected recession this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a new report. The economy is set to decline 1% this year, a drop that is 0.3 percentage points larger than the previous forecast that the IMF had released in October.

• Monday, January 25th 2016 - 10:10 UTC

  Proxy inflation in Argentina reached 6.5% in December and 31.6% in 2015

  

  Consumer prices rose 6.5% in December in the Argentine province of San Luis, one of the indexes the new leaders of the country's INDEC statistics bureau had said could be used as a proxy for national inflation figures — amounting to a cumulative 31.6% increase in 2015.

• Monday, January 25th 2016 - 08:41 UTC

  Tompkins widow plans to hand over thousands of acres to create national parks in Patagonia

  

  The widow of American conservationist Doug Tompkins, who died last month while kayaking in South America's Patagonia region, says she'll build on her husband's legacy of protecting threatened ecosystems in Argentina and Chile.