Argentina

• Friday, May 22nd 2009 - 12:21 UTC

  Argentine economy expanded 2.7% in March, says government

  

  Argentina's government said on Thursday the economy grew a better-than-expected 2.7% in March compared with the same month last year and closing the first quarter with a surprising 2.3%. But many analysts say the slowdown is far sharper.

• Friday, May 22nd 2009 - 12:07 UTC

  Obama sends a letter to Cristina for the May 25th celebration

  

  United States president Barack Obama has sent a letter to President Cristina Fernandez praising Argentina’s efforts “to work as a constructive and stabilizing force in the region and beyond”.

• Friday, May 22nd 2009 - 01:33 UTC

  The Kirchners under increased international isolation

  

  Argentina’s ruling couple, the Kirchners growing international isolation has been highlighted by Buenos Aires political analysts. The only leader who seems to visit Buenos Aires quite often is Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, while differences accumulate with neighbouring Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, with the more distant Mexico and Israel and there seems to be a growing distancing from the Obama administration.

• Thursday, May 21st 2009 - 11:12 UTC

  US Congress strong message to Argentina on defaulted obligations

  

  American Task Force Argentina (ATFA), a coalition of more than 40 taxpayer, investor, educator, Latino and agriculture organizations, commended members of the United States House of Representatives for introducing legislation imposing stiff penalties on wealthy and middle-income nations that, like Argentina, refuse to honour obligations to US creditors.

• Wednesday, May 20th 2009 - 14:21 UTC

  Hundred of Argentines pay tribute to an honest taxi driver

  

  Hundreds of Argentines have donated the equivalent of 32.000 US dollar to a taxi driver who found a bag with 32.500 US dollars in cash in his vehicle and returned it to its owners.

• Wednesday, May 20th 2009 - 12:11 UTC

  Argentine farmers look for profitable alternative crops

  

  Argentine farmers are finding other crops which enable them to avoid the hyper sensitive wheat which has been one of the main clash areas with the administration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

• Monday, May 18th 2009 - 08:39 UTC

  Sixth death of dengue disease in Argentina

  

  A sixth person has died of the mosquito transmitted dengue disease in Argentina. The Bolivian born victim died in the northern province of Salta of “dengue-shock syndrome”, which is a consequence of the more lethal form of the disease haemorrhagic dengue, reported the local daily “El Tribuno”.

• Sunday, May 17th 2009 - 13:12 UTC

  Private sector economists say Argentina is in recession

  

  Argentina's industrial production in April plunged 9.1% on the year, economic think tank Orlando J Ferreres & Asociados reported this week. The April drop follows a 9% decline during the first quarter of 2009 and a 5.6% drop during the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the report.

• Saturday, May 16th 2009 - 13:38 UTC

  USDA estimates Argentine 2010 soy crop in 51 million tons, but…

  

  United States Agriculture Department estimates Argentina’s soy bean production will reach a record 51 million tons in the 2010 crop. Such a volume would mark a complete turn around from this year’s crop which has been estimated anywhere between 34 and 31.7 million tons, or even less.

• Saturday, May 16th 2009 - 13:03 UTC

  Lula da Silva promotes use of local currencies for trade

  

  China and Brazil should conduct business with each other in their own currencies instead of the dollar, a publication quoted Brazil's president Lula da Silva as saying ahead of his trip to Beijing next week.