
The Argentine political establishment is agitated after the heavy remarks made before a federal judge by former Argentine ambassador to Venezuela Eduardo Sadous, who said local businessmen had to pay kickbacks to former president Néstor Kirchner administration officials to be able to export their goods to Venezuela.

An Argentine Supreme Court Judge has said that the pickets blocking an international bridge linking neighbouring Argentina and Uruguay to protest the construction of a pulp mill on the Uruguayan side are “illicit but not illegal”.

The Argentine government has published the offer to swap 20 billion US dollars in defaulted bonds on specialized media around the globe and on www.argentina2010offer.com website.

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner gave the main speech Friday during the opening of the “Che Guevara” movie theatre at the Buenos Aires Museo de la Memoria (Memory Museum) in the framework of celebrations for the 33rd anniversary of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo organization.

A Korean jigger was arrested this week in the South Atlantic by the Argentine Coast Guard allegedly for illegal fishing and a catch of 80 tons of squid was seized.

Argentina filed with United States regulators the terms of its offer to swap up to 20 billion US dollars in defaulted debt, bringing the exchange a step closer to launching.

Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her Uruguayan counterpart José “Pepe” Mujica said on Wednesday they will be working to “re-channel” bilateral relations and will strictly abide the ruling of the Botnia paper mill case.

Uruguay and Argentine presidents will be meeting Wednesday in Buenos Aires to analyze the aftermath of the International Court of Justice judgement on the pulp mills controversy and hopefully find a way, to peacefully lift Argentine protestors’ pickets that have been blocking since 2006 a bridge linking the neighbouring countries.

More than ten investment banks, including Wells Fargo, HSBC, Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse, will leave Argentina in the coming weeks, a Buenos Aires newspaper reported Monday.

Argentina made official this week the planned monitoring of vessels sailing between the mainland and the disputed Falkland Islands, the Coast Guard agency PNA said.